Why We Pray

June 6, 2016May 30, 2016 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

The church is the greatest news story, even though it is never reported. Lives are changed, peoples are united, society is helped, and preaching is at the heart of all of it. But preaching is not inherently powerful.

The church is not a society generated by, united through, and stirred to give of itself by human social engineering. It is possible to produce something by the skill of natural man as we exhort, encourage, celebrate and direct from the front. But ultimately preaching is not the true story because the church is not about sales technique, social engineering, or motivational speech.

The true church is supernatural and therefore the true story of the church is the story of God at work. God opens blind hearts to see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God unites believers as the Spirit unites their spirits with Christ and with each other. God’s love spills over from churches that are loved by Him so that His love can make a mark in society through social care and moral influence.

Preaching the Word of God is at the heart of the life of the church, but preaching in and of itself is not powerful. And that is why we pray.

The Story of 3 Great Unions

June 3, 2016May 30, 2016 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Union with Christ is becoming a fashionable term in church world. Some are recognizing the significance of the term, seeing it as the framework in which all of salvation theology makes sense. Others are using it because others are using it.

Yet the term is used in a variety of ways. Some will speak of an ecstatic union where the human soul ascends into some sort of beyond revelation intersection with an unspeaking God. Others will use union with Christ as a label for the legal position achieved by the atonement wherein the sinful soul is counted free and just through association with Christ. Still others will speak of a true union where the believer is truly united by the Holy Spirit to Christ in a marital relationship.

While the term may be used in these three different ways with varying levels of merit, there are actually three unions we should ponder biblically:

1. The union of God with God. The Bible gives us a glorious glimpse into the Trinity, the perfect union of Father and Son by the Spirit that overflows in creation. When the Fall follows we naturally ask what will this God do?

(The Promise – This God promises to defeat sin and death, to send a deliverer who is the Son, and ultimately to achieve a marriage-like connection with humanity.)

2. The union of God and man in Jesus. God sending His Son is the great hinge of history. The Son of God remained fully God, while becoming fully man. This perfect union of God and man in the person of Jesus means that he is fully God, fully man, fully one, forever. In this person we see humanity rescued and drawn to God at the cross of Calvary.

(The Promise fulfilled – God said He would deal with sin and death, and He did. So now we can experience the first phase of the fulfillment plan:)

3. The union of God and man in the Spirit. The Son of God didn’t just become one of us to die for us, He also became one of us to enable us to be united to Him in a spiritual marriage. Now we can taste something of the wonder of being made one Spirit by the Spirit – one with Christ. One day this spiritual marriage will be consummated at the end of human history!

When we preach, let’s not fall into a mere status presentation of the Gospel, nor a hypothetical ideal version of ecstatic union with God. Instead let’s keep front and centre this glorious progress of three unions that tell the wonderful story of God’s great plan.

Since this post made much of the theological theme of Union with Christ, I thought I’d take the opportunity to push your attention towards the growing resources available at Union. Please be sure to take a look at UnionTheology.org for some great resources, as well as Union School of Theology if you are considering pursuing further education.

7 Ideas for Creativity in Series Planning

June 1, 2016May 30, 2016 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I believe in preaching series through books of the Bible. I do it. I teach others to do it. But I think we could all do with some extra creativity when it comes to planning a series.

Andy Stanley makes the helpful point that many messages should in fact be series. That is, we can try to cram too much into a single message. This is only compounded when we try to preach a series through a whole book. After all, we will typically end up with substantial length texts each week. For the listener this can be both overwhelming and potentially repetitive.

But there are other potential issues too. Think of preaching through Habakkuk for an example. It naturally falls into three parts – a question with God’s answer, followed by another question with God’s answer, and then Habakkuk’s final declaration of trust. But there is a possible problem here. The first question and its answer is frighteningly negative. It prompted Habakkuk to respond. It will prompt us to respond as we hear it. So do we then sit and stew on this for a week before part two of the series?

Keeping with Habakkuk as a focus, how might we do a series with some creativity?

