1. The Gospel Driven Life Being Good News People in a Bad News World

2. Tentative Schedule ChapterTitleWeekDate Looking Up, Looking Out: Breaking News 1The Front Page God: Checking Headlines117 August 2The Real Crisis224 August 3The Big Story331 August 4Getting the Story Straight47 September 5Don’t Just DO Something, SIT There! Finding yourself in the Story514 September 6The Promise-Driven Life621 September Looking Around, Looking Ahead: A Cross-Cultural Community 7News of War and Peace: God’s Politics for a New Creation728 September 8How the Good News Creates a Cross-Cultural Community85 October 9The Health Page: Feasting in a Fast-Food World912 October 10Today’s Headline: The Church in Exile1019 October What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You get Things Done Part 1First Things First: Making God Supreme in Our Productivity1126 October Part 2Gospel-Driven Productivity122 November Parts 3-- 6DARE: Define, Architect, Reduce, Execute139 November

3. Assignment #1 What is the gospel? – Please write it (legibly) on the 3X5 card in 2 or 3 sentences at most – DO NOT write your NAME on the card please Yes, please turn it in and then we will discuss

4. The gospel: According to Paul: 1Cor 15:1-8; 1Cor 2:2 According to Peter: 1 Peter 1: 10-12 According to Isaiah: Isaiah 53

5. The gospel: according to Paul Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ESV) And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV)

6. The gospel: according to Peter Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12 ESV)

7. The gospel: according to Isaiah Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:1-6 ESV)

8. THE FRONT PAGE GOD: CHECKING THE HEADLINES Chapter 1

9. Checking the Headlines In Christless Christianity Michael Horton posited: – The basic story of the Bible with Christ at its center is being blurred or even denied – God becomes a supporting actor to OUR stories – we are the headliners and His work is relegated to the religion page. He likes to explain the Bible in this way: Drama => Dogma => Doxology

10. The Problem with News Today… Are you a news ‘junkie?’ 24 hour headline news & other sources Is the news lasting? “News you can use!” or “The top three things you need to know!” News is an ‘industry’

11. The Impact of REALLY important news. What impact did this have in the households of the USA? What impact did it have on the troops throughout Europe?

12. The Impact of REALLY important news. What impact did this have in the households of the USA?

13. The Impact of REALLY important news. What impact did this have in the households of the USA?

14. The Impact of REALLY important news. What news is really important? – GOSPEL: euangellion: good message (news) It is what God does – not what we do – Not: inner light, rules to live by, good advice No other religion is based on historical facts – 1 Cor 15:17-19 REALLY important news has an impact And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:17-19 ESV)

15. Two ‘reels’ of movie showing the story Creation to Fall: – Everyone ‘knows’ the law – written on our hearts (Rom 1) – The law is not ‘news’ (although it is good) The rest of the story… – The surprise in the promise of a Savior (Gen 3:15) – Revealed through special showings – through heralds

16. Implications for the church Trusting in Christ as he is clothed in his gospel, we are guided by the law without any fear of our failures provoking its judgment. Religious programs and outreach strategies might create social centers defined by niche demographics, but the gospel creates a genuine “cross-cultural” community that gathers the generations, races, rich, and poor around Christ and his feast of grace.”

17. Implications for the church “The only thing that the church can provide to the world that is truly unique is the gospel. Only the gospel brings a new creation into this present age of sin and death. That is the basic message of this book.” (i.e., The Gospel Driven Life)

18. God the Headliner We are wrapped up in ourselves – our felt needs, problems, etc. We need to get out of the cocoon we have wrapped ourselves in God cannot be manipulated to fit our experience God stands over against us telling how things ARE God confronts us, disorients us and pulls us outside of our comfort zones “The idols of the nations make the religion page but God is a front- page headliner. Repentance and faith are provoked by the encounter. Look outside of yourself to the God who acts in history.”

19. Your Inner Life is Not the News News is news because it is important – but not in the USA: “Is it relevant to my life?” Even sports is based on the facts – actual events. But in religion: “Does it work for me? Does it help me create my life plan?” Yet we need someone outside ourselves to tell us about our condition, our identity and redemption

20. It’s not about you… “The Bible is not a collection of timeless principles offering a gentle thought for the day. It is not a resource for our self-improvement. Rather it is a dramatic story that unfolds from promise to fulfillment, with Christ at the center. Is focus is on God and his action. God is not a supporting actor in our drama; it is the other way around. God does not exist to make sure that we are happy and fulfilled. Rather, we exist to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” “The gospel does not depend on me at all; it is an objective, completed work. The gospel is entirely outside of you!”

21. No Religion Page Deity God is not a mere witness to history God is the suzerain (great king or emperor) who imposes his covenant The Bible can be seen as one long courtroom trial – based on the covenant – Pagan nations called on their gods as witnesses – YHWH was the covenant make and offended party

22. Invoking the covenant name of God “I am that I am” – YAHWEH – To be invoked as the covenant Lord who will rescue his people (e.g., from Pharaoh) – “Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.” (Exodus 6:6 ESV)

23. Invoking the name of God “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’” (Isaiah 45:22-23 ESV) Echoes in the NT: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

24. The impact … Does our worship focus on this unfolding historical drama of the Triune God? Are we being constantly directed outside of our inner experience and our own felt needs to the real newsmaker in history? Are we perpetually drawn outside ourselves, “looking to Jesus the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God?” (Heb12:2)? Is our corporate and private worship centered on “human will or exertion” or “on God who has mercy” (Rom 9:16)? Is the main point trying to see how God fits into our existing plot or to hear God tell us how we fit into his unfolding drama of redemption?

25. Competing for the Headlines Since the fall, humanity has been trying to replace God as the headliner: “Has God said…?” Examples: – Howard Hughes – King Nebuchadnezzar – Sadam Hussein

26. God is no ‘religion page deity’ The Reign of the Lord's Anointed Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill…. Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:1-12 ESV)

27. Masters, Tourists and Pilgrims Modern view: self is the masters of all it surveys Post-modern view: self is a tourist – destination ‘nowhere’ – E.g., Seinfeld, the show about nothing – Personal journeys from nowhere to nowhere – aimless drifters to a destination we choose for ourselves Biblical view: we are pilgrims – Do not create our own kingdoms of glory – Not sure exactly what the destination will be like – Driven by a promise and its fulfillment – on the way to a settled place with landmarks along the way