A Public Faith PART VIII
17 November 2013
Dr. Timothy Keller
Genesis 50:15-21
15When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" 16So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17'This is what you are to say to Joesph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.
19But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
WHY JOSEPH WEPT
--After Joeseph's failed death, his brothers thought their dad, Jacob, would love them more.
--Joseph, as a prisoner, was elevated to prime minister; had a change of character.
--Saved people from famine and redeemed his family.
--Joseph made his brothers relive the past; they broke down and repented.
--He wept because he recognized the lie in v.16
WHAT JOSEPH SAID
--I have forgiven them; Am I in the place of God?
--Who knows what people deserve--only God
--Who has this right?
--V.20; God uses the destructive power of evil for ultimate good.
--Romans 8:28
--No need to retaliate because it was all overcome by God.
--Joseph didn't deny his feelings, but could forgive.
--Joseph's suffering didn't just make him stronger, but was able to save others, serve others, and was useful to others.
JOSEPH POINTS TO JESUS
--Joseph was rejected by his family.
--Joseph endured suffering
--Like Joseph, we were all formed by God to do good
--Ephesians 2:10
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Discovering the Gospel
A Public Faith PART VII
Dr Timothy Keller
10 November 2013
1Corinthians 15:1-11
1Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, through some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
1Corinthians was written 20 years after the death of Jesus.
JESUS
--Core of Christian teachings are the Gospels
--Gospels are the joyful news announcing an historical changing event.
--Core of other religions are directions of what you should do.
--Christianity is not advice on what to do but news of what He has done for you.
--Our behavior is more of a response of us accepting the Gospels.
SIN + SUBSTITUTION
--Sin is our most fundamental human problem.
--Sin is NOT living for God but for ourselves.
--Sin is our infinite debt to God and our barrier to Him.
--"died for our sins"--Died on behalf of our sins
--We get the place Jesus deserves at the right hand of God.
--Sin is a powerful evil force where we substitute ourselves for God.
--Salvation is God substituting Himself for you.
--God takes His own punishment through his Son--so we don't have to.
--Romans 6:23
--My sins deserve death
--All of us are lost in different ways and violate God's laws in different ways.
--Egalitarian--We all deserve death and we all need His grace.
HISTORY + RESURRECTION
--Assures and secures our past salvation because the resurrection is proof that the debt was paid.
--Assures and secures our future salvation by fulfilling our longings.
--Longing for stepping outside of time.
--Longing for escaping death.
--Longing for love
--Longing for communicating with non-humans.
--Longing for the final defeat of evil.
--500 witnesses saw the resurrected Jesus--footnote for evidence.
GOSPEL IS GRACE
--Grace is undeserved leads to humility.
--Grace is unconditional so it elevates you to peace and boldness.
--Grace is costly as Jesus suffered on the cross--leads us to sacrificially serve others.
--Grace leads to wonder.
Dr Timothy Keller
10 November 2013
1Corinthians 15:1-11
1Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, through some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
1Corinthians was written 20 years after the death of Jesus.
JESUS
--Core of Christian teachings are the Gospels
--Gospels are the joyful news announcing an historical changing event.
--Core of other religions are directions of what you should do.
--Christianity is not advice on what to do but news of what He has done for you.
--Our behavior is more of a response of us accepting the Gospels.
SIN + SUBSTITUTION
--Sin is our most fundamental human problem.
--Sin is NOT living for God but for ourselves.
--Sin is our infinite debt to God and our barrier to Him.
--"died for our sins"--Died on behalf of our sins
--We get the place Jesus deserves at the right hand of God.
--Sin is a powerful evil force where we substitute ourselves for God.
--Salvation is God substituting Himself for you.
--God takes His own punishment through his Son--so we don't have to.
--Romans 6:23
--My sins deserve death
--All of us are lost in different ways and violate God's laws in different ways.
--Egalitarian--We all deserve death and we all need His grace.
HISTORY + RESURRECTION
--Assures and secures our past salvation because the resurrection is proof that the debt was paid.
--Assures and secures our future salvation by fulfilling our longings.
--Longing for stepping outside of time.
--Longing for escaping death.
--Longing for love
--Longing for communicating with non-humans.
--Longing for the final defeat of evil.
--500 witnesses saw the resurrected Jesus--footnote for evidence.
GOSPEL IS GRACE
--Grace is undeserved leads to humility.
--Grace is unconditional so it elevates you to peace and boldness.
--Grace is costly as Jesus suffered on the cross--leads us to sacrificially serve others.
--Grace leads to wonder.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Finding God
A Public Faith PART VI
Dr. Timothy Keller
03 November 2013
Exodus 3:1-14
3Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."
4When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!
And Moses said, "here I am."
5"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, HIvites and Jebusites. 9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
11But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
12And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
13Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
14God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I am has sent me to you.'"
Moses's conversion experience as a Journey and Process of how someone comes to believe
Belief in God vs Encouter with God
DISRUPTING SITE
--Impossibility of the burning bush.
--Detour--Moses's normal path was interupted.
--Paradigm Shift--the reality of a burning bush doesn't fit in with our understandings.
--Involved the courage to investigate.
EXPANDING CONCEPT OF GOD
--God is dependent on nothing.
--Has no beginning or ending.
--I am existence itself.
PERSONAL PROBLEM
--Holiness of God is part of God's nature that is dangerous to us sinners.
--Being in the presence of someone much better than us.
--Isaiah felt unclean in the presence of God.
--God is dangerous because he shows us who we are.
--Doesn't tolerate sin and evil in you.
