Piper's Farewell Sermon

My wife and I got to enjoy a nap together today. This is no small feat in a house full of kids. The two little ones went down easy for a nap today, and the two older ones were watching a show that they had never seen, and so, we slept. Now I can’t sleep. I decided I’d watch something on Netflix in our room, but when I opened my laptop, I went to my usual blogs. That’s when I read JT post about Piper’s farewell sermon. I had forgotten that this was the weekend he’d preach that sermon. John Piper is the single most influential man in my life, and I’ve never even met him. I can still remember the first time I saw him preach. It was on a video series we were watching for a small group. The first thing I thought was “this guys a dork”. Then, by the end of the video, I was hanging on every word. I know why too, he said something in that video I’ll never forget. He was telling his story of how God had called him into ministry and he said something in passing. He said that before he came up to speak, he was talking with someone. This person had mentioned how distracted teenagers are these days. Piper held his Bible out to the man and said “and teenagers can have mighty deep experiences with God. Cause I can remember some really late nights with this book.” Those words sent a flood of memories into my mind. I can remember my mother coming into my room late at night, and finding me reading my Bible when I was supposed to be sleeping. I thought I was the only odd ball teenager that had experiences like that. This seemed to create a desire to know more about this guy. So, I came back to all the small group meetings to hear more by this man. Soon, I was listening to anything I could find of Piper’s. I hung on almost every word he preached. I loved listening to him at home on the computer, then when I got an Ipod, I listened at work, and while I was driving. Piper would mention people I had never heard of, and then I would look these men up on the internet, and my life would never be the same. Men like Stott, Packer, Schaeffer, Loyd-Jones, Towzer, and Pink. Then he would speak of people I had heard of, but he would speak of them as if they were a thousand times better than anything you could find today. Men like Edwards, Baxter, Bunyan, Calvin, Luther, Wesley, Judson, Taylor, Patton, Brainerd, Warfield, Lewis, and Owen. Soon, I was reading anything I could find by these men. It was if God brought Piper into to my life at just the right time, and showed me the infinite value of these Christian pastors, writers, philosophers, and poets. Piper also introduced me to current pastors and teachers that impacted me as well. Men like Carson, Dever, Grudem, Beale, Sailhamer, Storms, Beeke, and Wilson. All of these men have had a profound influence on my life and ministry. It’s been several years since I’ve listened to a sermon by Piper. It’s been at least two years since I’ve read a book by Piper. Yet, when I read that he preached his farewell sermon tonight, I smiled and thanked God for using John Piper in my life.