Monday PM

John Piper (I apologize for these notes. They're despicable. I can't remember the sermon at all, so apparently I was barely awake.)

Discerning what pleases God most--Himself!

1. Who is the most God-centered being in the universe?
2. Who is uppermost in God's affections?
3. (umm...missed this one...)
4. What is God's chief jealousy?
5. What is the chief end of God?
6. Do I feel most loved by God because he makes much of me or because he frees me to glorify him?
7. Am I God-centered because he is extremely valuable or because I am extremely valuable to him?

Ephesians 1:5-6

1. Predestination
2. Creation
1. Colossians 1:16
2. I am a telescope to show who God is
3. Incarnation
1. Hebrews 15:8-9 (this verse apparently doesn't exist. I need to listen to the sermon again...)
2. Romans 15:9
4. Propitiation
1. Romans 3:25-26
2. Romans 3:23
3. God can't pass over my sin (trampling his glory)--that's unrighteous. He needs vindication-by my life in hell-BUT Jesus took my place
5. Sanctification
1. Philippians 1:9-11
6. Consummation
1. II Thessalonians 1:9
2. Why is God coming?
   
1. To be glorified and magnifie
3. Love labor, plans, and suffers to share eternity with unbelievers
4. Divine love is selfish and demanding! If God were not honest about how glorious he was, he would be hateful. Deceitfulness is not a part of God's character
5. We are supposed to be God-centered--how foolish if God were not also God-centered!
   

Monday AM

Family Group

Meditating on John 15:1-17

Instructions:

1. Pray and read
2. Write down thoughts that capture my attention
1. Once, I was God’s servant, but now I am a close friend of his son Jesus (v. 15)
2. “Abide” synonyms: dwell, live, spend time with, exist, hang out with. Antonym: Shun.
3. V. 8--”Prove to be my disciples” I am not just named a follower of Christ, but a friend
3. What does this passage...
1. ...say about God?
1. God is the vinedresser--he knkows what’s beneficial and has a clear vision of the future and cares for his vines (v. 1, 2, 9)
2. ...say about me?
1. I am clean! (v. 3)
2. I am a friend of God (v. 14-15)
3. I was chosen (v.16)
3. ...say about my need for a Savior?
1. If I didn’t bear fruit I’d be a goner. But I can’t bear fruit on my own--the vinedresser prunes so I am able
4. ...tell me to do/not do?
1. I should:
1. bear fruit
2. abide in God
3. love others
2. I shouldn’t:
1. not abide in God

Sunday EVE

CJ Mahaney
-the infamous “Idol Factory” message

• Exodus 20:1-3
• Idolatry is the most discussed and seriously condemned sin in the Bible
• Romans 1:18
• Romans 21:25
• I Thessalonians 1:9
• I Corinthians 10:13-14
• Colossians 3:5
• New eyes will enable me to identify and destroy idols

1. Idolatry (definition): A substitute for God; anything/one I love or serve in place of God
1. Creation is treated as the Creator
2. The degree to which I want something elevates it to the level of “idol”--it may not start that way
3. Gifts of God are also potential idols--they’re not bad, but my desire for them can become sin
4. What do I want right now?
2. Discerning idolatry
1. Source: Within
2. James 1:14
3. Left to ourselves, we cannot discern the idols of the heart. We need the Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and scripture to inform us of the truth
4. To identify idols, we need:
1. Scripture
2. Holy Spirit
3. The Church
1. Though I may see sin in others, I can’t always see the sin in myself
2. I may be oblivious, but to others it may seem obvious
4. Pray that others would bring my idolatry to my attention and that I would be gracious about it (Why aren’t they doing that now? Am I preventing it somehow?)
3. Circumstances
1. Adversity reveals the desires of my heart
2. When I don’t get what I want, how do I react?
   
3. If what I have is taken away, how do I react?
4. When adversity happens, God is testing my heart
5. This test is often kicked to another level when meeting someone being tested in the same area, but by prosperity
6. I John 5:21
7. Who or what rules my behavior/motivation? (ooh, redeeming psychology here!)
8. Why haven’t I been having a consistent devotional time? ‘Cos I’m a workaholic? Is WORK my idol?
9. On the website is an article used in this message by David Powlison
4. The fruit of identifying idolatry:
1. Growth in godliness
2. Growth in gratefulness to God
3. Luke 7:47
5. How easily I forget emotions! I need to take hold of truthful experiences, not emotional ones
   

Sunday PM

Al Mohler

• Discernment =/= taste
• 5 wrong ways of understanding culture:

1. Jump in all at once
2. Stay completely out of it
3. Take a dip in culture when it’s convenient and assume we can emerge safely (*guilty!*)
4. Taking a sip of another culture
5. Don’t view another culture as if you’re looking at an aquarium

• Matthew 22:23-34
• Jesus’ reasoning astonished both plebeians and “learned” people
• These great commandments tell us that every human being is my neighbor
• We have a resposibility to show God’s love to our neighbors but we can’t do that if we don’t understand other cultures
• God loves the variety in cultures and they’ll continue to be different in heaven
• All cultures are marked with pride
• Culture itself can become an idol
• Sin and confusion become obvious in culture
• Culture as a whole cannot be redeemed
• “No place is home for us and every place is home for us”
• No one’s going to look at what we did when the world is over
• It is easy for Christians to be seduced by culture
• Engage the culture for God’s glory!
• We can never separate ourselves from culture
  

