Together for the Gospel 2012

Just an update on what I took from T4G. I won't include everything because that would be a novel but here's some stuff that I would like to share with you and I pray that God will use this to speak to you in the way He needs you to hear Him - an encouragement, a conviction to soften a hardened heart, etc. Whatever He wills. Videos of the teaching, break out sessions and the panel is available at www.t4g.org! My notes are just that - my notes. I do know that my notes itself do not do justice to the speaker so I encourage you, if any of the session notes below, grab you, please click on the link to watch the full video of the session. Thank you for praying. I too, pray for you, all of you. The first 2 days started out with various testimonies of about 2-5 minutes in length to re-iterate just what we were all (8000 of us) gathered there for - for the Underestimated Gospel. The people who shared their testimony were there because someone shared the Gospelwith them in love and action: - A man shared being delivered from a life of drugs, alcoholism and imprisonment, and is now pastoring a church in England. - A man living in a 3rd world country where the Gospel was not welcomed, therefore not spread, and he is now a Pastor equipping other leaders to help spread the Gospel in India. - A woman married to an alcoholic and abusive man, whose relationship was restored to Christ and her husband is now a Pastor, dedicated to making Christ known. - A skeptic that became a nominal Christian, that became a Pastor and moved to United Arab Emirates for a few years to help spread theGospel to muslims. - A young man who was told nothing else but to pray a prayer to accept Christ as the only means to get saved, another nominal Christian and is now fully devoted to Christ as he shares his music as a Christian rap artist (Trip Lee).There were a few other testimonies... and they all ended with a powerful statement "Do not UNDERESTIMATE the power of the Gospel." Aside from what I took from the sessions, the worship was really organic. There was only a piano on stage and to hear voices - nothing else to drown the sound of voices to the Lord, was so beautiful. Albert Mohler, one of the speakers, took a video of a segment of worship while singing In Christ Alone. 8000 voices, praising God. Here is another 30 second video from a T4G attender.. There were 9 General Sessions, a break out session and some panel discussion. Session #1: C.J. Mahaney: The Sustaining Power of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4)- C.J Mahaney used this time to encourage and remind Pastors and leaders not to lose heart in light of our challenges- We have been called to proclaim the Gospel and this is a SACRIFICIAL ministry.- We are not to tamper with the message of the Gospel, we are not innovators - we are proclaimers. We preach, teach, share to draw attention to HIM.- There are conditions to Christian ministry. We have to keep God in view but also people in view. We have to be prepared to suffer for theGospel, to be content to be nothing so that HE can be everything. We are to trust HIS heart at times when we feel like HE has abandoned us. We must ask ourselves if we are amazed at the ministry HE has called us to.- The congregation is not only studying your doctrine but specifically your life. They want to see if the Gospel remains in your life and you remain joyful and charitable through the challenges - by the power of the sustaining grace of God.- Our present suffering cannot be compared to our future glory in the kingdom of God. We must be aware of inner renewal and heart transformation daily so that we can keep God and the ministry He has called us to, in plain sight - in focus.- We cannot and should not underestimate the Power of the Gospel to carry us through when our flesh wants us to lose heart. Session #2 Albert Mohler: The Power of the Articulated Gospel (Romans 10)- We must remember that we have friends in Christ for the LONG HAUL.- The Word is brought near: It is our responsibility to bring the Word of God near to others. The hearing and the proximity through hearing.- Preach, teach, share to all person everywhere. In order to to share the Gospel, we must clearly articulate what the Gospel is. People need words so they can receive or reject it. We must know that we SOW and God will reap the harvest.- Our actions: is the Power of the Gospel after it is been clearly articulated to us.- Think about how the Gospel was brought near to you - to us and use that as a fuel to encourage you to do the same. Always find opportunities to share and do no underestimate the Power of the Gospel to do it's work after your mouth has shared what it has done in your life. Session #3 Mark Dever: False Conversions - The Suicide of the Church (1 Timothy 4:16)- God has a plan to make Himself known and exalted. We are the means, the vessels to bring God glory.- As leaders in ministry we have a responsibility and an even bigger account to give to God. If we do not have love for man's salvation to Christ then we hinder their relationship with God because we are settling with "salvation prayer" with no follow-up and not only is one man affected but the whole congregation and/or the group that has been appointed to you.