Mark Driscoll has a wonderful little article on the real St. Nick. Here.
There's another article here by one of the faculty at Southern Seminary. My favorite story about St. Nick is at the bottom. Here.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Maybe some of you can identify with this; maybe you can't - but Christmas, because of dysfunctionality in my family, was always a really hard, sad time for me.
But God, in his sovereign grace, has redeemed my family.
He's also redeemed this time of year. Not because of his redemption of my family - but because of the way he's been renewing my mind.
So here's one reason why Christmas - the day we celebrate the fact that God the Son became a man - is a glorious, happy, necessity. There may be more forthcoming.
Jesus fully revealed God's glory. John 1:18 says this: No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side - He made him known.
We all long to know God, don't we? If you're a Christian, this is certainly true. If you're not, consider this: do you have a yearning for purpose? For right and wrong to be done? For truth? For knowledge? For beauty? For something more wondrous than yourself?
Look no further. God has been fully and completely revealed in Jesus. Don't look to other religious or spiritual practices to 'feel' God. Look to Jesus as he's revealed in the Scriptures. He is there!
And don't look to the glory of lesser things for your ultimate satisfaction. True glory, true beauty, true awesomeness, true delight, peace - are in Jesus. Cling to him. Don't cope with life - cling to the one who made it.
Merry Christmas!
But God, in his sovereign grace, has redeemed my family.
He's also redeemed this time of year. Not because of his redemption of my family - but because of the way he's been renewing my mind.
So here's one reason why Christmas - the day we celebrate the fact that God the Son became a man - is a glorious, happy, necessity. There may be more forthcoming.
Jesus fully revealed God's glory. John 1:18 says this: No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side - He made him known.
We all long to know God, don't we? If you're a Christian, this is certainly true. If you're not, consider this: do you have a yearning for purpose? For right and wrong to be done? For truth? For knowledge? For beauty? For something more wondrous than yourself?
Look no further. God has been fully and completely revealed in Jesus. Don't look to other religious or spiritual practices to 'feel' God. Look to Jesus as he's revealed in the Scriptures. He is there!
And don't look to the glory of lesser things for your ultimate satisfaction. True glory, true beauty, true awesomeness, true delight, peace - are in Jesus. Cling to him. Don't cope with life - cling to the one who made it.
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
In Jesus' name...
Many of us were taught to pray and to close our prayers with the phrase "in Jesus' name." Unfortunately, we weren't taught what that actually means, and so it ends up sounding like magic words. And then we wind up wondering why he won't answer our prayers sometimes.
So what's it mean to pray "in Jesus' name?"
The short answer is this: "in Jesus' name" means to pray in union with Christ, and there are 2 facets of that.
First, it means praying with Jesus as our representative. We have no right to enter God's throne room in prayer without fearing condemnation unless Jesus suffered punishment in our place. Thus, praying in Jesus' name means that we are relying on his death and resurrection for acquittal in God's law court. (See Hebrews 4:14-16.)
Second, it means praying to represent Jesus. In other words, saying "in Jesus' name" is like saying, "I ask these things in so much as they represent Jesus' sovereign will." Or in other words, it's like saying "if it's your will, please do this." (See 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 and 1 John 5:14-15.)
These truths should help how we pray. Note that we can't go to God except through the blood of Jesus. We need to depend. We need to recognize that we are sinners approaching a holy God. We need to see his love for us in permitting us to approach him.
We also need to see that prayer is for God. It is an act of worship. It is a means of God doing what he wants - not us getting what we want - unless it's what God wants. It is an act of submission.
That should guide how we pray and for what we pray.
So what's it mean to pray "in Jesus' name?"
The short answer is this: "in Jesus' name" means to pray in union with Christ, and there are 2 facets of that.
First, it means praying with Jesus as our representative. We have no right to enter God's throne room in prayer without fearing condemnation unless Jesus suffered punishment in our place. Thus, praying in Jesus' name means that we are relying on his death and resurrection for acquittal in God's law court. (See Hebrews 4:14-16.)
Second, it means praying to represent Jesus. In other words, saying "in Jesus' name" is like saying, "I ask these things in so much as they represent Jesus' sovereign will." Or in other words, it's like saying "if it's your will, please do this." (See 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 and 1 John 5:14-15.)
