Session 1 The Blazing Center: A Personal Story

Transcription

1 Session 1 The Blazing Center: A Personal Story What is John Piper s mission statement? What are the benefits of seeking to spread our joy to others? Explain why not seeking to spread our joy causes our joy to shrivel up. What are the two reasons Piper gives for saying his mission statement will only be accomplished through Jesus Christ? What does nature tell us about God? What can t nature tell us about him? Why do we need Scripture to tell us about God? What implications does the necessity of Scripture have for evangelism? 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us to do everything we do to the glory (or the praise and exaltation) of God. What does it mean to do everything to the glory of God? How do we do everything to the glory of God (e.g. eating dinner, reading books, talking with family and friends, working at our jobs, etc.) What is the ultimate foundation for this command? Explain how creation demonstrates the God-centeredness of God. Think of some other events in Scripture where God s hand is powerfully seen acting in history. How is God pursuing his own self-exaltation in these events? What did the cross accomplish in relation to believers? According to Romans 3:25-26 what is God s chief purpose in the cross? Are these two purposes exclusive or inclusive of each other? Explain why. How would you explain to an unbeliever the apparent injustice of God s dealing with mankind? Think of David and Bathsheba. How would you explain God s purpose in the cross? Why might the truth of God s God-centeredness be repulsive to the modern culture? To human nature? To you?

2 Session 2 The Blazing Center: Is God Vain? Discuss modern culture s understanding of love. What are some factors which might shape this understanding? In what ways does the biblical understanding of love differ from this understanding? Describe your own understanding of love. How did you come to this definition of love? Michael Prowse thought that God was vain and for a time C.S. Lewis thought that God sounded like an old woman seeking compliments in the Psalms. Do you struggle with the reality that God seeks praise from his people? Explain the difference between microscopic and telescopic magnification in relation to God. How does the so or the therefore work in John 11:6? How does Jesus show his love for Lazarus and Mary and Martha? How does seeing Jesus glory (John 17:24) relate to his love for us? Did Jesus Christ die with an ultimate view to our good or to God s glory? Discuss how admiring the greatness and glory of God is more satisfying than exalting ourselves? In your own words, explain how God s self-exaltation is the ground of his love for us. In what ways would this understanding of God s love shape how we love those around us? How might it affect our engagement with the culture on various issues (social, political, moral, educational, etc.)? What implications does it have for witnessing and evangelism?

3 Session 3 Pursue Your Joy: Isn t That Hedonism? Explain the phrase, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. How does this phrase answer the question of whether the pursuit of God s exaltation and the pursuit of our joy are at odds? How does Paul exalt Christ in dying? In the first session Piper explains how two driving desires, the desire to glorify God and the desire to be happy, were cultivated in his own life. In Philippians 1:20-21 how does Paul s life reflect these two driving desires? How is the term Christian Hedonism appropriate or inappropriate for the vision of God and the Christian life? How would you explain to a child whether or not they should pursue their joy or God s glory? Defend or critique the statement: To be a Christian is to have God uppermost in one s affections. Should we consider all Christians to be Christian Hedonists? What does desiring God above all things look like? Is a Christian Hedonist necessarily monochrome in their emotions (i.e. always bubbly, emotionally euphoric, etc.)? How would you explain/understand such experiences as frustration, depression, sadness, pain, etc. within a life that seeks happiness in God? Take some time to reflect on your desires. How can you show that God is valuable with your desires? What are some practical areas of your life in which you could show God as uppermost in your affections?

4 Session 4 Pursue Your Joy: God Commands It! God commands delight in him in Psalm 37:4 and thus he is commanding that we have certain emotions. Do we have complete, or any, control over our emotions? How does this affect our understanding of God s commands and our obedience to them when what he commands is outside of our control? How do we obey an impossible command? How is faith necessarily involved in the answer? Discuss the statement: There is no ultimate self-denial or ultimate self-denial is atheism? What are some sacrifices you must make in your life? What are the motives behind your sacrifices? Why is lack of joy in God considered sin/evil? Think of as many reasons as you can for why God might threaten terrible things if we will not be happy in him. How should we battle the fleeting pleasures of sin? Where will we learn about a superior pleasure to trust in? How is joy in God related to true saving faith? If saving faith includes finding joy ultimately in God then are any Christians not Christian Hedonists? How would you explain Christian Hedonism to another Christian who doesn t view the Christian life from the perspective of seeking joy in God? Describe the difference between a sinful selfishness and the type of self-love that seems to be advanced in Christian Hedonism. Or explain how the phrase, There s no one I would rather spend the evening with than you, is not sinfully selfish but honors greatly the one to whom it is said.