--Getting the God we prefer (or try to control) is easy
--God's Holiness becomes the problem for us.
GRACE
--Enables us to stand in God's presence.
--In the Old Testament, Angel of the Lord is how He could be in our presence.
--2Peter 1-3
Dr. Timothy Keller
03 November 2013
Exodus 3:1-14
3Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."
4When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!
And Moses said, "here I am."
5"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, HIvites and Jebusites. 9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
11But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
12And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
13Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
14God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I am has sent me to you.'"
Moses's conversion experience as a Journey and Process of how someone comes to believe
Belief in God vs Encouter with God
DISRUPTING SITE
--Impossibility of the burning bush.
--Detour--Moses's normal path was interupted.
--Paradigm Shift--the reality of a burning bush doesn't fit in with our understandings.
--Involved the courage to investigate.
EXPANDING CONCEPT OF GOD
--God is dependent on nothing.
--Has no beginning or ending.
--I am existence itself.
PERSONAL PROBLEM
--Holiness of God is part of God's nature that is dangerous to us sinners.
--Being in the presence of someone much better than us.
--Isaiah felt unclean in the presence of God.
--God is dangerous because he shows us who we are.
--Doesn't tolerate sin and evil in you.
--Getting the God we prefer (or try to control) is easy
--God's Holiness becomes the problem for us.
GRACE
--Enables us to stand in God's presence.
--In the Old Testament, Angel of the Lord is how He could be in our presence.
--2Peter 1-3
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Knowing Good
A Public Faith PART V
Rev Leo Schuster
27 October 2013
Romans 2:12-29
12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16This will take place on the day when God judges people's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed y the law; 19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of litle children, becuase you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--21you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
25Circumcision has value ff you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you have not been circumcised. 26So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28A person is not a Jew who is one only outward and physical. 29No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God.
FOUNDATION TO KNOWING GOOD
--Human goodness is derivative of God.
--God's law is found in Bible.
--Essence of the law is written in all of us.
--Implies that it comes from somewhere.
--Without God, there's no basis for good.
--Where's our moral outrage coming from?
--When do our boundaries come up?
--KNowing God's law is the beginning of knowing him.
IMPEDIMENT TO KNOWING GOOD
--v12 Sin
--v17 Self Righteousness; morally uptight.
--v24 God is blasphemed when we do this.
--Idolatry--What are our deepest loyalties?
--Internal life and thoughts are critical
-- Mark 7
--We can't just be good by keeeping God at a distance.
SECRET TO KNOWING GOOD
--v29 - Real change begins inside and goes out.
--Circumcision--Jesus Christ did it for us Col. 2:11
Approaching interior flaws - not in our performace, so no need to be defensive.
v.29 Praise not from others, but only from God--no need to seek other's approval.
Approaching flaws in others - Free to be compassionate.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, so we are free to struggle.
Rev Leo Schuster
27 October 2013
Romans 2:12-29
12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16This will take place on the day when God judges people's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed y the law; 19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of litle children, becuase you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--21you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
25Circumcision has value ff you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you have not been circumcised. 26So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28A person is not a Jew who is one only outward and physical. 29No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God.
FOUNDATION TO KNOWING GOOD
--Human goodness is derivative of God.
--God's law is found in Bible.
--Essence of the law is written in all of us.
--Implies that it comes from somewhere.
--Without God, there's no basis for good.
--Where's our moral outrage coming from?
--When do our boundaries come up?
--KNowing God's law is the beginning of knowing him.
IMPEDIMENT TO KNOWING GOOD
--v12 Sin
--v17 Self Righteousness; morally uptight.
--v24 God is blasphemed when we do this.
--Idolatry--What are our deepest loyalties?
--Internal life and thoughts are critical
-- Mark 7
--We can't just be good by keeeping God at a distance.
SECRET TO KNOWING GOOD
--v29 - Real change begins inside and goes out.
--Circumcision--Jesus Christ did it for us Col. 2:11
Approaching interior flaws - not in our performace, so no need to be defensive.
v.29 Praise not from others, but only from God--no need to seek other's approval.
Approaching flaws in others - Free to be compassionate.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, so we are free to struggle.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Knowing God
Public Faith PART IV
Dr. Timothy Keller
20 October 2013
Romans 1: 16-21
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed--a righteousness that is by faith from first to last just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suprress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
WE CAN KNOW GOD
--Infer God's existience through what we see in nature (v19-20)
WE DO KNOW GOD
--How can something come from nothing?
--We know nothing has no beginning?
--v.19 All people suppress the truth of God's existence
--In some part of our heart, we know God is there.
WE DON'T KNOW GOD
--We don't treat God as magnificent as he is.
--We don't thank Him for everything.
--We all want to call the shots and thereby impersonate God.
BIBLICAL GOD
--Wrathful God who is angry at sin.
--Righteousness is a gift.
--We're afraid to lose control, so we suppress his soverignty over us.
Dr. Timothy Keller
20 October 2013
Romans 1: 16-21
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed--a righteousness that is by faith from first to last just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suprress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
WE CAN KNOW GOD
--Infer God's existience through what we see in nature (v19-20)
WE DO KNOW GOD
--How can something come from nothing?
--We know nothing has no beginning?
--v.19 All people suppress the truth of God's existence
--In some part of our heart, we know God is there.
WE DON'T KNOW GOD
--We don't treat God as magnificent as he is.
--We don't thank Him for everything.
--We all want to call the shots and thereby impersonate God.
BIBLICAL GOD
--Wrathful God who is angry at sin.
--Righteousness is a gift.
--We're afraid to lose control, so we suppress his soverignty over us.
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