1) Giving Hope (2 Cor. 1:3-7)
· Isaiah 51:9-12
· Exodus 3:7-8
· 2 Corinthians 11:29
· Romans 8:18
· Philippians 3:10-11
· Romans 5:1-5
2) Getting Hope (2 Cor. 1:8-9)
3) Praise for Hope ( 2 Cor.
· 2 Timothy 4:16-18
John Piper outlines the Ten Effects of Believing in the Five Points of Calvinism
1. These truths make me stand in awe of God and lead me into the depth of true God-centered worship.
2. These truths help protect me from trifling with divine things.
3. These truths make me marvel at my own salvation. 4. These truths make me alert to man-centered substitutes that pose as good news.5. These truths make me groan over the indescribable disease of our secular, God-belittling culture.
6. These truths make me confident that the work which God planned and began, he will finish – both globally and personally.
7. These truths make me see everything in the light of God’s sovereign purposes – that from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be glory forever and ever.Ephesians 1:11
8. These truths make me hopeful that God has the will, the right, and the power to answer prayer that people be changed.
9. These truths reminds me that evangelism is absolutely essential for people to come to Christ and be saved, and that there is great hope for success in leading people to faith, but that conversion is not finally dependent on me or limited by the hardness of the unbeliever.
10. These truths make me sure that God will triumph in the end.
John Piper reflects on the nature of sin and Psalm 51, as David laments and repents of his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah. David confesses at least five ways that his sin is extremely serious.
1. He says that he can’t get the sin out of his mind.
It is blazoned on his conscience. Verse 3:
2. He says that his exceeding sinfulness is only against God.For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Nathan had said David despised God and scorned his word. So David says in verse 4,
3. He doesn't justify himself.Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.
David vindicates God, not himself. There is no self-justification. No defense. No escape. Verse 4:
4. He intensifies his guilt by drawing attention to his inborn corruption.…so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Verse 5:
5. He admits that he sinned not just against external law but against God’s merciful light in his heart.Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Verse 6:
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
From the conclusion:
God had been his teacher. God had made him wise. David had done so many wise things. And then sin got the upper hand. For David, this made it all the worse. “I have been blessed with so much knowledge and so much wisdom. O how deep must be my depravity that it could sin against so much light.”
So in those five ways at least David joins the prophet Nathan and God in condemning his sin and confessing the depths of his corruption.
Excerpted and adapted from the sermon "A Broken and Contrite Heart God Will Not Despise."
1. Jesus Christ, as he is presented to us in the New Testament, and as he stands forth from all its writings, is too single and too great to have been invented so uniformly by all these writers.
2. Nobody has ever explained the empty tomb of Jesus in the hostile environment of Jerusalem where the enemies of Jesus would have given anything to produce the corpse, but could not.
3. Cynical opponents of Christianity abounded where claims were made that many eyewitnesses were available to consult concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
4. The early church was an indomitable force of faith and love and sacrifice on the basis of the reality of Jesus Christ.
5. The prophesies of the Old Testament find stunning fulfillment in the history of Jesus Christ.
6. The witnesses to Jesus Christ who wrote the New Testament gospels and letters are not gullible or deceitful or demented.
7. The worldview that emerges from the writings of the New Testament makes more sense out of more reality than any other worldview.
8. When one sees Christ as he is portrayed truly in the gospel, there shines forth a spiritual light that is a self-authenticating.
9. When we see and believe the glory of God in the gospel, the Holy Spirit is given to us so that the love of God might be "poured out in our hearts" (Romans 5:5).
 | Desiring God (Unabridged) by John Piper | |
| Scripture reveals that the great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. In this paradigm-shattering classic, newly revised and expanded, John Piper reveals that the debate between duty and delight doesn't truly exist: Delight is our duty.  | ||
Type "NOV2009" in the "coupon code" box for the FREE DOWNLOAD
This month's free download of Desiring God is brought in part by Desiring God Ministries and the Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group. For more information on the Desiring God ministry, visit www.desiringgod.org or click here for free Desiring God ministry audio on christianaudio
You may also be interested in the other John Piper audiobooks on christianaudio. Take advantage of their special price of only $4.98 each, only until November 21st!
 | Don't Waste Your Life (Unabridged) by John Piper | |
| In this book John Piper describes his own journey in discovering this great, single passion. And He pleads that at all costs we pursue our joy in the crucified Christ, who is the glory of God. | ||
 | When I Don't Desire God (Unabridged) by John Piper | |
| What do you do when you discover that you're not satisfied in God the way he wants you to be? Joy is more than an afterthought of the Christian life; it is the sustaining fruit of a relationship with God. With a radical passion for Christ's glory, John Piper helps you find the joy God wants you to have. | ||
 | The Pleasures of God (Unabridged) by John Piper | |
| The weight of glory is a happy burden. Thus God is the happiest Being in the Universe. To know Him in His pleasures is to see Him as He is- and to have a fresh encounter with His transforming presence. | ||
 | A Hunger For God (Unabridged) by John Piper | |
| Do you have a hunger for God? There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. Piper invites us to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with a simple fast: "This much, O God, I want you." | ||
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1) The Gift of Time: Ephesians 5:16a
· Galatians 6:10
2) Grappling with Time: Ephesians 5:16b
Sometime during October 31, 1517, the day before the Feast of All Saints, the 33-year-old Martin Luther posted theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The door functioned as a bulletin board for various announcements related to academic and church affairs. The theses were written in Latin and printed on a folio sheet by the printer John Gruenenberg, one of the many entrepreneurs in the new print medium first used in Germany about 1450. Luther was calling for a "disputation on the power and efficacy of indulgences out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light." He did so as a faithful monk and priest who had been appointed professor of biblical theology at the University of Wittenberg, a small, virtually unknown institution in a small town.
