center church chapters 3 4
DESCRIPTION
Small group discussion guide with summary, quotes, and questions from Tim Keller's Center Church.TRANSCRIPT
Community Group DiscussionPart II
Center church
The gospel is not everything.
Review of chapters 1-2
The gospel is not everything;“meaning it must be distinguished as an announcement of news, distinct from its results and implications”
Review of chapters 1-2
The gospel is not everything;“meaning it must be distinguished as an announcement of news, distinct from its results and implications”
The gospel is not a simple thing.
Review of chapters 1-2
The gospel is not everything;“meaning it must be distinguished as an announcement of news, distinct from its results and implications”
The gospel is not a simple thing.“meaning it cannot be packaged in a single standard form.”
Review of chapters 1-2
What is the gospel?
Review of chapters 1-2
What is the gospel?“The gospel is good news announcing that we have
been rescued or saved. Because we are alienated from God, we are psychologically alienated within ourselves — we experience shame and fear (Gen 3: 10). Because we are alienated from God, we are also socially alienated from one another, and from nature itself. “vertical” relationship with God. All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause. The reason for all the misery — all the effects of the curse — is that we are not reconciled to God.”
Review of chapters 1-2
“The gospel is not about something we do but about what has been done for us, and yet the gospel results in a whole new way of life. This grace and the good deeds that result must be both distinguished and connected.”
Review of chapters 1-2
Review of chapters 1-2
Keller writes, “The primary cause of all of our alienations [is] our separation from God.”
Chapter 3: The gospel affects everything.
Keller writes, “The primary cause of all of our alienations [is] our separation from God.” discouragement and depressionlove and relationshipssexuality family and parental expectationsself-controlyour motive for witnessobedience to human authorityguilt and self-image joy and humor
The gospel affects everything.
Keller writes, “The primary cause of all of our alienations [is] our separation from God.”
How has the gospel mended this primary ailment in you and how has it helped curb the many other symptoms that flow from it? How does this experience prepare you to minister to alienated people?
The gospel affects everything.
What is revival?
Chapter 4: Gospel Renewal
What is revival?
“...all revivals are seasons in which the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are intensified many-fold. In revival, the ordinary means of grace produce a great wave of newly awakened inquirers, soundly converted sinners, and spiritually renewed believers.”
Gospel Renewal
What is revival?
“...all revivals are seasons in which the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are intensified many-fold. In revival, the ordinary means of grace produce a great wave of newly awakened inquirers, soundly converted sinners, and spiritually renewed believers.”
Gospel Renewal
What is revival?
“...all revivals are seasons in which the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are intensified many-fold. In revival, the ordinary means of grace produce a great wave of newly awakened inquirers, soundly converted sinners, and spiritually renewed believers.”
Gospel Renewal
What is revival?
“...all revivals are seasons in which the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are intensified many-fold. In revival, the ordinary means of grace produce a great wave of 1) newly awakened inquirers, 2) soundly converted sinners, and 3) spiritually renewed believers.”
Gospel Renewal
What is revival?
“...revival is not a historical curiosity; it is a consistent pattern of how the Holy Spirit works in a community to arrest and counteract the default mode of the human heart. It is surely relevant to ministry in twenty-first-century global cultures, as it is relevant in every culture.”
Gospel Renewal
What is revival?
“...Revivalist ministry emphasizes conversion and spiritual renewal, not only for those outside the church, but also for those inside the church. Some need to be converted from clear unbelief; others need to see, to their surprise, that they’ve never been converted; still others need to sense their spiritual stagnation.
Gospel Renewal
Have you ever experienced spiritual renewal in a corporate setting as described in this chapter? If so, how would you describe it? How did it differ from a more personal experience of renewal?
Gospel Renewal
How can you bring more of a gospel renewal focus to your existing ministry?
Gospel Renewal