1. Preach the whole in one. This can make a good introduction or conclusion to a series. Help people to see the whole picture and not just the parts.

2. Dwell in a specific section. In Habakkuk you could take the woes of chapter 2 and see them play out in several messages, always rooted in Habakkuk, but letting them probe our world as well as his with more penetration.

3. Chase the use. Habakkuk is used in some key moments later in the canon of Scripture – not least the quotes of Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews. Why not take a message or two to chase how Habakkuk influenced the rest of the Bible?

4. Dig into the sources. What earlier Old Testament texts form the “informing theology” of Habakkuk’s book? Perhaps it is worth digging a bit and seeing what could be done with a chase upstream through the Bible to see what fed into his thinking?

5. Place the book in a broader biblical theology. Habakkuk raises issues about suffering and divine providence. Perhaps it is worth seeing where his contribution fits with the other key building blocks – the story of Joseph, Job, Romans 8, etc. This could help listeners place the book in a larger framework.

6. Preach in first person. Sometimes this is the best way to demonstrate how alive a text is. Maybe take the audience back there to his world, or bring him to today to make careful commentary on ours. First person preaching is not easy, but when done well it is also not easily forgotten.

7. Trace a theme or two. As well as working through a book chunk by chunk, it may be helpful to trace a key theme through the book, and then another week trace another key theme. Help people to see the beauty of single grains as in a plank, as well multiple grains in the cross-cut text.

With a prayed-through blend of creativity and traditional single passage exposition, Habakkuk could become a more compelling and effective 6 or 8-week series than it might have been as a traditional 3-week walk through.

Rigor and Response

May 31, 2016May 30, 2016 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Last week I had the opportunity to interview John Piper. At one point we were talking about the preacher’s emotional response to the text. I appreciated John Piper’s perspective on this.

Gordon Fee, as well as others, have pointed out that we don’t want the people in our churches having devotional engagement with the Bible that is not exegetically on target. And that our people don’t need preachers who are exegetical without being devotional as they study the Bible. All true biblical interpretation should be devotional as well as exegetical.

But John Piper’s perspective was helpful to me. Absolutely, the preacher should have their heart stirred in the study. However, he said, there will be times when the exegetical rigor is not heart-stirring. You may be wrestling with technicalities in the Greek construction of a sentence for a couple of hours. You may be wading through technical commentaries weighing up interpretive options. The exegetical rigor may not be heart-stirring during the process, but the fruit of it had better be heart-stirring!

Do we make sure we are not transitioning into message preparation until we are not only thinking clearly of the passage, but also feeling deeply moved by it?

A Bible Soaking

May 30, 2016 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Yesterday evening a group of us enjoyed four and a half hours of Bible reading together. No preaching, just reading. We read John’s Gospel, and then from James through to Revelation. We paused briefly to share reflections three or four times, followed by brief comfort breaks, but otherwise kept reading.

Here are a few reasons why I think mini-marathons like this one, or even longer Bible reading marathons are a great idea for your church:

1. It is good to experience Bible books as a whole, instead of only ever hearing them in shorter sections. For example, the letters were written to be heard in one go. We can easily lose the overall flow when we only ever focus on one section at a time.

2. It is good for people to experience Bible reading “in the zone.” To put it another way, even the most diligent Bible in a year reader may only ever experience reading the Bible during the relatively noisy first 10-15 minutes. A Bible marathon is a group experience of reading beyond that noise and enjoying the feast that comes when you are reading “in the zone” (i.e. focused).

3. It is good to have a proper soaking. Most people live in a noisy and busy world these days. This means it is difficult to carve out longer chunks of time to pursue God in His Word. A Bible marathon like this is like a spiritual spa, allowing the washing with the water of the Word to cleanse at a deeper level.

4. It is good to enjoy God together. Too often Bible reading is treated as a lone ranger experience, but it is good to have the gentle spur to focus of being in the group. Last night our group included an 11-year-old, as well as a student who is rarely home. Another time maybe we will get someone who struggles to read (and can therefore enjoy listening), or a brand new Christian, or someone in a highly pressurized career, or whatever . . . every group will be special because of the individuals involved, because of the group dynamic, and mostly because of the God we are encountering in His Word!

