C3 - Session 3 - Mark Driscoll

Mark is a preacher. He was the third speaker, and you noticed right away that he had an entirely different style than the first two, Ed and Craig. Google Mark and you will find his church, blog, books, etc.

He hit the stage preaching and he did not let up. It was very powerful. His text was 1 Cor 15:1-4
About the Gospel message, he said:

• It's Continual -- it reminds us
• It's Proclamational -- it tells God's story
• It's Personal -- "you received"
• It's Eternal -- there is no life, hope, joy apart from the gospel
• It's Central -- it's of 1st importance
• It's Eternal -- handed from one generation to the next
• It's Christological -- it's all about Jesus
• It's Penal -- it's the Way and the only Way
• It's Substitutional -- in the great exchange, God became our sin
• It's Eschatological -- it shows us our future

2 Enemies to the Gospel and our ministry

1. Idolatry -- You won't break the other 8 Commandments if you keep the 1st two; When we elevate 'good' things to make them 'God' things, that's idolatry; We create a 'functional-savior' to get us out of whatever 'hell' we are in; We get angry at the real God for not serving our false god;

2. Religion -- Religion doesn't understnad the Gospel; Religion says if you obey, God will love you - the Gospel says God loves you, you can obey; Religion says the world is about good people and bad people, the Gospel is about repented and unrepented (if the world was an old western movie, we'd all wear black hats); Religion is all about our birth family, the Gospel is all about our new birth family; Religion is about what I do, Gospel is about what Jesus has doen; Religion is about getting from God, Gospel is about getting God; Religion is a stick, God is a pinata (I love that line); Religion sees hardship as punishment, Gospel recognizes that not all suffering is bad; Religion is about me, the Gospel is about Jesus; Religion ends in pride or despair, Gospel is about Jesus.

Powerful Stuff. How does this affect what you are doing today?