The Cup and the Glory author, Greg Harris, shares his heart and the circumstances God providentially used to produce the book. This video was used as a promotional spot for this year's Shepherds' Conference at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where pastors and church leaders were introduced to The Cup and the Glory and The Cup and the Glory: Study Guide. The video is targeted toward pastors and church leaders as they consider using this resource in their congregations.

Shepherds' Conference Video (QuickTime Required)
Interview With Author - Greg Harris | March 2008

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Chapel Elective Series on “The Cup and the Glory”

The name “Chapel Elective Series” has confused a lot of people who have listened to these downloads who are not affiliated with Grace Community Church. John MacArthur wanted different three week only series on various Bible and theological subjects of interest to people. These sessions cover a broad range of topics, plus they were designed to assist some of the people who attended the church but had not yet joined a fellowship group (i.e. “Sunday School class”). They were held in the chapel where The Master’s Seminary has its student body chapels during the school year, and they were electives in the sense that there would be no follow up classes on this; they would move on to different studies: thus the name “Chapel Elective Series.”

John MacArthur asked me to do a three-week-only series on The Cup and the Glory, which I, of course, was delighted to do so. I thoroughly enjoyed the three sessions, but it turned out to be one of the hardest preparations I had ever done. Before I had done many “Glory of God series” at different churches, but this one was different in that previously the book had not yet been published, but when I did the series, the book was out. Also, I addressed a group of people, many of whom had read the book in its entirety; others had not read a word of it at that time. So how do you teach people what is written in the book without making it boring to those who had read it and not losing those who had not? Further, it was hard in that there were three one-hour-and-twenty minute segments. Finding out how to teach through this and end on time was a struggle (and a matter of prayer). In other words, there are never usually any automatic “break points” in the messages; the teacher has to work through this ahead of time. I spent hours working on how much I could cover in the allotted time.

At the time of the Chapel Electives, I knew I would be writing the study guide in the next couple of months (which I did). The chapel electives helped me watch others in how they learned, plus I got to talk with many people afterward. Simply put: I learned as much as anyone by doing this. What I tried to do was instead of simply teaching the material as I had many different places before, I tried to “come alongside” to help make the material hopefully more personal and a better study for those who would be finishing the book.

One last quick item. On the first Chapel Elective download, (“The Cup”), the strangest thing happened: the lights were so aligned that hit me, the podium, and my height perfectly so that I could not read a word from my Bible! I don’t know what it was. I had spoken in TMS chapel from the same podium and had no problems whatsoever. I am still to this day not sure the reason for the bright glare on my Bible, but both the lights and the podium were not the type that could be moved; plus the people were there. It was not the type of setting where I could stop and change anything. So that being said, the entire first download is done pretty much by quoting Scripture passages instead of reading them. I have not listened to these in a while, but when I did I noticed a few verses that some words were left out. So if you are following in your Bible and the translation differs a little, just mark it down to someone who is teaching a group of people who can not read his own Bible from the pulpit but has to do it (most unexpectedly) by memory.

Chapel Elective Series on “The Cup and the Glory” (See Download Links Below)
Grace Community Church - Greg Harris | April 2007

Part 1 - "The Cup" (Click here to play.)

Part 2 - "The Road" (Click here to play.)

Part 3 - "The Fellowship" (Click here to play.)

The Master's Seminary - Seminary Wives Fellowship Audio

I was asked to address The Master’s Seminary Wives Fellowship for about one hour on the topic of “Disciplined Through Suffering.” The leaders wanted both a doctrinal basis for suffering and then a practical application of how they as a wife of a pastor could minister to those who are suffering. I hold this group (and the previous groups over the years) and their leaders in the highest regard, and I jumped at the chance to speak to the fellowship when they invited me. Many of these dear ladies have left the comforts of their homes and families and ventured with their husband across the country or across the world. Simply put, many of these wives had already suffered in coming to seminary and all that goes with the rigors of seminary life and study.

Just a couple of explanatory items you may hear in this session. When my wife Betsy and I left North Carolina years ago to attend seminary in the LA area, we left Raleigh, NC. As we drove west on I-40 Betsy did not speak to me for almost two hours until we got to Winston-Salem, N.C. She quietly cried and looked out the window as she left the home she loved and her parents. She actually had to go through the same thing over twenty years later when I was invited to be on the faculty at The Master’s Seminary. We were living again in the Raleigh, NC area and packed up to move to LA. So in effect she has had to leave her home twice. I had been asked to be the speaker that year at The Master’s Seminary Regional Banquets that they hold each year. Ironically, Betsy and I (and the rest of the group) left LA the next day and would be spending the night in Winston-Salem, NC.

Secondly, I can’t remember if this is mentioned in the download, but I had got stuck in one of those world famous LA traffic jams on my way to the seminary the day I spoke to the wives. In this case, a truck loaded with watermelons wrecked and turned over on the interstate. It made quite the mess and snagged traffic for hours. By the time I spoke to the group, I had been up already for about 16 hours, with a few of them sitting on the interstate on the way to school. (I think there may be a reference about “the watermelon truck” in the download; I can’t remember).

To God be the Glory!

The Master's Seminary - Seminary Wives Fellowship Audio
Greg Harris | October 2007

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