- We have false conversions because we have false preachers who will exploit us because it is convenient for them as they look at thenumber rather than the relationship formed.- We need to know that we can teach the wrong things that can lead to disastrous results. We need to know and teach that God is good and we are not. We have received God's mercy through Jesus, that we never deserved. We cannot think lightly of our sin for whoever thinks lightly of their sin thinks lightly of their Savior.- Our only trust and treasure is in Christ. Any denial of the resurrection is the denial of God Himself.- It is an error to teach of Christ for pleasure in this life. Our basic posture in a fallen world is waiting - waiting for the return of Christ.- We cannot present a church without holiness, without accountability. We must be ready and able to keep others accountable. - We cannot present a church without suffering and do mild versions of prosperity teaching.- We cannot present a church without love, sacrificial love that most people unfortunately find - inconvenient. We must be ready to get our hands dirty and get our schedules shuffled. We must be flexible to love sacrificially like our Savior. Without a cross, there is no crown.- We must remember that we have to give an account to God - 1 Timothy 4:16. Session #4 Tabithi Anyabwile: Will your Gospel Transform a Terrorist? (1 Timothy 1:12-17)- By terrorist, he does not just mean the stereotypical terrorist. Think of the person you fear to share the Gospel with the most: prostitute, homeless, neighbour, sister, mother, friend....- A question was asked on what are the reasons that the Gospel does not transform a terrorist?.... with a varying number of answers - this was what the main reason: Our LACK of confidence in the Gospel we preach, teach, share.- Is there an evident mark that certifies that you have a deep and unshakable confidence in the Good News of Jesus Christ? Romans 1:16 - are you truly unashamed and is this really your boast? NOTHING needs to be added to the Gospel. God only has one sermon - theredemption of sinners.- People need us to be confident in the Gospel. They cannot be confident in the Gospel that we don't believe will truly change their lives. They know through your delivery and your life and your approach, if you truly believe the Gospel.- We must know that there is a reality that people are LOST - a convinced blindness, a misdirected love resulting in eternal damnation.- Share the Gospel slowly and clearly - let it do it's job.- Re-direct our focus from man to God.We must have a fear of being unfaithful rather than unfruitful. It is up to us to be faithful and up to go to be fruitful. We must recognize the danger in frustration and depression in looking for fruitfulness when it is not our job to count.- We cannot pick and choose where we share the Gospel, we must share it everywhere. Our confidence must be in the message of theGospel and not our method.- Study the Gospel in deep and varying ways so that everywhere we go, we see the Gospel. We must preach to bring from dark to light, to open eyes, to pray and labor. We preach in confidence, in a way that their faith solely rely on the power of God and not the fleeting power of man. We cannot underestimate the Power of the Gospel to change the hearts/lives of those we fear. Session #5 Kevin DeYoung: Spirit-Powered, Gospel-Driven, Faith-Fuelled Effort (1 Corinthians 15:10)- Growth in godliness requires Spirit-Powered, Gospel-Drivem, Faith-Fuelled Effort, but what does that mean?- Spirit-powered: the Spirit reveals sin and exposes the world of sin. We pray for God to reveal the truth about ourselves; our sins, so we can glorify God in fullness.- Gospel-driven: through God's mercies we find the response to grace is GRATITUDE. This is the kind of attitude of happiness that takes outthe nastiness and bitterness. Knowing the Gospel and being driven by the Gospel is knowing truth - of God and our sins.- Faith-fuelled: the pursuit of holiness is the fight for faith, believing the promises of God and acting that, that really is true in our lives.- Effort: We cannot make ourselves or people, better apart from the Gospel. We must put to death what is earthly in us. - Reminder that trusting in God does not put an end to trying. Session #6 David Platt: Divine Sovereignty- The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions - Local ministry and local mission in community are necessary and should not be neglected but global missions is tragically neglected.- There are unreached people with no access to the Gospel, the Bible or to a local church. They will die without hearing the articulatedGospel.- As Pastors and leaders, we have the privilege and responsibility to lead and be a part of global missions but we cannot think that God just because we are doing His work, that God is much better off with us on His team. Remember that God is sovereign and holds the world in thepalm of His hands and in His mercy, He has invited us to His ministry.