KANSAS CITY, Mo—Spurgeon College, the undergraduate arm of Midwestern Seminary, welcomed more than 1,000 youth and youth ministry leaders to campus on January 24–25 to be equipped in their faith at the 2025 Ready Conference.
Attendees heard sermons on Matthew 5:1–16 by Adam Donyes, Brian Davis, Samuel Bierig, Jared Bumpers, and Jared C. Wilson; enjoyed a concert by artist nobigdyl.; and participated in workshops to equip them in living and defending their faith.
“Investing in the future generations is critical,” said President Jason Allen. “That is why I am always so profoundly encouraged by our annual Ready Conference. To have over 1,000 youth and ministry leaders come to our campus to be equipped and built up in the faith is no small thing. I am grateful for all who came, and I pray that the Lord uses this conference in their lives for years to come.”
The Sermon on the Mount
Plenary sessions explored the first 16 verses of the Sermon on the Mount, focusing on the blessings of citizenship in Christ’s Kingdom. Adam Donyes, president and founder of Link Year, delivered the first sermon, on Matthew 5:1–2.
Establishing the context of Jesus’ Sermon, Donyes noted that Jesus’ audience included His disciples, many of whom would suffer gruesome deaths for preaching His message. Donyes pointed out how the disciples’ willingness to die for their faith testifies to the truth of Christ’s Kingdom. “The only probable and logical explanation that 11 men would die is that Jesus really rose from the dead,” Donyes said. “He tasted death so that you and I don’t have to.”
Donyes called upon the students in the audience to listen, like the disciples, to the Word of Christ, warning them of the world’s lies. Donyes reminded listeners that Jesus came to save and transform His hearers, satisfying their needs and desires with Himself. “He wants your heart,” Donyes said. “You don’t have to try harder, and you don’t have to do more. He’ll produce that in you, by His good work as the Savior.”
Brian Davis, pastor of Exalting Christ Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, delivered the second session. Preaching from Matthew 5:3–9, Davis focused on the blessings Jesus promises in the Beatitudes.
Davis opened by asking students in the room, “Do you know how to be happy?” He defined the blessedness Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount as the full and lasting joy received by knowing God.
“It is easy to think of this as a list of things that we must become on our own to be pronounced blessed,” Davis said. “This is rather, I think, Jesus describing the list of things believers become whenever He saves them.”
Referencing examples throughout the Gospels of those who turned from sin and trusted in Christ, Davis showed how each of the Beatitudes represent the blessings Christ offers in salvation and identify His followers as citizens of His Kingdom. “These are obvious features and traits of those who know Him. They have the same ethic, they bear the same traits, they have the same heavenly features,” Davis said, adding, “Because they are all united to Jesus.”
Davis concluded, “This life in Him is the most blessed, the most happy.”
Saturday morning opened with the third session, on Matthew 5:10–12. Preached by Samuel Bierig, vice president of undergraduate studies and dean of Spurgeon College, the sermon focused on the blessedness of persecution for Christ.
Bierig noted that the blessedness of persecution includes both the present blessing of closeness with Christ and the future blessings of the resurrection, enabling the persecuted to rejoice. He reminded listeners that followers of Christ should expect persecution.
“If you’re following Jesus, you should expect that it’s going to cost you,” Bierig said. “Notice that none of the Beatitudes are connected to receiving things on earth. It’s not about gaining here; it’s not about material stuff. They are otherworldly happinesses, otherworldly blessings. It’s another Kingdom.”
Challenging the young people in the audience to consider how God might be calling them to confront sin and stand for His truth in the face of persecution, Bierig pointed to the example of Christ. “He’s the ultimate persecuted one, and it’s at His most tortured and persecuted point—the cross—when He was most powerful and most indestructible,” Bierig said, adding, “It is there that He gained indestructible life.”
Jared Bumpers, assistant professor of preaching and evangelism at Midwestern Seminary, delivered the fourth sermon, on Matthew 5:13. Exploring what Jesus meant by calling His followers “the salt of the earth,” Bumpers noted that preservation was a key use of salt in Jesus’ day and, therefore, Jesus was calling Christians “to make a difference” in a world corrupted and decaying from sin.
Bumpers pointed out that salt can “lose its saltiness” by contamination of other minerals, adding, “We’ll not be able to impact the world when we live just like the world.”
Bumpers went on to say, “It is a tragedy to gain some level of comfort, recognition, prosperity, or whatever it is that we’re chasing, and lose our ability to live for Jesus, enjoy Jesus, and share Jesus with others.”
He highlighted how each of the Beatitudes are better than the world’s temptations because they draw Christians closer to God and others. Reminding listeners that the Kingdom life described in the Sermon on the Mount is impossible without the grace of Christ, Bumpers called attendees to put their faith in Him.
The final session was preached by Jared C. Wilson, assistant professor of pastoral ministry and author in residence at Midwestern Seminary, and focused on Matthew 5:14–16. Referencing Jesus’ statement that His followers are “the light of the world,” Wilson said, “One thing Jesus is saying is that to pledge allegiance to Him, to turn from your sin and follow Him—to become a Christian—is to become someone visible.”
Speaking of the powerful witness of believers when they respond to suffering with hope and joy, Wilson said, “You’re shining the light of Jesus in such a way that it clarifies for a watching world that everything they’ve hoped for, searched for, longed for, cried out for, is actually true through the gospel, and they can’t find it anywhere else but in Jesus.”
Wilson highlighted that Christ makes His followers light so that they magnify the greatness of God, causing unbelievers to desire to know Him. He shared, “We can spend our lives for Christ’s glory because Christ spent His life for us. That’s a witness that stands out. That’s a light that really, truly shines.”
Concert and Workshops
In addition to the main sessions, the conference featured musical worship by CrossPoint Worship and apologetic workshops. Led by professors from Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College as well as local pastors, workshops included:
- Todd Chipman: “Finding Confidence in Scripture: How Can I Be Sure God Has Spoken to Me in His Word?”
- Matt Marrs: “Believing and Living the Truth in a World Where There Is None”
- Erik Odegard: “Who Has the Good News? The Gospel vs. World Religions”
- Patrick Schreiner: “How to Respond to the Problem of Evil”
- Tyler Sykora: “The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus: Fact or Fiction?”
- Leslie Umstattd: “Designed with Purpose: Shaping a True Identity Through a Biblical Worldview”
Attendees could also choose to receive feedback and sharpening in their preaching, teaching, or worship leading by participating in labs led by Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College faculty.
Alongside main sessions and workshops, Friday late-night events offered students fun and fellowship with their fellow attendees and youth leaders. Highlighted by a concert by nobigdyl., late-night activities went on to feature inflatables, food, and games in the Mathena Student Center gym.
Full videos of all Ready 2025 plenary sessions will be available soon. To see photos of Ready 2025, click here.
