Wednesday, February 14, 2007

VCY Rally


This past Saturday almost thirty people from our church travelled to Waukesha to see and hear Dr. John MacArthur speak at the VCY Rally. The group ranged from people who have followed Dr. MacArthur's ministry for more than twenty years to some who had never heard of him. Dr. MacArthur exposited from Luke chapter 15 on the passage commonly referred to as "The Prodigal Son". What we heard was a one hour summary of a passage that he spent six weeks preaching at Grace Community Church. You can read transcripts of those sermons here.

While most people were familiar with the parable, Dr. MacArthur skillfully explained what the story would have meant to those who were hearing it nearly two centuries ago. In contrast to those who argue that we need to bring Scripture into modern times, Dr. MacArthur emphasized that we need to do the exact opposite...we need to take the hearers back to the time in which the Scriptures were written. As he succinctly stated "The meaning of Scripture is the Scripture." By transporting us back to the culture of middle eastern peasant life, with its emphasis on shame and honor, Dr. MacArthur shows how this parable of a father and two sons (if you only focus on the prodigal son you're missing the point) illustrates the joy of God in the the salvation of lost sinners, and why this concept was so inconceivable to the Pharisees.

For those that weren't able to attend, you can listen to this sermon (as delivered at Moody's Founder's Week conference) for free (for at least a couple of weeks) by clicking here.

2 comments:

Heidi said...

I want to thank Pat for letting us know of the event in Waukesha. We had a wonderful time and were truly blessed by the experience.

Karyn said...

I have to echo Heidi's comment. It was a blessing to hear John MacArthur. He was so obvious in pushing attention away from himself and placing it on God and on God's Word. There was just so much more to that passage of Scripture than I'd realized. The emphasis on the father in the story, on Christ taking our shame upon Himself, led right into our Sunday communion service for me. It is such an overwhelming privilege to be able to hear the Word of God preached and to have the Holy Spirit applying it to my heart. Thanks to all of you who made this trip possible!