These truths should help how we pray. Note that we can't go to God except through the blood of Jesus. We need to depend. We need to recognize that we are sinners approaching a holy God. We need to see his love for us in permitting us to approach him.
We also need to see that prayer is for God. It is an act of worship. It is a means of God doing what he wants - not us getting what we want - unless it's what God wants. It is an act of submission.
That should guide how we pray and for what we pray.
What is Discipleship?
Perhaps that question is a tad broad. Every Christian is a disciple. However - let's define 'a discipleship relationship' for the sake of ministry.
Discipleship is a relationship involving teaching, modeling life and ministry, and delegating ministry. The content of the teachings can be categorized into doctrine, character, and ministry skill.
See Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11ff; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 2. And go here for more Scripture.
These categories can be broken down as follows. This list is not exhaustive.
Doctrine
Orthodoxy
The Trinity
Justification by Faith Alone
Of Scripture (nature, authority, sufficiency, etc.)
The Gospel
Anthropology
Perseverance
Final State
(Justification, Sanctification, Glorification)
Character
Spirit-filled life
The 10 Commandments
The means of grace
Scripture taught
Fellowship
Prayer
Communion
Discipline/confrontation
Gospel-centered living
Ministry Skill
Evangelism
Discipleship
Strategic Planning
Problem solving and evaluation
Exegesis
Evangelistic Exhortatory Exposition
Leading a Bible study
Counseling (?)
Decision-making
Administration
Mercy//Hospitality
Discipleship is a relationship involving teaching, modeling life and ministry, and delegating ministry. The content of the teachings can be categorized into doctrine, character, and ministry skill.
See Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11ff; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 2. And go here for more Scripture.
These categories can be broken down as follows. This list is not exhaustive.
Doctrine
Orthodoxy
The Trinity
Justification by Faith Alone
Of Scripture (nature, authority, sufficiency, etc.)
The Gospel
Anthropology
Perseverance
Final State
(Justification, Sanctification, Glorification)
Character
Spirit-filled life
The 10 Commandments
The means of grace
Scripture taught
Fellowship
Prayer
Communion
Discipline/confrontation
Gospel-centered living
Ministry Skill
Evangelism
Discipleship
Strategic Planning
Problem solving and evaluation
Exegesis
Evangelistic Exhortatory Exposition
Leading a Bible study
Counseling (?)
Decision-making
Administration
Mercy//Hospitality
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
My Daily Prayer Guide
As promised to you CLT... attenders... this is the prayer list I use daily. I hope it proves useful to you.
Worship
Psalm for the day
Confession
What sins does my Scripture reading reveal today?
What do I love more than Jesus today?
How am I failing to love Lacey (my wife) today?
Thanksgiving
The cross (Jesus dying in my place)
The gospel in the passage I read today
The things from yesterday that God did
Daily Requests
My love for God and making his name known
My love for Lacey as Jesus loves the Church
My love for the Church (God's children)
My love for people in general (made in God's image for his glory)
For my schedule for the day (every aspect of it)
For God to open doors to proclaim the gospel
The Missionaries I support
Those who financially and prayerfully support me
Family’s salvation
Students by name
The places where I've served in ministry, and those I've served with
Miscellaneous Requests
This is where I put things when people ask for prayer, along with things I might need.
Worship
Psalm for the day
Confession
What sins does my Scripture reading reveal today?
What do I love more than Jesus today?
How am I failing to love Lacey (my wife) today?
Thanksgiving
The cross (Jesus dying in my place)
The gospel in the passage I read today
The things from yesterday that God did
Daily Requests
My love for God and making his name known
My love for Lacey as Jesus loves the Church
My love for the Church (God's children)
My love for people in general (made in God's image for his glory)
For my schedule for the day (every aspect of it)
For God to open doors to proclaim the gospel
The Missionaries I support
Those who financially and prayerfully support me
Family’s salvation
Students by name
The places where I've served in ministry, and those I've served with
Miscellaneous Requests
This is where I put things when people ask for prayer, along with things I might need.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Calvinism Vs. Arminianism... FIGHT!
The problem with such debates, which for some odd reason especially occur among college students, is this:
They often become philosophical rather than biblical. You need to look at what the Bible says and submit to it. Period. No extrapoloations from texts. No discussions of concepts and inferences and yadda yadda yadda...
If you can't cite Scripture and merely explain what it says, just shut up.