Some copies of the theses were sent to friends and church officials, but the disputation never took place. Albert of Brandenburg, archbishop of Mainz, sent the theses to some theologians whose judgment moved him to send a copy to Rome and demand action against Luther. By the early months of 1518, the theses had been reprinted in many cities, and Luther's name had become associated with demands for radical change in the church. He had become front-page news.
The article also covers the Issue of Indulgences and the Message of Martin Luther
It is this simple reaffirmation of the ancient Christian "good news," the gospel, that created in the church catholic the reform movement that attracted legions in Germany and other European territories. The movement was propelled by slogans stressing the essentials of Christianity: faith alone (soia fides), grace alone (sola gratia), Christ alone (solus Christus). Many joined because Luther criticized the papacy, which had claimed to have power over every soul. "Why does not the pope whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus (a wealthy Roman nicknamed "Fats," who died in 53 B.C.) build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?" (Thesis 87).
The documentary COLLISION pits leading atheist, political journalist a nd a uthor Christophe r Hitchens (God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) against fellow author and evangelical theologian Pastor Douglas Wilson on a debate tour arguing the topic “Is Religion Good For The World?”. Lives and worldviews collide as Hitchens and Wilson wittily and passionately argue the timeless question, proving to be perfectly matched intellectual, philosophical, and cinematic rivals. COLLISION is directed by prolific independent filmmaker Darren Doane (Van Morrison: To Be Born Again, The Battle For L.A., Godmoney).
Ever since I invited any champion of faith to debate with me in the spring of 2007, I have been very impressed by the willingness of the other side to take me, and my allies, up on the offer.Hitchens makes a tremendous complement to Wilson, reflecting on Wilson's belief system and apologetic style. It is a statement that relects a great complement on how we should stand for what we say we believe:
I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe.
Wilson isn't one of those evasive Christians who mumble apologetically about how some of the Bible stories are really just "metaphors." He is willing to maintain very staunchly that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and that his sacrifice redeems our state of sin, which in turn is the outcome of our rebellion against God. He doesn't waffle when asked why God allows so much evil and suffering—of course he "allows" it since it is the inescapable state of rebellious sinners. I much prefer this sincerity to the vague and Python-esque witterings of the interfaith and ecumenical groups who barely respect their own traditions and who look upon faith as just another word for community organizing.
In the late afternoon of April 18, 1521, in the city of Worms, Germany, Martin Luther, a 37 year-old Catholic monk was called to defend himself before Charles the Fifth, the Holy Roman Emperor. The speech he delivered that day, Here I Stand, marked the beginning of the Reformation, a critical turning point in Christian history, that decisively altered the spiritual map of the world.
In this recording, Max McLean introduces the events leading up to the Diet of Worms: Martin Luther’s prayer the night before he delivered his speech; Luther's stirring defense; the Catholic church’s rebuttal; and, Luther’s final heartfelt response.
Recovering the treasures of the past is a marvelous gift to the church. I love these presentations of the classics given by Max McLean. However, Martin Luther’s Here I Stand is my favorite. R. C. Sproul
You can download it for free through Sunday, November 1.
Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York has opened up a new free sermon resource, starting with 150 of Pastor Tim Keller’s sermons, all categorized, labeled, and downloadable, at this site:
This is an amazing new resource, and there will be more content getting added regularly, so tell all your friends: Redeemer Free Sermon Resource.
In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.
1) Love is Enriching (1 Corinthians 13:1–3)
· 1 Corinthians 8:1
2) Love is Edifying (vv. 4–7),
a) Love Is Patient: Romans 12:17
b) Love Is Kind: Matthew 5:40-41
c) Love Is Not Jealous: James 3:14-16
d) Love Does Not Brag: 1 Corinthians 14:26
e) Love Is Not Arrogant: Proverbs 16:18
f) Love Does Not Act Rudely
g) Love Does Insist on its own way
h) Love Is Not Irritable: 1 Peter 2:21-24
i) Love Does Not Rejoice in Unrighteousness: Isaiah 5:20
j) Love Rejoices with the Truth: 2 John 1:6
k) Love Bears All The Things: Proverbs 10:12
l) Love Believes All Things: Galatians 6:1
m) Love Hopes All Things
n) Love Endures All Things
3) Love is Enduring (vv. 8–13).
"The laws in our country don't forbid suicide but they do forbid helping someone to take someone's life and there's good reason for that," he said. "An individual may have a moment of expression about dying without a genuine desire to really do so. Look at the number of people who have been let out of prison because we found out they didn't commit a crime. If we had the death penalty, we wouldn't be able to do that."
1) When are we to be thankful?—always.
· Revelation 15:1–4
· John 11:41–42
· 2 Chronicles 20:20–22
· Philippians 1:3–6
2) For what are we to give thanks?—for all things.
· 2 Corinthians 4:15
3) To whom are we to be thankful?—God the Father.
· Philippians 4:6
4) How are we to be thankful?—in the name of Jesus Christ.
· Philippians 2:7–8
