TGC 2019 Synopsis

Evangelism / By

Hey church family!  I wanted to share with you some of what I have been hearing while I’m down here at the TGC conference.  I will endeavour to give you a synopsis of the plenary sessions as I heard them.

Plenary session 1 – John Piper – Mark 8:31-38

Vs. 31-33 – God planned, prophesied, and performed the suffering, rejection, murder, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Why does fallen man and Satan recoil from the must of these things?  Because, both Satan and fallen man are opposed to God’s plan.  Why do we believe that God planned, prophesied, and performed the suffering, rejection, murder, and resurrection of Jesus?

  1. 1. The Son of Man must suffer because scripture cannot be broken. Isaiah 53
  2. 2. Because God predicts and performs His word. Jeremiah 1:12
  3. 3. Because God, in His wisdom, planned it before the foundation of the world.  Acts 4:27
  4. 4. Because God’s plan is in place for an infallible purpose.  Ephesians 1:6

Remember, there is no gospel apart from the sovereignty of God.

The events of vs. 31 are woven together by the sovereign “must” and they compromise the gospel.

How does this compromise the gospel?

  1. 1. Mark 10:45, The design of the divine must is a ransom.
  2. 2. Mark 14:24, Jesus death is the purchase of the new covenant.  Only this purchase gives us a new heart and forgiveness.
  3. 3. Jesus uses the word gospel in Mark 8:35.

Mark 8:34-38 is not intended to add to belief, but to reveal the heart of what belief is.

To follow Jesus, you must deny yourself and take up your cross.  There are two “selfs” at work in us.

Self 1:  Aims to gain all that this world offers.  Specifically, possessions and praise.

Self 2: Values Jesus above anything in this world.

Do we Evangelize?

In light of Mark 8, how do we evangelize?

  1. 1. Tell unbelievers the good news first.
  2. 2. Urge them to look deeply at Jesus.
  3. 3. Warn them that to love this world’s possessions and praise will cost them their lives.
  4. 4. Promise them, in the name of Jesus, nothing they deny on earth compares to the blessing of being with Jesus eternally.
  5. 5. Be like Jesus and the Apostle Paul, make sure they know , from the start, by many trials they will enter the kingdom.

You can find all the keynote, breakout and other sessions here.

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