In the early years of ministry, it’s easy to feel utterly dependent on God, acutely aware that only He can work through our weakness. But as years pass, something subtle yet powerful often happens. Growing confidence, increasing experience, and the busyness of ministry life can quietly shift our focus—from clinging to God Himself, to depending on our competence, routines, and structures instead.
That’s not just a ministry problem. It’s a human one. We instinctively assume that time deepens love, strengthens devotion, and fosters a greater spiritual bond. But life, training, experience, and even success can erode the very thing we thought would only grow over time. And Scripture gives us a stark warning against that possibility.
The Ephesus Case Study: Love Lost Over Time
The book of Acts introduces us to the church in Ephesus as a community wholly gripped by God. In Acts 19-20, we see believers so passionately in love with Jesus that they publicly burned their books of occult practice—a dramatic testimony to their captivated hearts. Their zeal was unmistakable across Asia Minor.
Later, as Paul writes to the Ephesians, his tone shifts from celebration to concern. He prays that they might know Christ’s love more deeply and experience the fullness of spiritual understanding.
Then comes the most haunting moment. Decades later, John records Christ’s words to the church in Revelation 2:4: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Here we see something profound: a church that grew in strength, discernment, endurance, and theological clarity, yet lost the very love that once ignited its passion for Jesus.
Maturity Without Love Is Not Maturity
What might this look like in real life? Consider marriages that begin with an overwhelming affection and gradually settle into routine companionship. Over time, busyness, roles, and responsibilities compete for the attention once reserved for one another. Devotion becomes duty, a raised pulse at the presence of another gives way to rhythms of everyday life and routine, and fascination becomes familiarity.
Our relationship with Jesus can suffer similarly. We may grow in knowledge, resilience, and spiritual discipline, but when love for Him cools, we risk becoming proficient yet distant.
The church in Ephesus was strong, respected, and doctrinally sound. Yet, to Jesus, their primary failure was not moral collapse or theological heresy—it was lovelessness. They were enduring, but they had lost their first love.
Jesus does not dismiss their strengths. Instead, He calls them back to the heart of what really matters: zealous affection for Him.
First Love Matters More Than Performance
This challenge isn’t just for the early church; it’s timeless. I need it myself. You probably do too. The danger to our spiritual life isn’t only blatant sin or obvious failure—it’s the slow drift of the heart. Even good things can become idols when they push Christ from the centre of our affections.
This is why Paul repeatedly urges believers to walk in love—not merely to act lovingly, but to be motivated by love that mirrors Christ’s own. It’s why he prays that believers might know the breadth and depth of Christ’s love—not so they can tick a doctrinal box, but so their hearts might be captured all over again.
The church in Ephesus had everything Christians often aspire to: discernment, perseverance, doctrine, and ministry strength. But what they lost was the source of all those gifts: Christ’s love in the affections of their hearts.
Jesus’ response to them is equally personal and relational. Following His rebuke, He doesn’t suggest better practices or routines. He extends an invitation: “Repent and return to the love you had at first.”
This call to repentance isn’t about moral failure alone; it’s a call to reawaken our hearts.
What Does It Look Like to Guard the First Love?
Guarding our first love for Christ isn’t about lingering in a past emotional experience. It’s about cultivating a present and growing affection that shapes our identity, decisions, and purpose. Here are a few markers of that heart posture:
Dependence, not self-reliance: Celebrating grace more than competence.
Vulnerability, not performance: Transparent before God rather than projecting spiritual success.
Affection over achievement: Loving Jesus for who He is, not for what He enables us to do.
Stillness in busyness: Choosing moments of quiet devotion over frantic productivity.
We tend to assume that maturity means emotional steadiness—but sometimes steadiness is just numbness. Jesus desires more than endurance; He desires a deep, tender affection that fuels all other virtues.
A Personal and Eternal Invitation
When we reflect on the Ephesian example, we see a mirror for our souls. Losing our first love isn’t always dramatic. It can happen slowly, in incremental shifts: devotion to Jesus becomes devotion to our own agendas, ministry output, or spiritual achievements.
