Trinitarian Joy: Total Church Conference

From Resurgence...

The Audio for The Total Church North America Conference 2008 has now been uploaded. Tim Chester and Steve Timmis recently published a book - "Total Church" with Re:Lit. This conference is the result of the ideas presented in the book

Main Sessions
A Community-centered Gospel – Steve Timmis (Q&A)
A Gospel-centered Community – Steve Timmis (Q&A)
Rethinking Attractional Church – Tim Chester (Q&A)
Remodeling Attractional Church – Steve Timmis (Q&A)
Making Disciples for Missional Church – Tim Chester (Q&A)
Making Disciples in Missional Church – Tim Chester

Breakout Sessions
Being Neighbors: a Gospel Strategy (Steve Timmis)
Forming a Gospel Community (Jeff Vanderstelt)
One-Anothering: A Communal Gospel (David Fairchild)
Story & Rhythm of Soma Community (Caesar Kalinowski)
Reading Cultural Texts (Mike Gunn)
Out of the Frying Pan… (David Fairchild & Mark Moore)
Beyond Total Church – Sowing the Seeds of a Movement (Tim Chester)
Communication in a Post-Christian World (Drew Goodmanson & Caesar Kalinowski)
The Everyday Rhythms of a Gospel Display People (Jeff Vanderstelt)
True Gospel Community in a Truly Big Metroplex (Mark Moore)
Reaching the Domains of Society (Drew Goodmanson & Caesar Kalinowski)
Panel Q/A Session
Wrapping up Total Church (Tim Chester)
Developing Missional Leaders (Jeff Vanderstelt)
Urban Discipleship (Mike Gunn)

Why Trinitarian Joy?

For me the most astonishing reality that I have learned is that God takes ulitmate joy in himself. This ultimate joy is revealed in Scripture through the roles and relationships within the Triune Community. Whether we look at Creation, Fall, Redemption or Consumation, God -through the roles and relationships of the Trinity- is always orchestrating his supreme joy and exhaltation in himself.

God created us in his image so that God might see himself in us. In other words, as children of God we are tools of God's delight. This is not to say that God needs us to experience delight for he is perfectly satisfied in community with himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, God creates man out of the perfections of his trinitarian joy whereby man's joy is fulfilled in putting God's greatness on display. In other words, we have been created to join intimately into God's trinitarian joy wherein we are satisfied and God is glorified.

Now sin has destroyed our life with God for we have exchanged the glory God for the glory of his creation. We have neglected God as the source of all joy and have sought for intimacy elsewhere. 'But God who is rich in mercy...' lovingly glorified his Son by deploying Him to purchase up sinners unto Himself from their damnable state. And the Son lovingly glorified the Father through his obedience thereby securing a people unto His name. And in the wisdom of God the Spirit was sent to glorify the Son by tranforming these ransomed sinner into Christlikeness. Is it not evident that God's joy in himself secures our joy in him?

As God's family, it is through the cross that we have access into the holy place before God's throne. The gospel intimately joins us again into the joyful fellowship of our Triune God.

Since God is committed to making himself great, his promises of a restoration are sure. The Father will continue to make much of his Son and the Son will make much of his Father. And one day all those whom the Son has purchased will be presented holy and blameless before the Father. Not only will we be glorified but creation itself will be fully subjected to the authority of the Son who will restore all things for the glory of the Father.

When all is said and done, it is obvious that we were not created unto ourselves to bask in our frail, finite-selfworth, but rather we were created for nothing less than an infinite triune God who has rescued us from our damnable self-interest and has made us alive unto Himself.

Therefore, take joy in that which God takes joy in, God.