5 Session 5 True Love: Duty or Delight? (Part 1) Discuss how it is possible to give away all that we have and deliver up our bodies to be burned and yet not have love. Why is it not loving to attempt to do good toward others while not pursuing our joy in God? How does 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 distinguish Christian Hedonism from a health/wealth/prosperity gospel? Why is it extremely important to distinguish the happiness/joy/delight/satisfaction spoken about in Christian Hedonism from physical health and material affluence? What does it mean that joy perseveres? Can a Christian pursue joy in God and at the same time prosper materially? If so, how? What implications are there for personal holiness (i.e. when no one is watching) if it is true that the pursuit of joy in God is the foundation of biblical love? Defend or critique the statement that any sin, whether it is private or public, destroys love and harms others. In what practical ways can we fight, and help each other fight, against rationalizing sin by thinking it hurts no one but ourselves? How might pursuing one s joy in God inevitably lead to a life outpoured in love to others? In other words, why does Christian Hedonism necessarily produce a spreading mentality? How will you seek to live out this vision in your day to day life? What should we do in situations where there are clear and concrete things God commands of us (e.g. meeting the needs of the poor, guarding our tongues, weeping with those who weep) yet we do not feel joy or eagerness in doing them? For example, we are commanded to forgive our brothers and sisters. Often, however, we harbor hurts and resentments that seem out of our control. How should we respond in such situations?

6 Session 6 True Love: Duty or Delight? (Part 2) Why is the command to remember that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) important for a proper understanding of love? Why is it biblically appropriate to pursue our own good in ministry? Why is this motive the only foundation for true and biblical love? What is the gain we are to be pursuing? Discuss the phrase, The battle to be a cheerful giver is not a battle at the level of behavior it is a battle over what makes us glad. Particularly, what is meant by a battle at the level of behavior? In what ways do we fight and battle over the things which make us glad? What are the chief weapons we must use in this battle, and how do we use them? Piper explains that we must pursue our own joy in God in order to love people. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that love seeks not its own, that is, love looks out for the needs of others rather than simply its own needs. How can we affirm both of these in a way that exalts God and maintains the beauty and virtue of love? Look at 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 and Philippians 2:1-11. Both of these sections denounce selfishness and seeking one s own. What indications are there in these texts that we should not assume the wholesale denial of pursuing our good and our joy in biblical love? Did Christ love us by not seeking after his own good? Piper closes with three exhortations. Reflect on ways and think of people with whom you can put these exhortations into action. Think of other ways in the days to come in which pursuing joy in God will free you to love your neighbor in practical ways.

7 Session 7 Suffering: For the Joy Set Before You (Part 1) What role does suffering play in our vertical relationship with God? In our horizontal relationships with people? How do these things relate to the distinction made between joy in God and material prosperity made in the last session? Explain how the call to follow Jesus is a promise of suffering and tribulation in life. What other passages of Scripture warn of this reality? What worries or fears prevent you from taking risks in your pursuit of joy in God and in the cause of Christ? How would you encourage and challenge others to join in such a dangerous pursuit? How could you motivate action? How does pursuing our joy in God sustain us in suffering? Many of us may not be in the midst of difficult trials and tribulations. For this we can be thankful. But we can also expect that such experience is not to be taken as the norm in the Christian life. In what ways can we prepare ourselves now for times of suffering ahead? What are some things (i.e. safety nets or idols) in your life which you might be tempted to lean on in suffering besides God? How might Christian Hedonism affect how you would counsel someone who is in a dark period in their life (e.g. sickness, the death of friends/family, persecution, depression, disappointment, etc.)?

8 Session 8 Suffering: For the Joy Set Before You (Part 2) Describe what John Piper might think a wasted life would look like. In what ways do you agree or disagree? What would be the difference between a wasted life and a life well lived? What areas in your life represent pursuits which compete with the pursuit of joy in God? Can these be used in the service of pursuing joy in God? What role does believing in the sovereignty of God play in Christian Hedonism? How does it aid our pursuit of joy? Piper argues that faith in the sovereignty of God over all things frees us in steady and joyful hope to endure deep suffering and take risks for the cause of Christ and the love of people. What happens to this hope and risk-taking willingness if one were to deny the absolute sovereignty of God? What basis is there for hope if God is not sovereign or restricted in his sovereignty? How might faith in God s sovereignty look in our day to day experiences and interactions with others as we seek joy in God? What are some biblical or other historical examples of the sovereignty of God bringing about good from evil? In thinking about your own life, has God worked in hard times and suffering to bring about good? How has he done so? How might a deep conviction in the sovereignty of God and the value of the glory of God affect the way we minister to and counsel those in deep pain?