Yet the invitation remains: return to Christ, cultivate love, and never lose what matters most. Like a spouse longing for closeness, Jesus waits not for our perfection—but for our affection.
Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians isn’t merely theological; it’s relational. And Jesus’ call to repentance isn’t about regret; it’s about renewal.
So today, pause for a moment with the question: Am I more committed to the routines of following Jesus—or to Jesus Himself?
Guarding your first love isn’t about going back to square one. It’s about moving forward with your heart fully surrendered to Him.
As we launch into a New Year, there are many unknowns. We do not know what today will bring, let alone twelve months of days. We cannot predict global affairs or the specific circumstances in any one of our lives. This means that, above all else, we need to entrust our steps to God and walk forward by faith.
However, it may be helpful to reflect on our heartfelt intentions as we head into the New Year. In Romans 12, Paul gives such a helpful thought on interpersonal relationships:
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
(Romans 12:18)
Paul knew that it would be unrealistic to hope to control outcomes when we have no control or even influence over the actions and responses of others. The context makes it clear that people will act dishonorably, and people will perpetrate acts of evil. And we could add that in the church, people will behave unwisely, unkindly, and destructively toward relationships we have poured ourselves into over many years. It is tempting to want to sort it all out, correct everyone, and fix the mess. Paul is more realistic. We can only do what we can do.
What is true in relationships is also true in all areas of ministry. We can only do what we can do. So in that spirit, here are three areas to consider as we head into 2026:
So far as it depends on me, I desire to live prayerfully this year.
How would you define your priorities for your walk with the Lord this year? This is the most important relationship you have, so it is wise to think through how you intend to lean into it in the coming months. Perhaps you want to prioritise time in the Word of God, listening to His heart and values to shape your own. Perhaps you want to prioritise rest and the rhythms of sabbath to support your spiritual health. Perhaps you want to lean into times of prayer in a fresh way—transparency with God in all areas of life and struggle, responsive prayer with your Bible reading, and/or dedicating greater time to intercessory prayer. Of course, so much depends on Him, and so much is still unknown. He may grow your relationship with Him in ways you have never considered, and maybe might never choose. Nevertheless, it is good to pray through what this relationship looks like from your side as you head into the New Year.
So far as it depends on me, I desire to live presently this year.
We have other relationships that matter massively, too—marriage, parenting, other family relationships, friendships, ministry connections, etc. Every single person represents a multiplicity of potential unknowns. We don’t know anyone else’s future any more than we can understand our own. However, we can pray through how we are thinking about and prioritising important human relationships as we head into the New Year. Perhaps you want to schedule more dates with your spouse, maybe even an overnight getaway or two during the year? Perhaps your children have suffered because of your ministry commitments, and you want to prioritise the shrinking time you have with them before they leave home? Maybe one of your grown children is struggling and you want to find a way to invest in their situation for a season? The intention could be definite and marked on your schedule, or it could be a value you desire to integrate into your rhythms of life—maybe the desire to be present in whatever conversation or situation you are in, undistracted by technology or the busy swirl of other commitments.
So far as it depends on me, I desire to live purposefully this year.
The best-laid plans any of us make are quick to be interrupted by unforeseen complications—heavy traffic, problems with our computers, a broken washing machine, an unexpected phone call from someone in trouble. My wife and I sometimes remind each other that an hour going as planned is unusual in a fallen world! The problem is that the overwhelming swirl of urgent needs and demands can make us feel hopeless and lose heart. We could easily say, for the next month, I will just do whatever interrupts me and whatever issue presents itself. It feels like we could live life with absolutely no priorities or purpose because there is always so much to do. The New Year is a good time to consider prayerfully what really matters. What really matters in our relationship, in our parenting, in our home, in our church, in our ministry roles. What should I prioritise because only I can do it? That could be reading to your children before bed a certain number of times each week, or it could be starting a new ministry in your church that nobody else can do. And if it means saying yes to something, it will mean saying no to other things.
As we head into 2026, let’s prayerfully consider both our inability to influence and control everything and our desires for what we can shape about the year ahead.
Starting today, you would be very welcome to follow along with the Pleased to Dwell advent video playlist. It can work alongside the book, or you can just watch the videos. Here is the playlist, please do subscribe to the YouTube channel and use the playlist to work your way through these short videos as Christmas approaches!
