The Bethlehem Institute 2008 Graduation | Minneapolis
Resource by John Piper Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:3 Topic: Death & Dying



The following is a lightly edited transcript.

I could not escape in the last five weeks that this is a dying season at Bethlehem. I want to talk about death in the ministry. So when you look back on your graduation, you’ll say, “Oh yes, that was the death message.” You will never be far from it, and it will never be far from you. In our own church family:

Terry’s twin brother, 63 years old April 19
Brett Arthur’s mother-in-law, Marianna Buckmeyer, 85, May 7
Sybil Sprinkle, 94, member since 1947, May 12
Marge Johnson, 94 years old, member since 1940
Elias Paul, 21 weeks
Maria Sue Chapman, five years old
Beyond our church family:

78,000 in Myanmar
51,000 in Sichuan, China; 29,000 still missing; 73,000 homes were destroyed yesterday in a 6.0 aftershock
When these seasons come, and they seem to periodically in life, things cluster. You can feel that. They just cause me to reflect upon what’s here all the time. 300 people die every week in the Twin Cities. 46,000 people die every week in the United States. Every two weeks, you get a Myanmar, here. Every two weeks.

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