John Piper - Session #1 - Jesus the Son of God, the Son of Mary #TGC13

SPEAKER:  John Piper
SCRIPTURE:  Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-21

Here are my notes from The Gospel Coalition 2013 Conference. For the main sessions they assigned each speaker a specific passage.  The purpose of the conference is to reveal Christ through the book of Luke.

INTRODUCTION (Luke 1:1-4)

In Luke 1:4, Luke explicitly explains the purpose for why he is writing this book.

Luke 1
⁴ that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught

Luke wrote this book to give us CERTAINTY regarding what we believe.

The Greek word translated CERTAINTY is asphaleia.  Elsewhere in scripture this word is used for security or safety.  It refers to the safety and security a jail cell brings.  Other times it hints at the idea of a security that brings peace.

So understanding the Greek word behind certainty reveals special nuances behind the purpose of Luke's letter to Theophilos.

Here's the big idea of the book.

• I don't want you to just know the truth.
• I want you to be safe and secure in what you believe.
• I want you to know it in a way you feel secure.

Today, so much of what we believe is mre like a cloud which can be blown away and replaced.
We need to know things like a mountain not like a cloud.  We need beliefs which are secure from shifting waves of culture.


But which beliefs do we need an asphaleia belief in? What are the major themes in the book of Luke?

If you look at the first two chapters, four major themes emerge:

• God
• Jesus
• Salvation
• The Way

KNOW THE REALITY OF GOD / THE LORD

In chapters one and two the words God and The Lord appear dozens of times. Simply reading through the text you can't miss how often references are made to God and/or The Lord.God is the star of this story.

As you read through the book of Luke you will realize the entire book is God saturated. All events which transpire are part of God's plan.

Don't let God be a cloud in your head, but let Him be the mountain in your life

KNOW THE REALITY OF JESUS

Luke 1
³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

It's important to note that the angel announces the coming of Christ points to His reign over the house of Jacob forever. This isn't a temporal ruler.  This isn't a Jewish king or political hero. He is being established by God forever.


Another key distinction is in verse 35. Here we see that He is uniquely holy because He is of the Holy Spirit.  Mary contributes humanity.  Holy Spirit contributes divinity

Finally, in Luke2:26-27, Jesus is The Lord.

KNOW THE REALITY OF SALVATION

The truth is that Jesus has come to die for our sins. Even in these early texts, they frequently reference salvation.

KNOW THAT THERE IS A WAY IN

Not everyone gets in, but you can get in and I want you in.

CONCLUSION

It not myth
These are knowable dates, locations, and people.  We can believe with certainty and security.

This story is about joy.  When the Holy Spirit is in you, you have joy.


Here's a second set of notes on the session by Aaron Armstrong,  CLICK HERE.

Video - ReNew Band "Love Shines"

"Love Shines" live from ReNew 2012.

ReNew 2012 - Last Day for Early Bird Price is Sunday!

We're less than 2 months away from ReNew 2012. The early bird price ends this Sunday. After this Sunday the price jumps up $15. If you know you're going, save yourself $15 and sign up Sunday!

Find out everything you might want to know about ReNew here:

http://huttobible.com/site/content/renew-2012

ReNew 2012 - The Details!

ReNew is our student ministry Winter weekend retreat

ReNew is intended to be our most fun and most creative event of the entire year but also challenge your student to take their next step spiritually. This involves large worship gatherings, four teaching sessions, a breakout session covering age/gender specific topics, and a small group discussions. The main sessions are joined with high school, but for small groups, larger groups games, and breakouts middle and high school will be separate.

This retreat will be our first retreat which we are doing independent of our parent church Hill Country Bible Church Pflugerville.

BASIC

LOCATION: Camp Tejas
DATE: January 14-16 (Saturday through Monday - MLK Weekend)
WHO: 6th-12th grade
SPEAKER: Ryan Schomaker (Middle School Pastor at HCBC NW)
BAND: Spencer Roth Band

LEARN MORE AT

http://huttobible.com/site/content/renew-2012

COST:

• EARLY BIRD: $130 (Before December 4th)
• REGULAR: $145 December 5th - January 3rd)
• LATE: $160 (January 4th-15th)

Download the full brochure here:
http://www.hcbchutto.com/theexchangehutto/BROCHURE%20(small).pdf

Download a PDF of the registration form here:
http://www.hcbchutto.com/theexchangehutto/registration.pdf

Online registration will be live in a couple of days. You can also register by picking up a registration form on Sunday morning at church and turning it into a student ministry leader with a non-refundable deposit of $25 (this money goes towards the cost of the trip).

Sermon Video - BEfore You Say, "I Do" - Session 3 - Setting Standards

Sermon by Bobby Pruitt

SERMON VIDEO: Before You Say, "I Do" - Part II - "When Can I Date?"

This past Sunday message on when you're ready to date.

Before You Say, "I Do" - The Blog

I started a blog to go along with our new series at the Exchange.

All the sermons will be posted there, as well as articles, resources, and much more. Check it out!

http://preparetosayido.tumblr.com/