Cedarville Magazine, Spring/Summer 2015

Chapel Notes J.D. Greear January 7 Missions Conference InMark 14, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Son of God, who could speak to legions of demons and they would flee, calls out with such intensity the capillaries in His face burst. What had He seen that caused that kind of intensity? William Lane Craig, the New Testament scholar, says the only explanation for how these events in Gethsemane transpired is that God had already begun to turn His face away from the Son. In Gethsemane, Jesus stared into hell and voluntarily went into it. Hell is complete abandonment by God. That was the horror of the cross. You need to feel the weight of His love for you. For those of you who are not living sold out fully to Jesus Christ, it is because you have never had your eyes opened to the weightiness and the glory of the God who gave this for you. J.D. Greear is Lead Pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of several books, including Jesus, Continued…: Why the Spirit Inside You Is BetterThan Jesus Beside You . Summit Church has grown from 300 to 8,000 members under Greear’s leadership. He is on the faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. D.A. Carson February 4 Jesus tells a story in Luke 10: A man is going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He’s robbed, beaten, stripped, and left for dead. The priest passes by. Then a Levite. And along comes a Samaritan. From a Jewish perspective, a half-breed. A faulty race and religion. But the Samaritan has compassion. He gets off his donkey, pours in oil and wine — commonly used for medicinal purposes in the ancient world — then he puts this barely conscious man on the donkey. He gets to an inn. He says something of blistering importance and extraordinary generosity: “If there are further expenses, whatever they be, I’ll pay them.” In the ancient world, if you owed money, and you couldn’t pay your debt, then you had to sell yourself into slavery. The Samaritan saved this broken man from death, then saved him from slavery. Jesus asks His question: “Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The question is whether I’m a neighbor. And that’s measured by my response to need. The parable pictures grace responding to need. D.A. Carson is Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has written or edited more than 50 books and is President of The Gospel Coalition. Watch or listen online at cedarville.edu/chapel to hear these upcoming speakers: David Jeremiah ’63 January 22 I moved to Cedarville when I was in the seventh grade and became a basketball player. If you had somewhat of a lead in the third quarter, your coach would say, “Slow it down.” When you did that you had just about a 50 percent chance of losing. When you stop trying to win, usually, you end up losing. We do in life what we do in sports. We find a comfort zone, a place where we are no longer challenged, that demands no faith, and we settle in. God created us to win and to live each day of our lives with winning as our goal. When we’re trying not to lose, we’re living out of fear. When we’re trying to win, we’re living out of faith. My favorite illustration of trying to win and not trying not to lose is Caleb. Caleb and Joshua brought the minority report back from the promised land. Forty-five years has gone by now. Caleb is now 85 years old (Josh. 14:10), but it is clear he was as passionate as he was at age 40. At the last trimester of his life, he was able to accomplish the greatest thing he’d ever done. David Jeremiah ’63 is the Founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries and is Senior Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. He is the author of numerous books including the Jeremiah Study Bible. He also serves on the Cedarville University Board of Trustees. “OUR FAITH DEMANDS OUR LIFE AND OUR ALL, ESPECIALLY IN WAYS THAT SHOW GRACE IN THE MARGINAL AREAS OF THE WORLD.” “NO MATTER HOW OLD WE ARE OR HOW YOUNG WE ARE, WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUTURE THAN WE ARE ABOUT THE PAST.” “CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A DEVICE FOR MAKING NICE CITIZENS ... IT IS TO MAKE PEOPLE READY TO BE IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.” Aug. 17–20 Fall Bible Conference Clayton King Founder of Clayton King Ministries Anderson, South Carolina Sep. 2 Mark Bailey President of Dallas Theological Seminary Dallas, Texas Sep. 9 Alistair Begg Sr. Pastor of Parkside Church Chagrin Falls, Ohio Sep. 10 Albert Mohler President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky 24 | Cedarville Magazine