CHANGE

'We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our heart than to keep in our hearts the love of God - and no other way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God, than by building ourselves on our most holy faith.'

Thomas Chalmers, The Power of a New Affection, p.13.

CHANGE

'The best way of casting out an inpure affection is to admit a pure one; and by the love of what is good to expel the love of what is evil.'

Thomas Chalmers, The Power of a New Affection, p.12.

THE GOSPEL

'Let us not cease then to ply the only instrument of powerful and operation, to do away from you the love of the world. Let us try every legitimate method of finding access to your hearts for the love of Him who is greater than the world. For this purpose let us, if possible, clear away the shroud of unbelief which so hides and darkens the face of the Deity. Let us insist on His claims to your affection; and whether in the shape of gratitude, or in the shape of esteem, let us never cease to affirm that in the whole of that woundrous economy, the purpose of which is to reclaim a sinful world unto Himself, He, the God of love, so sets Himself forth in characters of endearment that naught but faith, and naught but understanding are waiting, on your part, to call forth the love of your hearts back again.'

Thomas Chalmers, The Power of a New Affection, p.9.

CHANGE

'...the most effective way of withdrawing the mind from one object is not by turning it away upon desolate and unpeopled vacancy, but by presenting to its regards another object still more alluring.'

Thomas Chalmers, The Power of a New Affection, p.3.

AFFECTION

'There are two ways in which a practical moralist may attempt to displace from the human heart its love of the world; either by a demonstration of the world's vanity. so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon simply to withdraw its regards from an object that is not worthy of it; or, by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment; so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon, not or resign an old affection which shall have nothing to succeeded it, but to exchange an old affection for a new one.'

Thomas Chalmers, The Explusive Power of a New Affection, p.1.

SIN

'At the root of all our failures to live rightly - not giving generously, not telling the truth, not caring for the poor, not handling worry and anxiety - is the sin under all sins, the sin of unbelief, or not rejoicing deeply in God's grace, of not living out our new identity in Christ.'

Timothy Keller, Our New Global Culture: Ministry in Urban Centres, p.12.

CHURCH

'If we speak and discourse as if our whole neighbourhood were present, eventually more and more of our neighbors will find their way in or be invited. By speaking in this way, Christians will feel free to include church events as part of their friendship buidling. What we want is for a Christian to come to our church and say "I wish my non-Christian friend could see or hear this!'"

Timothy Keller, Our New Culture: Ministry in Urban Centers, p.12.

PREACHING

'The fundamental questions every sermon should address are these two questions:

- "Why do we have trouble living right?" Answer: Because in some way we don't really believe the gospel, or rest and rejoice in who Jesus is and what he did for us.

- Why should we live this particular way?" Answer: Because Jesus lived this way for us at infinite cost, and this removes our need to live in any other way.'

Timothy Keller, Our New Global Culture: Ministry in Urban Centers, p.10.

PREACHING

'People in our society do not just want intellectual propositions. For them, life's meaning is grounded in what they experience. If we understand that the purpose of preaching is not only to make the truth clear but also to make the truth real to the hearts of listeners, we will have the kind of preaching that is committed to obkective truth and, at the same time, deeply experiential.

The "informational" view of preaching conceives of preaching as changing people's lives after the sermon. they listen to the sermon, take notes, and then apply the biblical principles during the week. But this approach assumes that our main problem is a lack of compliance to biblical principles, when, as we saw above, all our problems are actually due to a lack of joy and belief in the gospel. Our real problem is that Jesus' salvation is not as real to our hearts as the significance and security our idols promise us. If that's our real problem, then the purpose of preaching is to make Christ so real to the heart that during the sermon we have an experience of his grace, and false saviors that drive us lose their power and grip on us at that moment. That's the "experiential" view of preaching.'

Timothy Keller, Our New Global Culture: Ministry in Urban Centers, p.10.

IDENTITY

'...Christ's redemption restores identity and community. Both religious moralism and nonreligious idolatry lead to an unstable identity, superiority, and exclusion of those who are different to us. The gospel gives un an unassailably confident and gentle identity, which frees us to embrace "the other" in love. Religion and non-religion lead to an unstable identity (insecurity resulting in either arrognat superiority or fearful inferiority), because significnce is bound up in performance or achievement. This means we are humble but not confident when failing our standards, or confident but proud when living up to standards. We will never be sure we've arrived, however, so we are always driven and nervous. But the gospel makes us humble because we are such sinners that Christ had to die for us, and yet also makes us bold because we are so loved that Jesus was glad to die for us. We are sinfully and hopelessly wretched, yet also unbelievably love and accepted.

Religion and non-religion lead to superiority and disdain toward "the other." If our identity is based on being productive and efficient, we feel superior to those we consider lazy or inefficient. If our identity is based on being open-minded and liberal, we feel superior to those we consider conservatives. It all leads to exclusion. But the gospel is that on the cross Christ fulfilled God's righteous law (unlike the relativist mindset, there are absolute moral standards by which you evaluate others), and on the cross he did it all for me (unlike the moralist mindset, there can be no superiority or haughtiness toward anyone, since we are saved by sheer grace). At the heart of the gospel is not a teacher whose standards we live up to, by a savior who dies for his enemies and who embraced "the other," including us.'

Timothy Keller, Our New Global Culture: Ministry in Urban Centers, p.8.