Kevin Stilley

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The Saving Power of God : Discussion Questions

Message: The Saving Power of God
Speaker: Dr. Steve Lawson

This message was presented at the Ligonier Ministries’ 2008 National Conference “Evangelism According to Jesus”.

What is the gospel of the Old Testament? Who owns the gospel? And what is the essence of the gospel? Dr. Steve Lawson answers these questions and more as he reminds us of the primacy of the gospel of God as we seek to honor Christ in our evangelism.

What is the doctrine of divine omnipotence?

How does the doctrine of divine omnipotence relate to the salvation of men?

What is the source of the gospel? From whom did it come? Who is its author?

If the gospel is God’s gospel, what is our role in presenting it to others?

When Jesus preached and ministered the gospel, what was his message and ministry?

How does the gospel of the New Testament relate to the gospel of the Old Testament?

What is the protoevangelium?

How many ways of salvation are presented in the Old and New Testaments?

What is the content of the gospel? What is the essence of the gospel?

Why is it important that Jesus was both fully man and fully God?

The speaker says that we have not shared the gospel until we have shared the message of the person and work of Jesus Christ? What are the implications of this for evangelism?

Of does the speaker mean when he speaks of the effectual call of God?

He says that all who received the gospel desire to serve the gospel? Do you think this is true? How does this relate to the subject of Christian stewardship?

The gospel saves from what?

What is the object of God’s wrath?

What is the way to be saved from the wrath of God?

What is the scope of the gospel? Who is it for?

What is the substance of the gospel? What does it mean that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel?

How is the gospel received? What does sola fide mean?

When a person places their faith in Christ, why are they no longer subject to wrath?

How does the story of Martin Luther relate to this message?

How does this message relate to you?

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The Gospel – select quotes

He who has not felt what sin is in the Old Testament knows little what grace is in the New. He who has not trembled in Moses, and wept in David, and wondered in Isaiah will rejoice little in Matthew or rest little in John. He who has not suffered under the Law will scarcely hear the glad sound of the gospel.
~ R. W. Barbour

The bottom line is this. That the gospel is about the forgiveness of sins so the Spirit might come. The goal of all this covenant activity is to restore a lost relationship to connect God to his people as he lives within.
~ Darrell Bock

The gospel is about the privilege of God entering our lives permanently from within our being, restoring his relationship with us, and making us part of his precious family.
~ Darrell Bock

The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.
~ Tim Keller

The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.
~ John MacArthur

The power of the gospel changes him… and makes them into a new creation. … for the work of Christ sweeps away both his good and his evil and turns him into another man. …it also includes an actual change in the life of the individual. … a transformation as deep as the roots of his human life. If it does not go that deep, it does not go deep enough.
~ A.W. Tozer

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John MacArthur – select quotes

We do not “make” Christ Lord; he is Lord! Those who will not receive Him as Lord are guilty of rejecting Him. “Faith” that rejects His sovereign authority is really unbelief. Conversely, acknowledging His lordship is no more a human work than repentance or faith itself. In fact, it is an important element of divinely produced saving faith, not something added to faith.
~ in The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith?, page 28

Hell will be full of people who thought highly of the Sermon on the Mount. You must do more than that. You must obey it and take action.

If you are a Christian, it’s a serious misunderstanding to think of yourself as having both an old and new nature. We do not have a dual personality! Assuming the dual nature of the believer could easily lead one to excuse all kinds of sins by blaming them on the old nature. The popular theological concept of the old man and the new man fighting each other is not biblically accurate.

Mankind wants glory. We want health. We want wealth. We want happiness. We want all our felt needs met, all our little human itches scratched. We want a painless life. We want the crown without the cross. We want the gain without the pain. We want the words of Christ’s salvation to be easy.

The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.

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Evangelism – select quotes

The hardest people to reach with the love of God are not the bad people. They know they are bad. They have no defense. The hardest ones to win for God are the self-righteous people.
~ Charles L. Allen

A theology of response does not need to be Pelagian; it need only be a theology in which the reality of the human is taken seriously.
~ Gary Badcock in The Way of Life

Evandalism. n. Using spray paint to write “John 3:16” on public structures.
~ Pete Briscoe, in Belief Matters: Grappling With the Essentials of the Christian Faith, page 117.

Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.
~ Frederick W. Faber

We’ve drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium.
~ Paul Harvey

If every person in the world had adequate food, housing, income; if all men were equal and every possible social evil and injustice were done away with, men would still need one thing: Jesus Christ!
~ J. W. Hyde

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Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson

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I contributed the following article on Aimee Semple McPherson to the American National Biography.
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McPherson, Aimee Elizabeth Semple (9 October 1890-27 September 1944), evangelist and founder of The Church of the Foursquare Gospel, was born in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of James Morgan Kennedy, Methodist farmer, and Mildred “Minnie” Pearce, Salvation Army volunteer.

[Read more…]

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Internet Evangelism Day is April 27

Churches have not exactly been what you would call “early adapters” when it comes to using the internet. Well, Internet Evangelism Day has been organized to help churches to more effectively employ this technology.

The Internet Evangelism Day website has materials available to enable churches “to create a short presentation within their activities on that day. A PowerPoint, video clips, drama scripts, music and handouts can be used to create a customized program lasting from one minute to 50.”

Internet Evangelism Day has been endorsed by such notables as John Stott, Sterling Huston (Director of North American Ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), and Gary McClure of LifeWay.

You can find out more at InternetEvangelismDay.com, where they also have year-round resources to help churches share the gospel online.

Check it out.

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Desiring God’s recommended commentary for the Gospel According to John

The staff at Desiring God have compiled a list with a suggested commentary for each book of the Bible. For the Gospel according to John they have recommended D. A. Carson’s volume in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series .

 

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