Submit to what God says. If you don't like it, you're sinning. Repent.
God loves you. He desires you to worship him - not your own wisdom. So love him as he's revealed himself in Holy Scripture.
They often become philosophical rather than biblical. You need to look at what the Bible says and submit to it. Period. No extrapoloations from texts. No discussions of concepts and inferences and yadda yadda yadda...
If you can't cite Scripture and merely explain what it says, just shut up.
Submit to what God says. If you don't like it, you're sinning. Repent.
God loves you. He desires you to worship him - not your own wisdom. So love him as he's revealed himself in Holy Scripture.
Daily Worship
As I worshiped God today through the Psalms, I ran across this verse and thought I'd share it.
"You make known to me the path of life
in your presence there is fullness of joy
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Ps. 16:11)
David got it. One day Jesus will be revealed, we will see him and enjoy him forever, and we will worship!
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
"You make known to me the path of life
in your presence there is fullness of joy
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Ps. 16:11)
David got it. One day Jesus will be revealed, we will see him and enjoy him forever, and we will worship!
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
Monday, December 8, 2008
CLT on Romans 8
Last week at CLT we looked at Romans 8:1-13. I didn't really have notes, so I'm posting an exposition of Romans 8:1-17 here. I pray it proves beneficial to you. Have a Bible open as you read it.
Exposition
We’re at the point in Romans where something extremely significant is going to be brought up. In chapters 1-5, Paul defended the doctrine of justification by faith alone on the basis of Jesus’ work alone.
That gave rise to an objection: if justification is by faith alone, can we go on sinning? Paul says no in several ways. First, in Romans 6, he says that we have had a change of nature, therefore we can no longer live in sin. Second, in Romans 7, he says as Christians, Jesus has already met the demands of the Law for us so we no longer have something to rebel against or try to be justified by.
And that brings us to the third answer – and that is in Romans 8. The answer – in short – is the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of God’s people.
Now, Romans 8 begins where Romans 7 leaves off. The point of the end of Romans 7 is hat trying to obey God’s Law will just result in realizing that you can’t. Hence the cry at the end ‘who will save me from this body of death?’ The answer: God, in Jesus.
But if you can’t obey the Law by trying to obey it – where does that leave us? Paul gives us the answer in Romans 8: the Holy Spirit causes us who have received Jesus to obey him. Let’s take a look.
vv. 1-4
In verse 1 we have a statement. Note that there is a ground for it, given that it starts with ‘therefore.’ The ground comes in the verses after it (and whole chapters before). Note that there’s no condemnation now for everyone in Christ. That is, already, even before the future judgment, there is at this point in history, no condemnation, which by the way is the opposite of justification. Justification is being declared righteous; condemnation is being declared guilty and being punished for it.
Who’s ‘in Christ Jesus?’ It’s helpful here to consider Romans 6’s language of inclusion into Jesus – unification with him. Everyone unified to Jesus, and thus spiritually alive and believing, is in Jesus. So those people – right now, have already had the end time judgment of condemnation pass by them and have been judged righteous in Jesus.
What’s the reason for this, though? V. 2 says that the reason is that there are two governing principles – or worlds, realms, or Kingdoms at work. He’ll flesh this out more in vv. 5-8, but here, note that there’s no condemnation because the principles of the Spirit’s Kingdom have freed us through Jesus’ actions from the principles of the old realm, which is going to be condemned.
Verse three tells us how this happened. The law couldn’t save sinners, because sinners rebel against the law. What God did in Jesus is to kill, or condemn, sin by killing Jesus. And notice that it’s not ‘sins’ – it’s ‘sin.’ The old nature. The part of us, that is, according to ch. 6, now dead because Jesus died.
Verse four tells us that God had a purpose in destroying the old nature in the death of Jesus. That purpose is that our behavior would be transformed – that we’d walk according to God’s Holy Spirit and do what the law requires.
vv. 5-11
In this section, Paul’s going to contrast the two types of possible people then – people that live in the old world – old Kingdom – the ‘flesh.’ – vs. people that live in the new Kingdom in the Spirit.
Note that vv. 5-7 begin with the word ‘for’ – and so they’re providing a basis for what precede them. So in v. 5, the introduction of this idea – there’s two kinds of people – in the Kingdom and out – is the basis for what comes before, that God did stuff to cause us to walk in obedience to him.
