One of the great features of the Next conference each year is the stories about how the gospel and local churches are affecting individual lives. Four such testimonies were featured at the 2010 conference and each testimony was distinct and deeply moving. If you invest 24 minutes of your day watching them you will be personally edified and freshly reminded of God’s grace at work in your own life.
 
Here are the videos:
 
Ian Marshall

 
Update: Ian was drafted in the 40th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Atlanta Braves.
 
Heather Evans


Erin Hill

 
Casey Frazier

Did Paul preach the gospel of Jesus?

Dr. John Piper sought to answer this question during his general session at the recent T4G conference. 

At one point Piper connected the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9–14 to Paul’s testimony in Philippians 3:4–9. Piper says, “When we listen to Paul in Philippians 3:4–9 we are tempted to think he was the Pharisee in Jesus’s parable in Luke 18:9–14.”

Read them for yourself:

Jesus (Luke 18:9–12):

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

Paul (Philippians 3:4–6):

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Jesus (Luke 18:13–14):

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Paul (Philippians 3:7–9):

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.


Paul preached the gospel of Jesus because it was the gospel of Jesus that had forever changed his life.



Piper’s entire T4G message—“Did Jesus Preach Paul’s Gospel?”—can be read, listened to, or viewed online here:


The nine main sessions from last week’s Together for the Gospel conference are now online. Those main sessions can be downloaded as mp3 audio files here and they can be viewed here:

General Session 1:

“The Church Is the Gospel Made Visible”

Mark Dever

General Session 2:

“The Defense and Confirmation of the Gospel — What I Have Learned in 50 Years”

R.C. Sproul

General Session 3:

“How Does It Happen? Trajectories toward an Adjusted Gospel”

Albert Mohler

General Session 4:

“‘Fine-Sounding Arguments’ — How Wrongly ‘Engaging the Culture’ Adjusts the Gospel”

Thabiti Anyabwile

General Session 5:

“The Theology of Sleep! (Mark 4)”

John MacArthur

General Session 6:

“Did Jesus Preach Paul’s Gospel?”

John Piper

General Session 7:

“Did the Fathers Know the Gospel?”

Ligon Duncan

General Session 8:

“Preparing Your Church for Suffering”

C.J. Mahaney with special guest Matt Chandler

General Session 9:

“Ordinary Pastors”

C.J. Mahaney

Thanks to everyone who submitted a note of appreciation and entered the ESV Study Bible giveaway. The giveaway generated 200 entries, and this stack of entries represents a bunch of fruitful churches, faithful pastors, and grateful members like you. C.J. selected the winners, choosing four entries to read and randomly selecting another seven winners. To see if you’re one of the winners, watch this 8-minute video:

ESV Study Bible Giveaway from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Each winner will be notified via email.

Thanks again for entering the giveaway!

There are regularly more stories of God’s grace in Sovereign Grace churches than we have space to tell. It seems each month new ministry opportunities continue to develop around the United States and in various countries around the world. Recently C.J. recorded a video to provide a brief overview of a few of the latest developments and give a shout out to all those who make it possible. You can view the update from C.J in this eight-minute video:

A Debt of Gratitude from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo. HT: Citygate Films.

Note: This film forms one piece of our 2009 Mission Presentation. Two of this year’s films are available online. To view the other film (“Kingdom Life: Bahamas”), see this post from last week.

For more Mission Presentation films from this year (or previous years) click here.

The T4G video crew films C.J’s office, library, work habits, and captures a few distinguishing features of a “pastor-athlete” in this 7 minute video:
 
 
CJ Mahaney – Study Video from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo HT: Justin Taylor.

Last Friday evening C.J. Mahaney spoke at the God Exposed conference organized by 9Marks and hosted at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

C.J.’s text: 2 Timothy 4:1-5. His title: “Expository Faithfulness.” His audience: 360 pastors and seminary students.

For 80 minutes he encouraged the men to labor to be found (1) faithful to the message, (2) faithful to their respective ministries, and (3) faithful to their Savior.

The MP3 of his message can be downloaded here. The video recording is available on Vimeo. Or you can watch it here:

Conference Audio

Audio recordings for all six of the God Exposed sessions are now available at the SEBTS website. Where applicable the Q&A sessions have added to the end of the preceding message recordings.

