Coolfield came to play to a large, appreciative audience.
The Hartmann’s set the tone by creating a warm, welcoming ambience for Bryce Cooley’s youthful, sentimental compositions.
I’ve uploaded some small video clips.
Have you ever wondered why God would allow Israel to have a king and even bless the nation through David and Solomon, when the monarchy came as a result of their rejection of God as king? That’s the question John Piper tackles this week. He writes:
The point of this chapter is the kingship of Israel… It was a spectacular sin for the people of God to say to their Maker and Redeemer, “We want to be like the nations. We don’t want you to be our king. We want a human king…” Nevertheless, if Israel had had no kingship, Jesus Christ would not have come as the king of Israel and the Son of David and King of kings. But Christ’s kingship over Israel and over the world in not an afterthought in the mind of God. It was not an unplanned response to the sin of Israel. It was part of his plan.
Let’s ask ourselves a few questions:
- When you consider that God foreshadowed a king in Melchizedek and prophesied of one through Hannah, then factor in Deuteronomy 28:36, how involved in the lives of men do you think God is?
- John Piper lists six things we can learn from the introduction of human kingship in Israel, in order to glorify Christ as King of Kings. Did any one of these speak specifically and powerfully to you?
- Can you remember drifting into an “ungrateful and idolatrous season?” How did you escape?
- Can you describe in your own words how God’s allegiance to His own name, His own honor, results in grace and kindness to us?
- When you read the author’s rationale for a human king, did you think he was reaching or does he make a good case for describing how God brought a God-man onto the scene as a king, to die for his people?
- Have you ever wondered what Paul meant in Romans 3 about “sins, previously passed over” and do you have a better understanding of that now?
- Jesus is King of all. Do you see further significance to the meeting of Abram and Melchizedek?
Continue reading about Spectacular Sins: The Sinful Origin of the Son of David
Dr. Timothy Keller
We know that we are to pray the Word of God, that we are to pray as the Lord showed His disciples. But, should we really pray our tears? Tim Keller thinks so and I think he makes some very important points from Psalm 39 and Psalm 126.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.0MB)
Okay, so we all knew it would come to this: The account of Joseph’s “fall and rise through the sins of his brothers and the sovereignty of God… with lessons about the ways of God and the (seeming!) detours of our lives… You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
The story of Joseph is the story of a righteous one who is sinned against and suffers so that the tribe of Judah would be preserved and a Lion would come forth and would prove to be a Lamb-like Lion and by his suffering and death purchase and empower glad obedience from all the nations — even from those who put him to death. Does he have yours?
- Why did Abram’s offspring have to wait 400 years, under a yoke of slavery, before returning to the Promised Land? Take a moment to reflect on this account of God’s dealings with His people and ask whether you are living according to God’s approach toward time or your own, finite perspective.
- We know about the sin against Joseph and how Israel ended up in Egypt, but how does the Bible describe that turn of events on pages 80 and 81? Have you ever seen your own sin against someone , something you meant for evil, turned to good by God?
- Discuss some of the similarities between Jesus and Joseph.
- How does the Lion of the tribe of Judah fulfill Jacob’s prophecy about the scepter and what is the irony in how the Lion comes to conquer and rule over all peoples?
- Would you characterize your obedience to Christ as glad or joyous or happy? Why or why not?
Continue reading about Spectacular Sins: The Sale of Joseph and the Son of God
John Piper addresses human pride in the account of the tower of Babel. Rather than being fruitful and multiplying, people “clustered” in direct disobedience to God, to pursue their own agenda:
Building a city is the way one avoids being dispersed over the whole earth. And building a tower into the heavens is the way one makes a name for oneself. So the city and tower are the outward expressions of inward sins… God’s will for human beings is not that we find our joy in being praised, but that we find our joy in knowing and praising him. His will is not that we find our security in cities but in God whom we gladly obey.
Are you seeking to make a name for yourself, at the expense of finding joy in making much about God? Are you experiencing the joy the Bible speaks of over and over? If not, could it be that you are looking for happiness in someone or something other than Jesus?
- On page 66, John Piper gives an overview of peoples, nations and languages. He says that people were clustering. Why do you think people come together in groups? That’s a pretty open-ended question. Do you think clustering is in our nature or the result of the fall?
- In this chapter, Piper highlights some literary devices… a few times the Biblical authors employ language to emphasize a point or bring out an important feature in the story. Did you catch that and can you identify at least 2?
- On page 69, the author talks about how and why God scattered the people of the earth. Was this simply a judgment or do God’s actions serve a larger purpose?
- Do you agree with the author’s statement on page 70 that the gospel spreads better “because of 6,500 languages, not in spite of them?” Why or why not?
- Babel and Babylon point to a future uprising, opposing God, which will be universal. Can you think of other Biblical accounts or times in history that serve to illustrate that universal uprising we see in Revelation? In other words, are there other similar markers along the road of history, pointing to a final battle between God and evil?
- The author states that Christianity is “not provincial” or merely a “tribal religion.” How does he come to that conclusion? Do you agree or disagree? How can we, as Christians, make Christianity appear “tribal” or “provincial?”
- How does a diversity of people and languages praising God, “image” Him to others and result in His glory? When people of all kinds come together in Jesus, in what sense does that foreshadow the new heavens and new earth?
Continue reading about Spectacular Sins: The Pride of Babel and the Praise of Christ