But note what the differences are. If you’re in the flesh – in the old world, your thoughts are governed by it, will cause you to die, is hostile to God because it doesn’t submit to God’s law and actually is incapable of doing so.
If you’re in the Spirit, your thoughts are governed by the Spirit, he gives you life and peace,he wells in you, causes us to belong to Jesus, and has given us and will give us new life.
vv. 12-17
In this section, Paul begins to exhort believers to obey God and trust him through suffering.
Note that 12 is the conclusion of what precedes it. The Holy Spirit has given us new life and will raise us from the dead, so we don’t owe anything to the old world – the flesh – living according to its ways.
What’s the basis for that? 13 – because if we do live like that, we’ll die. However, if in the Spirit we kill the deeds of the body, we’ll live. Of course here it’s talking about eternally live and die. So in other words – we’re not debtors to the flesh because if we acted like that, we’d die. The other option – is trusting in the Spirit and relying on Him and doing the things he’s commanded in Scripture, actively fighting sin in our lives. If we do that – we belong to the Spirit and we will rise from the dead – live.
His basis for that statement is that if we’re doing that – being led by the Spirit to put to death evil deeds, we’re God’s children. Or in other words, we belong to God, not the flesh.
How do we know we’re sons of God? We got the Spirit that causes us to cry out to God, who bears witness that we’re his children, assuming that we suffer trusting ourselves to Jesus, looking forward to our future glory with him – our future being with him in the completely remade new creation.
Exposition
We’re at the point in Romans where something extremely significant is going to be brought up. In chapters 1-5, Paul defended the doctrine of justification by faith alone on the basis of Jesus’ work alone.
That gave rise to an objection: if justification is by faith alone, can we go on sinning? Paul says no in several ways. First, in Romans 6, he says that we have had a change of nature, therefore we can no longer live in sin. Second, in Romans 7, he says as Christians, Jesus has already met the demands of the Law for us so we no longer have something to rebel against or try to be justified by.
And that brings us to the third answer – and that is in Romans 8. The answer – in short – is the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of God’s people.
Now, Romans 8 begins where Romans 7 leaves off. The point of the end of Romans 7 is hat trying to obey God’s Law will just result in realizing that you can’t. Hence the cry at the end ‘who will save me from this body of death?’ The answer: God, in Jesus.
But if you can’t obey the Law by trying to obey it – where does that leave us? Paul gives us the answer in Romans 8: the Holy Spirit causes us who have received Jesus to obey him. Let’s take a look.
vv. 1-4
In verse 1 we have a statement. Note that there is a ground for it, given that it starts with ‘therefore.’ The ground comes in the verses after it (and whole chapters before). Note that there’s no condemnation now for everyone in Christ. That is, already, even before the future judgment, there is at this point in history, no condemnation, which by the way is the opposite of justification. Justification is being declared righteous; condemnation is being declared guilty and being punished for it.
Who’s ‘in Christ Jesus?’ It’s helpful here to consider Romans 6’s language of inclusion into Jesus – unification with him. Everyone unified to Jesus, and thus spiritually alive and believing, is in Jesus. So those people – right now, have already had the end time judgment of condemnation pass by them and have been judged righteous in Jesus.
What’s the reason for this, though? V. 2 says that the reason is that there are two governing principles – or worlds, realms, or Kingdoms at work. He’ll flesh this out more in vv. 5-8, but here, note that there’s no condemnation because the principles of the Spirit’s Kingdom have freed us through Jesus’ actions from the principles of the old realm, which is going to be condemned.
Verse three tells us how this happened. The law couldn’t save sinners, because sinners rebel against the law. What God did in Jesus is to kill, or condemn, sin by killing Jesus. And notice that it’s not ‘sins’ – it’s ‘sin.’ The old nature. The part of us, that is, according to ch. 6, now dead because Jesus died.
Verse four tells us that God had a purpose in destroying the old nature in the death of Jesus. That purpose is that our behavior would be transformed – that we’d walk according to God’s Holy Spirit and do what the law requires.
vv. 5-11
In this section, Paul’s going to contrast the two types of possible people then – people that live in the old world – old Kingdom – the ‘flesh.’ – vs. people that live in the new Kingdom in the Spirit.