- The state of God apart from man is utterly hopeless (Romans 5:12, Colossians 1:21, John 8:34, 2 Timothy 2:26...).- Our words have also tragically been neglected. "What the hell?" The way we talk about hell tells us that we don't know what we're talking about - hell or heaven.- Remember that there are no innocent unreached people in the world since all have come into existence with sin in their life. The person in Africa or the deep jungle will go to hell if we do not share Christ with them.- The great news in all the world - the slaughtered Lamb of God reigns as the sovereign Lord of all and the atonement of Christ is graciously, globally, gloriously particular. He has ransomed YOU! He has chosen YOU! Before star or mountain or oceans the almighty God on high, set His sights on YOUR soul. We are not to use guilt to get people to Christ. We must have real passion to glorify our King.- This is what we live and die for: Lead churches/people to pray confidently for the spread of the Gospel, to give sacrificially, to go intentionally to all peoples, to die willingly for the spread of the Gospel - Matthew 16:25. Session #7 Ligon Duncan: The Underestimated God: God's ruthless, compassionate grace in the pursuit of His own Glory and His Ministers' Joy (1 Kings 19)- Ligon emphasized how important it is to study our disappointments - all of them; and we will learn about what you love and what you REALLY believe. You'll learn where you really rest, where your treasure is when disappointments come. By studying our disappointments, our reactions to them - we will learn what needs to change in our hearts to translate into action.- When disappointments come, we forget that God is God and that God is GOOD, we are liable to not believing His truth and we succumb to idolatry because we end up believing in a greater treasure that has been 'withheld' from us.- We must remember that even people who believe in the sovereignty of God cam fail to believe that the Lord is good, that those who fight against idolatry sometimes succumb to it in their 'own' strength. - We must also remember and truly believe that God ruthlessly crushes our idolatries because He wants us to have the greatest joy IN HIM.The Lord always knows what is best and He knows how to deal with His most faithful servants. Even when it looks like God is hard on His people - God will relentlessly pursue you and bring you back home to Him but we must remember that this can only happen with our faith in Him and not of our own strength. We cannot underestimate God's pursuit for us in ripping out the idolatries in our lives. He will not leave us to writhe in our disappointments. - 2 Corinthians 4:4-6- Do not lose heart in times of disappointments, instead, recognize it, study it. Our response should be thankfulness in the refining by God's hand so we can endure the challenges, the disappointments.He that endures to the end shall be saved. Session #8 Matt Chandler: The Fulfillment of the Gospel (Revelation 21 &22)- The fruits of hope have already been sown in Jesus Christ.- When you are weary, it's because you are trying to carry your own weight apart from Christ - apart from the Gospel.- Our response should never be I want to die and get there - heaven; but more: I want to be faithful and get there - heaven in the presence of our Lord.- If we know the end, then why not press on with every ounce of integrity and faithfulness. We have to get over OURSELVES! By always having a view on us, the effect on us, the pity party on us - is a miserable view of life. Our view must be on the fulfillment of the Gospel and it is coming. This is why Paul calls his life trials light and momentary, not worthy to be compared - we must be all in. Session #9 John Piper: Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority keeps us safe for everlasting joy (Jude 1:24-25)- This is John's last time at T4G as a Pastor. He has been in ministry for 32 years in one church. He read an excerpt from his journal in 1986 to start off his teaching on amazement of God's work and in God's 'keeping of us.'- Are we aware of the degree of power, authority and grace it took to keep us alive? Think of where you are now... have you revelled in thanksgiving of His glory to keep you alive?- God creates spiritual life. (John 3:6).- The giving moment by moment of this life is a work of God. What is in me is not me, it is there from Christ. We should be amazed at even how we blink, how our hands move... how I am able to type this! Our amazement has diminished because we have become a people of many expectations.- John Piper has been a believer and follower of Christ for 60 years. He is amazed that God has kept him through the shipwreck of this world's life. But God is supreme, those He calls, He keeps. God will sustain to the end, guiltless.- We must remember to have faith, pray by the Holy Spirit in every detail of our life and wait. Wait and trust and rely solely on God.- The difference between real and fake Christians is that one prizes the God of grace and the other prostitutes the grace of God.