(1) Mark Dever, “The Power of God’s Word” (Mark 4:26-34). Listen/download.

(2) Daniel L. Akin, “The Preacher on Preaching” (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14). Listen/download.

(3) Michael McKinley, “The Centrality of the Word” (Luke 10:38-42). Listen/download.

(4) C.J. Mahaney, “Expository Faithfulness” (2 Timothy 4:1-5). Listen/download.

(5) Thabiti Anyabwile, “Will It Preach? Exposition in Non-White Contexts” (Nehemiah 8). Listen/download.

(6) Mark Dever, “Expositional Preaching: A Defense and Charge.” Listen/download.

Conference Recap

The conference was covered by Melissa Lilley for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Her summary can be read here. A collection of conference photographs is avaliable here.

Video of C.J.’s conversation with Bob Kauflin and Jeff Purswell, recorded at our WorshipGod09 conference, is now online. To watch the 70-minute video, click here: “Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Leading.” Or watch it here:

We recently added several new C.J. videos to the supply on Vimeo. To date, 26 sermons and two Q&As are available. What follows is a list of messages and links, organized by date and beginning with the oldest message.

It’s worth noting that these videos would not be available without the skill and diligent labor of our faithful audio/video specialist: Dave MacKenzie. Thank you, Dave!

A list of available videos:

Do Not Love the World
1 John 2:12–17
New Attitude   
January 3, 2002

Sovereign Grace
Ephesians 1:4
Sovereign Grace Small Group Leaders Conference
November 14, 2002

Only One Gospel
Galatians 1:1–5
Covenant Life Church
December 8, 2002

Interrogating the Legalist Within
Galatians 3:1–5
Covenant Life Church   
February 9, 2003

Cravings and Conflict
James 4:1–2
Covenant Life Church   
March 21, 2004

The Morning After
Psalm 33
Covenant Life Church
October 31, 2004   

Encourage
Ephesians 4:29
Covenant Life Church   
December 12, 2004

Different by Design, Session 2
1 Timothy 3:14–16
Different by Design Conference   
January 31, 2005

The Cross: A Meditation on Jesus's Atoning Death
Isaiah 53
New Attitude Conference   
May 29, 2006  

The Assessment That Matters
1 Corinthians 3:18–4:5
Covenant Life Church   
October 22, 2006

Deflating the Puffed Up Church
1 Corinthians 4:6–13
Covenant Life Church   
November 5, 2006   

Trinitarian Pastoral Ministry
2 Corinthians 13:14
Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference
April 13, 2007   

The Idol Factory
Exodus 20:1–3
New Attitude Conference
May 27, 2007   

Discern How to Apply
James 1:22
New Attitude Conference
May 29, 2007   

The Cup
Mark 14:22–42
Covenant Fellowship   
October 21, 2007

Who's Really at Work?
Philippians 2:12–13
The Pursuit   
November 10, 2007

Q&A on Biblical Masculinity
The Pursuit
November 10, 2007       

A Warning Label
1 Corinthians 2:6–16
Sovereign Grace Church   
February 3, 2008

Pastoral Character and Loving People
1 Corinthians 1:1–9
Resurgence: Text & Context Conference   
February 25, 2008

Death Swallowed Up in Victory
1 Corinthians 15:17
Covenant Life Church   
March 23, 2008

Sustaining a Pastor's Soul
Philippians 1:3–8
Together for the Gospel   
April 17, 2008   

The Troubled Soul
Psalm 42
New Attitude Conference
May 25, 2008

Knowing God as Father
Galatians 4:1–7
Resolved Conference
June 17, 2008   

The Scream of the Damned
Mark 15
Resolved Conference
June 16, 2008

Hidden in Plain Sight
1 Corinthians 1:1–9
Straight Up Conference
October 7, 2008

Q&A with James MacDonald
Straight Up Conference   
October 7, 2008

Extravagant Devotion
Mark 14:1–11
20/20 Collegiate Conference
February 6, 2009

Death
Mark 15:33–39
Next Conference   
May 25, 2009

 

Blogger Josh Gunter pulled an excerpt from C.J.’s message “The Cup” and set the clip to a video collage and music. Thank you, Josh, for your work on this—the video is an encouraging reminder of Calvary and the love of our Savior.