To all those in Ekklesia521 (and whoever may be interested):
This coming Friday (and for every Friday after that for the next few months), we will be going through a new curriculum put out by Desiring God ministries (resource ministry of Pastor John Piper) titled Your Word is Truth: A Study for Youth on Seeing All of Life Through the Truth of Scripture.
Here is the goal of this new curriculum, as stated by Desiring God ministries.
The goal of this study is that, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the authoritative Truth of the Bible might be understood and embraced so students may see and interpret all of life through the Truth of Scripture.
I am really excited to go through this new curriculum for several reasons (some of which include):
This is the first time using a curriculum which I feel comfortable with theologically.
The content is absolutely relevant and necessary (especially for those of us who are seniors and will go off to college next year).
This curriculum is designed differently than any of the other small groups curricula that we’ve tried at GFC. The format will be one which will integrate (in the same lesson) lecture and small group activities.
Multi-media files included.
Our Friday night meeting will start promptly at 8 PM. Please make sure to be on time; bring your Bibles and something to write with.
One last thing: Every lesson in this curriculum loosely builds on the previous lesson. And so, it is imperative that you try to make it every Friday.
Recently, I came across this video interview and thought it would be helpful to share with regards to how we are to read God’s Word.
Darrin Patrick, pastor of The Journey Church in St. Louis asks Dr. Bryan Chappell, president of Covenant Theological Seminary, the question: “How can I see the Gospel through the Law?” In other words, “How do I see Jesus being displayed in a commandment like ‘Do not steal’? Is this commandment given to show me primarily what Imust do – or to show me primarily what Jesus has done?”
Though this question is asked in regards to how preachers are to preach God’s Word, it is absolutely helpful in how we approach God’s Word on a daily basis in our devotionals.
“I think a lot of us need to forget about God’s will for my life. God cares more about our response to his Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spirit right now, in today’s decisions. It is easy to use the phrase ‘God’s will for my life’ as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience. It’s much less demanding to think about God’s will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It’s safer to commit to following him someday instead of this day. To be honest I believe part of the desire to ‘know God’s will for my life’ is birthed in fear and results in paralysis.” (120)
“God wants us to listen to his Spirit on a daily basis, and even throughout the day, as difficult and as stretching moments arise, and in the midst of the mundane. My hope is that instead of searching for ‘God’s will for my life,’ each of us would learn to seek hard after ‘the Spirit’s leading in my life today.’” (120)
“The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is not someone we can just call on when we want a little extra power in our lives. Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us. He died and rose again so that we could forget everything else and follow him to the cross, to true Life.” (122)
In what areas of your life right now is it evident that you are not obeying His Spirit? I would encourage us all to write them down and repent and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of those sins, and then asking God to supply you with the strength that only He can supply “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11).
There is nothing more exhilarating than when the God of the universe graciously reveals Himself to you as you pour over His powerful Word.
Here’s a link to an amazing tool called BibleArc that helps you in this endeavor. They include a free tutorial (lengthy tutorial – but completely worth it) to help you learn arcing.
Here’s a video of Pastor John Piper describing the importance of “arcing.”
Again, to anybody in Ekklesia521 (and even those who are not), I will be more than happy to sit down and walk through this process with you – just let me know.