Note that vv. 5-7 begin with the word ‘for’ – and so they’re providing a basis for what precede them. So in v. 5, the introduction of this idea – there’s two kinds of people – in the Kingdom and out – is the basis for what comes before, that God did stuff to cause us to walk in obedience to him.
But note what the differences are. If you’re in the flesh – in the old world, your thoughts are governed by it, will cause you to die, is hostile to God because it doesn’t submit to God’s law and actually is incapable of doing so.
If you’re in the Spirit, your thoughts are governed by the Spirit, he gives you life and peace,he wells in you, causes us to belong to Jesus, and has given us and will give us new life.
vv. 12-17
In this section, Paul begins to exhort believers to obey God and trust him through suffering.
Note that 12 is the conclusion of what precedes it. The Holy Spirit has given us new life and will raise us from the dead, so we don’t owe anything to the old world – the flesh – living according to its ways.
What’s the basis for that? 13 – because if we do live like that, we’ll die. However, if in the Spirit we kill the deeds of the body, we’ll live. Of course here it’s talking about eternally live and die. So in other words – we’re not debtors to the flesh because if we acted like that, we’d die. The other option – is trusting in the Spirit and relying on Him and doing the things he’s commanded in Scripture, actively fighting sin in our lives. If we do that – we belong to the Spirit and we will rise from the dead – live.
His basis for that statement is that if we’re doing that – being led by the Spirit to put to death evil deeds, we’re God’s children. Or in other words, we belong to God, not the flesh.
How do we know we’re sons of God? We got the Spirit that causes us to cry out to God, who bears witness that we’re his children, assuming that we suffer trusting ourselves to Jesus, looking forward to our future glory with him – our future being with him in the completely remade new creation.
Monday, December 1, 2008
CLT IV - The Gospel
The Gospel
Intro
Pray – and say questions can come during (and/or after)
Christians need the gospel
Not just to know how to share it well, but also…
To grow
To remember reality
To serve
To love the unloveable
For holiness in all of life
To view sex rightly
For confidence in living the Christian life
For hope
Thus, beware thinking you’ve outgrown it
Every prayer
Every time you read the Bible
Every relationship
Every word you speak
Titus 3:4-8
Rest of our time: defining the gospel
Before that, though, consider this: gospel = good news.
Let’s look at the world the good news is delivered to
-Sex trafficking (define – ave. age in US – 14, poss 100k this year; ave. age is 10-15 in Asia – even forced into it by parents)
-Thousands (i.e. 83 yr. old woman) losing homes to foreclosure
-man tries to explain to his autistic son why their house burned down in ca
-Haiti – wait and see if kids live to name them – oft choose which live/die
-Iraq – car bombs kill 1 person, injure around 20 – Tuesday
-People are born blind, without limbs, and into starvation
-marriages that began in love, end in messy divorce
-children molested by family, teachers, religious leaders
-hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, AIDS
-and you will work really hard your whole life to get by, looking to entertainment and relationships and even spirituality for happiness, only to find that they don’t satisfy your deepest needs – and then you will die.
And into this mess that we often ignore, Jesus has come to give us good news: Mark 1:15. The good news is that the Kingdom of God has come near.
Outline Why the Kingdom is good news
5 facts about the King
conquers hearts
has authority to forgive
changes lives
creates a loving family
will finish what he started
Why the Kingdom is good news
-saw bad situation
-contact point with unbelievers
-do not dull yourself with entertainment against reality (ecc. 7:4) (James 1:9-12) (my liking Bond…),
-The Kingdom is good news because of what the King will do - Joel 2:23-26 (provision – food, etc.); Is. 2:3, 4 (peace between nations, people obeying God’s laws); Dan. 12:2 (resurrection of the just and unjust); Jer 23:5 (KING who will do justice always); Is. 25:6-8 (joy, provision, resurrection, bringing all peoples together); Micah 2:1-3 (punishment of oppressors); Micah 2:12-13 (The LORD himself is King and shepherds his people); Is. 9:2-3 (joy in the experience of God);
-Why do you think Jesus did miracles?
-To starving Christians in Haiti – one day you will feast!