The end of the year brings a strange combination of familiar traditions and genuine challenges. While we may be surrounded by bright lights and cheerful music, with parties and celebratory gatherings, we may also be struggling financially, wondering how we are supposed to get everything done and concerned about how we will handle looming difficulties. It could be navigating an awkward conversation with that difficult family member, or coping with the exuberant happiness when we are grieving a loved one, or facing particular challenges that would be hard enough at any time of the year, let alone during the “festive season.” Life can feel like too much, and Christmas sometimes makes it feel even worse.
As Christmas approaches, whether we are dealing with a particular challenge or not, we will all again be confronted with the challenge of seeing past the consumer festival and the nostalgic traditions to the reality of the incarnation. Finding the relevance of this critical doctrine is not achieved by simply revisiting familiar truths through nostalgic traditions. We also have a fresh need to explore how the old truth resonates with contemporary life – including all its challenges.
We are familiar with reviewing the great step taken by the Son of God from heaven to earth – the infinite taking on infancy, the glorious riches to abject poverty, etc. We are used to noting that He came with a purpose; He took on a human body and life so that He could experience death in that body for us. Indeed, Christmas is an arrow pointing to Easter, and it is right to think of that each year.
More than that, Christmas is an arrow pointing to a God who is revealing Himself in the ultimate way, and an invitation opened to rich and poor, local and global, Jew and Gentile. It is a story to stir our nostalgia and our worship, an inspiring example, and, if told well, a thriller with a villain, a deadly threat, and a perfectly-timed escape.
Actually, Christmas is a many-layered story, with intriguing characters, long-awaited prophecies, and profoundly moving themes woven together.
And yet, we so often end up repeating it as if it were merely a nostalgic children’s story to retell like an old family tale that gets trotted out once a year as we gather around a fire and nibble on seasonal treats.
How will you engage the Christmas story this year? How will it connect with your current experiences and concerns in a unique and fresh way in 2025?
Your life, your struggles, are very real. So was the first Christmas. It was not a pretty scene with snow falling peacefully. It contained real fear, real confusion, real hopelessness, real heartbreak. The bewilderment for Mary would have been so constant, the uncertainty for Joseph so vivid. The emptiness and despair of life for the shepherds would have been genuinely bleak. The intrigue of the wise men and all who came into contact with them must have been genuinely perplexing. The first Christmas was real.
As we come to another Christmas, let’s not just go through the motions of another ritual celebration. Let’s not think of it only in picture book scenes, nor apply its truth in nice generalities. Let’s be sure to bring the most real concerns of our time to the Christmas story and find in it a Saviour who has learned what it is to be human, what it is to enter into a world of political tensions, of the deadly inhumanity of men to one another, of the searing heartache of poverty. May we find a richer appreciation for our Lord because our 2025 Christmas realities meet with His first Christmas realities.
The reality of the incarnation is big enough to maintain its relevance and to shine forth its significance, no matter how difficult our current experience might be. May we honour God by bringing our real mess up close to the very real messiness of the first Christmas. There we will find a true Saviour, who is Christ our Lord, and that really is good news for all of humanity.
Peter’s book, Pleased to Dwell, is an ideal read in the Christmas season. To buy in the UK or Europe, click here, and to buy in North America, click here. Please do subscribe to the podcast, and let others know about it too:
Our brother Charlie Kirk was assassinated because his love for Christ, for his country, and for others drove him to speak. He spoke openly and gave the microphone to whoever wanted to disagree with him. He was imperfect, of course, but he was gracious, kind, informed and increasingly influential.
I’ve watched him for years, and have watched his testimony become clearer during that time. Last Wednesday morning, I watched a couple of clips as I often do. In one of them, Charlie spoke so clearly of his love for Jesus. I thanked God that my brother was reaching so many with such a clear testimony. On Wednesday evening, Jesus welcomed him home.