If you want to know how long books take to read out loud, here is a helpful list. Dr Garry Friesen has some helpful guidelines here.

Praying Your Way to the Pulpit

May 27, 2016 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Sometimes it feels like we are living in an age of prayerless and therefore relatively powerless ministry. We live in an age of increasing noise and preachers crave efficient preparation. In this post I would like to narrate the journey from passage to pulpit in terms of prayer. Maybe this can help nudge us toward the kind of preaching we all want to experience.

“What Shall I Preach?” – before the process of preparing a message can really begin, we have to select the passage or passages that we will study and preach. New preachers tend to get stuck at this stage. “Lord, give me a good sense of what they need to hear,” combined with “Father, stir my heart for Christ so I can preach out of the overflow of my own heart,” should help with picking a text or texts. If necessary add this, “Ok Lord, I’m struggling to pick, so on Tuesday evening I am going to make a choice – would you please be in that decision!”

In the study – Now it is time to turn off all distractions and get alone with God and the Bible. Your goal is to understand the text, and to meet with God personally. “My Father, please give me eyes to see the meaning of this text as you intended when you inspired it. And please give me eyes to see your heart revealed in this text. And please change my heart in the process. Give me determination to do the work necessary with the passage, and may the fruit of this study so stir and lift my heart that I am deeply changed…”

Before you move into message mode – You have the fruit of your study, and now you consciously reintroduce the listeners to your prayers again. “O Lord, I am thankful for what this text has already done in my heart, but now I pray for my listeners. I don’t love them as you do, please give me your heart for them. How can the main idea of this text be a gift from you to them this Sunday?”

Shaping the message – It is time to form and shape the message – it’s purpose, main idea, structure and detail. “Our Father, I so want this message to communicate with the hearts of my listeners. Please give me wisdom to know how I can shape this message as an act of love for them.” And as you go, detail by detail, “Lord, will Steve understand it if I put it that way?” and “Father, you know how Sarah is hurting at the moment, how can I say that sensitively for her sake?”

Delivery time – Both before and during delivery we can be praying continually, even if only in arrow prayers…“May we see you!” and “Protect us from distractions,” and “Help the guys on sound to sort that annoying hum,” and “Guard my heart heart from pride in this,” and “I feel like I’m rushing, help me pace this better,” and “Lord, John seems troubled,” and “Protect us from the evil one,” and “Lord only you can give them eyes to see the glory of your grace in this,” and “Change lives, Lord!” and so on.

Preaching is about exegesis and communication and pastoral care and evangelism and leadership and discipleship . . . but it should be preeminently about prayer.

Preaching and Politics

May 12, 2016 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Should the preacher be influential when it comes to politics? The USA is coming to the end of the presidential primaries and moving towards the most controversial presidential election ever. The UK is fast approaching a long-awaited referendum on EU membership. Other countries are facing equally significant decisions. Should the preacher be influential in these things? I believe the answer is yes, we should. But how?

How we are influential is a very important question. And it is a complicated question. Here are 4 of the ways that preachers handle politics and the pulpit . . .

1. No mention of politics. Some preachers will avoid reference to politics in their preaching and keep the focus on the good news of Jesus. This does not, and should not mean that they have no political influence. It does mean that the influence will be more subtle and indirect.

2. Standing on ethical/moral issues without being party political. Some preachers will overtly take stands on certain issues, but without becoming party promoters. They might sound like they affiliate with one party for an issue like the sanctity of life, and then sound like they affiliate with another party on an issue like social justice and care for refugees.

3. Jump on the bandwagon and preach to the choir. Some preachers will go with the majority party in their audience. Some churches will want preachers to sound very conservative, while other subcultures lean much more to the left. How easy it is to be fashionable in these things. So some preachers will effectively jump on the bandwagon and end up preaching to the choir, fearful of displeasing the perceived majority. One danger, of course, is that the few dissenters who listen may struggle to hear what really matters and feel unnecessarily alienated.