-To our brothers and sisters suffering in war – one day God will stop all conflict
-To those who are oppressed as in India (117 churches, 5k homes, 65 dead)
-To all of us who are pained and need the face of God – we will see his glory in his Son
-THINK of the gospel as good news (vs. boring)
-TELL the gospel because it’s good news
-repeat point
Fact 1: Jesus the King conquers hearts
-Problem: who we are by nature
-Rom 1:30 – ‘God-haters’
-Eph. 2:2 – obeyed Satan
-Matt. 7:11 – we’re evil
-Rom 8:7 8 – incapable of obedience
-John 6:65
-Rom. 3:10-12
-Rom. 1:18-22
-evangelism application (describing depth of sin)
-ev application – what we should expect from unbelievers’ views of data
-remember this to remember what you’re saved from!
-But Jesus has come as King, and conquers hearts…
-John 6:37-39
-Matt. 11:27
-John 3:5-8, 19-21 (result = coming to Jesus in faith!)
-app: thank God for conquering your heart!
-plead with him to conquer the hearts of others – because he CAN
-communicate confidently because he WILL
-don’t for a second think that you did a thing to bring yourself, lest you rob God of glory
Fact 2: Jesus the King has authority to forgive
-paralytic story in Mark 2
-Jesus’ coming as King is good news – but there’s a problem
-Is. 13:9
-God’s solution – justification by faith (define)
-Nah 1:3a
-solution – a substitute!
--punished in our place (Is. 53:5, 6, 10)
-firing squad analogy
-implication – no judgment awaits those who believe in Jesus
-turn to each other and say ‘God poured the fullness of hell on Jesus instead of you’
-‘Judgment day’ already begun (Jesus’ passion narrative!)
-obeyed in our place
-again: judgment by works
-Rom. 4:6 – Let me talk about crediting – (tax analogy)
-2 Cor. 5:21
-God looks at us in Jesus – since Jesus obeyed…
-Turn to the person next to you and say, “Jesus obeyed God for you – and all his rewards will be given to you”
-application: NO condemnation for you. But REWARD.
-if EVER you feel as if you are condemned…
-imperfect Christians are perfect in Jesus’ eyes (Jas. 4)
-basis for forgiveness - not some weird mysticism. Unbelievers are RIGHT when they say good people will go to heaven
-repeat point
Fact 3: Jesus as King changes lives
(repeat points so far)
-(whole point of next CLT – so not much time)
-Rom. 6:17-23 (context first!)
-point – God has promised the obedience of his children (parable of the sower)
-trust him for it
-thank him for it!
-answering non Christians re: can we just go on sinning?
-beware moralism!!!
-repeat point
Fact 4: Jesus the King creates a loving family
-Matt 19:29 (my experience)
-Ephesians 4:9-16
-Eph. 2:17-22
-Ps. 65:4 (picture of entering the temple – where God lives!)
-appreciate it
-participate in it
-love it – but realize that experience is from God’s Spirit AND word and isn’t perfect yet
-invite people into it
Fact 5: Jesus the King will finish what he started
-1 cor 15:21-28 (explain)
-rev 21:1-7; 22:1-5; 12-17, 20-21
-application – 1 peter 1:6, 7, 13; mark 8:32-34
-So what’s the good news?
Pray
Intro
Pray – and say questions can come during (and/or after)
Christians need the gospel
Not just to know how to share it well, but also…
To grow
To remember reality
To serve
To love the unloveable
For holiness in all of life
To view sex rightly
For confidence in living the Christian life
For hope
Thus, beware thinking you’ve outgrown it
Every prayer
Every time you read the Bible
Every relationship
Every word you speak
Titus 3:4-8
Rest of our time: defining the gospel
Before that, though, consider this: gospel = good news.
Let’s look at the world the good news is delivered to
-Sex trafficking (define – ave. age in US – 14, poss 100k this year; ave. age is 10-15 in Asia – even forced into it by parents)
-Thousands (i.e. 83 yr. old woman) losing homes to foreclosure
-man tries to explain to his autistic son why their house burned down in ca
-Haiti – wait and see if kids live to name them – oft choose which live/die
-Iraq – car bombs kill 1 person, injure around 20 – Tuesday
-People are born blind, without limbs, and into starvation
-marriages that began in love, end in messy divorce
-children molested by family, teachers, religious leaders
-hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, AIDS
-and you will work really hard your whole life to get by, looking to entertainment and relationships and even spirituality for happiness, only to find that they don’t satisfy your deepest needs – and then you will die.