~Note to self--GO DO ART! ~

• We do need detox from culture--thus Na and Sunday services

Sunday AM

Mark Dever

1. Do we follow commands to purify or to unite?
1. Truth =/= popular
2. II Timothy 4:3-4
3. We often pit one aspect of God against another, such as holiness vs. love (if God can’t stand sin, how can he love us?)
2. What are some common fights Christians have?
1. There are a lot!
3. Why are we together?
1. The level of our agreement that we need for a good relationship depends on the type of agreement we have (we need to agree more with a future spouse than a member of a Bible study)
4. What must we agree upon?
1. This question does not mean “How much can we get away with?”
2. Not all of my doctrines are true! I may be misinterpreting the Bible
3. Ways to know what we need to agree on:
1. Bible
2. Church--our spiritual family
3. Conscience--not always accurate because of sin, but a God-given way to recognize good and evil.
1. Conscience must be trained
4. Testing a doctrine to measure its importance:
1. How clear is it in Scripture?
2. How clear do others think it is?
3. How close is it or its implications to the Gospel?
4. What would the effects be if disagreement would be allowed in this area?
5. To be saved, we must believe in:
1. God--self existent, omnipresent, omniopotent, Creator, outside time
2. Bible--the truth about God
3. Gospel=good news
5. What must we disagree upon?
1. Acts 15:37-41
2. If we agree on the gospel but not on “secondary” issues, we can still cooperate in a lot of ways
3. We can still separate with good will toward each other
4. Romans 14:22
5. I may not agree with someone’s view on something, but don’t bedisagreeable about it
6. How can we disagree well?
1. It’s not about winning an argument, it’s about winning souls

Sunday AM

Family Group

Meditating on Psalm 103

Instructions:

1. Pray and read
1. V. 5--God, help me to recognize the good in my life, that my youthful joy and exuberance be restored so I may glorify you!
2. Write down thoughts that capture my attention
1. God’s anger does not last forever! (Psalm 30:5)
3. What does this passage...
1. ...say about God?
1. God loves us and demonstrates that love in multiple ways (v. 1-14)
2. ...say about me?
1. I am weak and small (v. 14)
3. ...say about my need for a Savior?
1. God is over all, and I cannot please him on my own. If I choose not to please him, everything will work against me because I’m not glorifying God (v. 10, 19)
4. ...tell me to do/not do?
1. I NEED TO FEAR GOD! (v. 11, 13, 17) I do this by keeping his commandments and his covenant

Saturday EVE (Josh Harris)

During this sermon, I was extremely convicted of stupidity. You'll see why.

• Discernment (definition): The ability to judge well.
• I Thessalonians 5:21
• Why is spiritual discernment important to study?
• Right vs. Wrong is not obvious or simple
• Our souls are at stake
• God’s glory is at stake
• Psalm 119:112
• *Psalm 119:104* (this one is starred because of its relevance to my undisciplined relationship with God)
• Ephesians 5:10
• Hebrews 5:14
• Romans 12:1-2
• Discernment is vital to following God’s will
  

1. Discernment requires resistance against the way the world wants to shape me in so many ways
1. By not conforming, I’ll be left out, uncool in the world
2. “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24)
2. Discernment helps us renew the truth, which is a constant necessity
1. “The Main Thing is to keep The Main Thing The Main Thing”
3. Discernment requires action
1. When I refuse to act on what God has shown me, discernment is lost and I am spiritually blind
4. Discerment requires the Gospel
1. Knowing God’s word allows me to discern his will

When God convicts me of ignoring him and his word, and I refuse to act on that, I CAN’T SEE! I am spiritually blind--not discerning (i.e. stupid), rebelling, and rejecting the gifts God has given me.

OW

BUT remember God’s mercy! (vs 1--of what, I don’t know, I’ll find out when the messages are online)

Umm...

Here’s a verse I’d never heard before: James 3:17

It’s written on a page by itself in my notes, and I’m not sure why it was referenced, but it’s a good verse. (DUH)

New Attitude 2007

NEW ATTITUDE!

This year’s Na was interesting. So interesting in so many ways. I think John Piper just burns energy from the Holy Spirit now...he is still human, but so very...very...empty of self and full of God. Yes, I realize he still sins. But he’s proof that humans can get SO shockingly close to God and so alarmingly empty of self. AH! (Speaking of which...)

Anyway.

Josh Harris promised that all of the messages would be free as mp3's on newattitude.org. I'm planning on linking to the individual messages as I can, and I hope to be editing the sermon notes I post here as I listen repeatedly to these messages. I'm also posting the messages in chronological order, and during the day/time they were written. Enjoy...

Waiting For Daylight To Break...

I am restless, and am ignoring the packing that needs to be done. There's a lot I haven't said on this blog lately, though there's a huge draft waiting to be posted. Ahh. Writing, how I miss thee. Here are sundry things I'd like to mention before I head off to a huge conference.

One of my jobs (caretaking) has become a blessing. Through it, I've learned of my own incredible selfishness and how easy it is to get my blood boiling. Great! New ways to see God's work in my life! The job has gone from painful to refreshing. Thanks, God.

I quit the sub shop. For multiple reasons. I think I could be classified as a workaholic...

Rte. 19 was repaved recently, or at least the part between the malls was. I was the first to drive on the new concrete. It was like driving on silk. So cool, yet so expensive...