4. Use position of influence to push an overt political agenda. Some preachers seem to think that their political influence is a primary calling. They won’t just tow the expected party line, as in #3 above, but will seek to push and change the opinion of others. God has given them influence, and they feel their calling is to shape opinion for the good of society.

In a year like this one, I believe we should prayerfully think through several issues regarding politics and our preaching:

A. We are to influence society, but the greatest influence will not be the outcome of the next vote. Yes Christians matter in society, yes we should be voting, yes we should be informed, and yes, these decisions matter. But our calling has eternal ramifications, not just four-year cyclical implications. Don’t confuse political decisions with the far greater influence that knowing Christ will bring to our society one person at a time. Our hope is not in any party, but in Christ.

B. People need hope, not bitterness, if things turn out differently than expected. Whether we have nailed our colours to the mast or not, we will need to pastorally point people to Christ once results are in. Don’t be so politically invested that you then become a beacon of bitterness for your hurting political subculture (or triumphalist if things go as you hoped!)

C. Could we be placing trip hazards on the path to Jesus? This is huge. In our church we say we don’t want anything to get in the way of people meeting Jesus. How about in yours? If they hear the rhetoric they are getting all week in the media when they step into church, could that not be a huge trip hazard that keeps people from Christ? Do we want to see all coming to Christ, or just those that agree with us politically?

D. Is there a difference between preaching and social media? Just to finish, here’s a caveat. I have chosen to generally avoid being political in my use of social media, but I fully respect the rights of others to use social media differently. Our preaching and our social media proclamations don’t have to match. Maybe you choose to avoid overt party politics in the pulpit, but choose to tweet and share articles that you think will be helpful in forthcoming elections and referenda. Obviously it is worth prayerfully pondering the points above, but by all means seek to influence in the way that you feel is appropriate.

May God give every one of us wisdom to know what to say and when to say it. May we be known in heaven for influencing eternity on our knees, and shaping culture for good, but never for simply soapboxing with temporal blinders on. May we have real wisdom in how we vote, and how we care for the souls of voters too.

Defusing Preacher Landmines

May 9, 2016 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Last week I listed 7 preacher landmines – hidden explosives that can do untold damage to your ministry. Being aware of the dangers is a very significant first step. But what else can we do once we identify the dangers in our path? Here are seven quick suggestions to help clear the way in our ministry:

1. Prayerfully ask God to highlight your personal dangers – While any of us can struggle in any area, we tend to have personal weak spots that we should be especially aware of. Rather than prodding around in your own heart, invite God into the conversation since He is the expert in you.

2. Accept that your path will never be fully cleared in this life – Hopefully this post will be a small help in clearing some of the dangers ahead of us, but know that you will never have a fully clear path. You will need to be prayerful every step of the way in your ministry.

3. Do not travel alone – Too many preachers get into a lonely cycle of doing ministry without the travel companions that they need. We are not designed to be lone rangers. Invite your spouse, and some ministry colleagues, and some personal friends, to get in close and be real with you. Ask them what they think your risk factors are. Ask them to pray with you, and give them the freedom to be honest with you at any point. Don’t just be accountable, be stimulated through real connection.

4. Fan the flames of your spiritual life – Never settle for a Martha mentality when the Mary option is always there. That is, don’t settle for saying, “I am loving Christ by serving others,” when you should be saying, “I must love Christ and sit at His feet in order to be able to serve others.” When our gaze drops from Christ to ministry then our feet start to step close to pride, to prayerlessness, to fatigue, to lust, etc.

5. Stay fit for service – Without becoming distractedly obsessive, take care of yourself physically and emotionally. Get enough quality sleep, get out and exercise regularly, eat as if you want your body to be able to function both today and in years to come. Be sure to take your day off. Relax with family and friends. Laugh. Open up. Replenish.