And into this mess that we often ignore, Jesus has come to give us good news: Mark 1:15. The good news is that the Kingdom of God has come near.
Outline Why the Kingdom is good news
5 facts about the King
conquers hearts
has authority to forgive
changes lives
creates a loving family
will finish what he started
Why the Kingdom is good news
-saw bad situation
-contact point with unbelievers
-do not dull yourself with entertainment against reality (ecc. 7:4) (James 1:9-12) (my liking Bond…),
-The Kingdom is good news because of what the King will do - Joel 2:23-26 (provision – food, etc.); Is. 2:3, 4 (peace between nations, people obeying God’s laws); Dan. 12:2 (resurrection of the just and unjust); Jer 23:5 (KING who will do justice always); Is. 25:6-8 (joy, provision, resurrection, bringing all peoples together); Micah 2:1-3 (punishment of oppressors); Micah 2:12-13 (The LORD himself is King and shepherds his people); Is. 9:2-3 (joy in the experience of God);
-Why do you think Jesus did miracles?
-To starving Christians in Haiti – one day you will feast!
-To our brothers and sisters suffering in war – one day God will stop all conflict
-To those who are oppressed as in India (117 churches, 5k homes, 65 dead)
-To all of us who are pained and need the face of God – we will see his glory in his Son
-THINK of the gospel as good news (vs. boring)
-TELL the gospel because it’s good news
-repeat point
Fact 1: Jesus the King conquers hearts
-Problem: who we are by nature
-Rom 1:30 – ‘God-haters’
-Eph. 2:2 – obeyed Satan
-Matt. 7:11 – we’re evil
-Rom 8:7 8 – incapable of obedience
-John 6:65
-Rom. 3:10-12
-Rom. 1:18-22
-evangelism application (describing depth of sin)
-ev application – what we should expect from unbelievers’ views of data
-remember this to remember what you’re saved from!
-But Jesus has come as King, and conquers hearts…
-John 6:37-39
-Matt. 11:27
-John 3:5-8, 19-21 (result = coming to Jesus in faith!)
-app: thank God for conquering your heart!
-plead with him to conquer the hearts of others – because he CAN
-communicate confidently because he WILL
-don’t for a second think that you did a thing to bring yourself, lest you rob God of glory
Fact 2: Jesus the King has authority to forgive
-paralytic story in Mark 2
-Jesus’ coming as King is good news – but there’s a problem
-Is. 13:9
-God’s solution – justification by faith (define)
-Nah 1:3a
-solution – a substitute!
--punished in our place (Is. 53:5, 6, 10)
-firing squad analogy
-implication – no judgment awaits those who believe in Jesus
-turn to each other and say ‘God poured the fullness of hell on Jesus instead of you’
-‘Judgment day’ already begun (Jesus’ passion narrative!)
-obeyed in our place
-again: judgment by works
-Rom. 4:6 – Let me talk about crediting – (tax analogy)
-2 Cor. 5:21
-God looks at us in Jesus – since Jesus obeyed…
-Turn to the person next to you and say, “Jesus obeyed God for you – and all his rewards will be given to you”
-application: NO condemnation for you. But REWARD.
-if EVER you feel as if you are condemned…
-imperfect Christians are perfect in Jesus’ eyes (Jas. 4)
-basis for forgiveness - not some weird mysticism. Unbelievers are RIGHT when they say good people will go to heaven
-repeat point
Fact 3: Jesus as King changes lives
(repeat points so far)
-(whole point of next CLT – so not much time)
-Rom. 6:17-23 (context first!)
-point – God has promised the obedience of his children (parable of the sower)
-trust him for it
-thank him for it!
-answering non Christians re: can we just go on sinning?
-beware moralism!!!
-repeat point
Fact 4: Jesus the King creates a loving family
-Matt 19:29 (my experience)
-Ephesians 4:9-16
-Eph. 2:17-22
-Ps. 65:4 (picture of entering the temple – where God lives!)
-appreciate it
-participate in it
-love it – but realize that experience is from God’s Spirit AND word and isn’t perfect yet
-invite people into it
Fact 5: Jesus the King will finish what he started
-1 cor 15:21-28 (explain)
-rev 21:1-7; 22:1-5; 12-17, 20-21
-application – 1 peter 1:6, 7, 13; mark 8:32-34
-So what’s the good news?
Pray
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