6. Pray and plan to grow as a preacher – There is nothing worse than listening to a preacher who thinks they learned enough years ago. Feeling plateaued is a warning that you are close to pride, laziness, etc. How does God want you to grow as a preacher in the next few years? Is it preaching skill that you should pursue? Is it a greater vision of Him that you need for this season of life? Is it investing in some younger preachers that will give you the edge?

7. Orient your heart for life without preaching – I don’t mean plan to step on a landmine. I mean take the time to contemplate life without preaching, because your identity is not ultimately in your preaching ministry. It is in your union with Christ. Throat cancer could stop your ministry this week. Your spouse might need your full-time care without warning. Any number of legitimate things could stop your preaching ministry. Ask God to get your heart to a place where such a change wouldn’t wipe out all sense of identity for you. Ultimately you are not a preacher, you are His.

What would you add? Maybe you have specific ideas for specific landmines? Please share with the rest of us.

7 Preacher Landmines

May 4, 2016 / Peter Mead / 7 Comments

In the path of the preacher there are many landmines – hidden explosives that can do untold damage to your ministry. Whether you’ve been preaching for a couple of years or for half a century, why not take some time to prayerfully work through this list? If you are on a team why not work through these together and pray for each other? Maybe you could ask your spouse if they sniff any whiff of these in your life?

1. Pride – Preaching involves influence, position, recognition, and respect, not to mention criticism, attack and hurt. Whether it goes well, or not, preachers are always going to need to navigate pride in their ministry. This can start to manifest in many ways, but any preacher who claims no temptation to pride is probably on the brink of disaster.

2. Prayerlessness – Remember the trepidation when you first entered the pulpit? That is probably long since gone, but has prayer gradually slipped away too? Prayer in preparation, prayer in anticipation of preaching, prayer for those who will hear, prayer for yourself, prayer for other preachers in town, prayer should be central in any preaching ministry, but often it silently slips away as we move on in ministry.

3. Laziness – With experience comes learning and proficiency. Maybe it doesn’t take as much preparation and you know your stuff much better now. So do you preach in some way at the level of years ago and use the spare capacity for self indulgence, or does the benefit of experience and learning lift your ministry to greater heights now?

4. Bitterness – Over the years you will be rejected, attacked, criticised, lied about, and repeatedly disappointed. Have you pushed anger inside toward others for what they’ve done and said? Have you pushed anger inside toward God for not answering prayers as you hoped He would? Bitterness is never obvious in the mirror, but it tends to ooze out so others can smell it. Eventually it will blow.

5. Fatigue – Giving yourself away to others in preaching and pastoral ministry, combined with financial limitations, family struggles, and perhaps poor health can leave you wiped out. Admit it if it is true.

6. Lust – Are you fatigued and vulnerable? Are you successful and vulnerable? Are you struggling in your marriage and vulnerable? Are you lonely and vulnerable? Are you complacent and vulnerable? Somehow you are vulnerable.

7. Fear – Maybe there is a fear lingering in you . . . fear of failure, fear of exposure for your inadequacy or sin, fear of rejection, fear of man, fear of finishing.

What would you add to the list? What landmines have you trodden on, or seen blow up for others?

UK Preacher Training Day – 18th of June

May 2, 2016 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

On Saturday the 18th of June I will be involved in a preacher training day in Chippenham, UK. There are still spaces available. We will take the day to think together about preaching and how to prepare biblical messages. There will also be a voluntary follow-up day on the 9th of July where you can come back and preach a short message for feedback from those present (this is a very valuable learning experience, but entirely optional).

If you are coming a distance and need accommodation for the night before and/or after, please let us know and we can provide low-cost options for this.

Timing – 9:30-5pm, Saturday 18th of June.

Location – Cor Deo, in Chippenham.

Cost – Cor Deo offer ministry without charge, but all donations are dearly appreciated. The one-day course has a suggested donation of £30 (this includes lunch and snacks).

Contact – please email info@cordeo.org.uk to find out more and to reserve your place.