Here are my thoughts about some of the things people are saying, in no particular order:
“It hurts“. I’ve seen many people expressing on social media, or to me personally, how much this hurts. People are saying they have never felt grief over the death of a public figure like they have this past week. Me too. God doesn’t expect us to respond to something like this with stoic resolve. If I saw a family member shot and brutally killed, it would stir all sorts of emotions. I did see that last week. I can’t unsee it. And it hurts. Let’s not hide our emotions; I’m sure that is not going to help. Obviously, we need to be wise with the swirling anger and rage that can be mixed in with the sorrow and grief, but pretending it doesn’t affect us would be a weird response under any circumstance. Let yourself grieve.
“Did I agree with everything he said?” Can I politely ask, what if I did? Why do we have to caveat anything and everything we say that might seem remotely political? Why do we often hesitate to speak up when others hold different opinions and might be upset? Self-censorship is becoming a crippling feature of society. I loved how joyfully confident Charlie was in the truth and, therefore, how little he needed to be defensive if someone disagreed with him or criticised him. I want to be more like that.
(Just for clarity, I do not agree with things taken out of context and attributed to him to smear him. Also, I have not checked his view on every issue, so I do not know if I agree with him on everything or not. My point is, what if I did? Are we allowed to have opinions? Or is it only permitted if we share those opinions deemed acceptable by the media?)
“The killer was just one mentally unstable person.” Thankfully, the murder of public figures is not an everyday occurrence in our society. It is in some places. It could become more common in the West. However, the problem may not be restricted to one lone gunman. This killer seems to have been radicalised by the same education system and cultural media that have obviously influenced countless thousands, judging by the disgusting reactions to Charlie’s death from so many. Why are we shocked when so many celebrate such a heinous act, or call for more of the same? Are our memories so short? It wasn’t long ago that significant numbers of people on social media, on mainstream media, and for some, in person, were wishing death on those people who chose not to take a certain medical intervention. Condoning or celebrating death based on opinions is a disgusting development of our time, but it didn’t start in the last week.
“Words are violence.” Actually, no, violence is violence. The prevailing ideology which says that words are violence directly feeds into this kind of atrocity. If words are violence, then physical violence can be justified as an act of self-defence. Feed that “words are violence” mindset with a constant stream of terrible slurs and lies, and there will be someone ready to perpetrate an evil act of violence. After all, the public are being repeatedly told of the danger to democracy posed by people like Charlie because they are __________ (you can guess the labels.) I think Charlie said something like, “The most important thing is to tell people about Jesus, and the second most important thing is to fight for the freedom to do the first most important thing.” We live in a society that is hurtling towards the loss of free speech, and I am perplexed that so many people seem so unconcerned about that, or think it is just a political matter that can be left for others to defend.
“This is all just about politics.” True, Charlie was an outspoken supporter of values that meant broad alignment with one side of the political divide, and he actively worked to campaign for one presidential candidate. Sadly, I don’t think people in Britain understand the American political scene, and many only see the twisted impression promoted by the British media. Nevertheless, we cannot keep acting as if politics and faith are totally distinct. Politics is not just made up of parties. It is also made up of issues: issues that impact the lives of people, issues that relate to morality, issues that matter to us as Jesus followers. I am not suggesting politics is the answer. No, Jesus is the answer. But many of the issues really matter, and we cannot, we must not, keep abdicating our responsibility to speak out about those issues appropriately.
Too many Christians act as if they are “above politics”, and they simply want to focus on the gospel. But for some, the driving motivation seems to be fear of ruffling the feathers of those who may disagree. I see that fear impulse in myself, too. Yes, let’s preach the gospel; it is the only hope for our world. But self-censoring out of fear is not the faith-filled approach to the life that we are called to as followers of Jesus. You don’t have to become a party-affiliated influencer, but let’s have the courage to speak about what is true, what is right, and what is good. Politics matters because people matter. We, of all people, should be ready to speak, precisely because we believe that people matter.
So we have a choice. Either we continue to shy away from anything that could be considered political, or we face the fact that there is an existential battle raging in our society that is much bigger than traditional left vs right policy squabbles. It is a spiritually charged battle of ideologies. It is about unaccountable control versus freedom. It is about death versus life. It is a clash of worldviews. We need to speak about issues that matter, even if we get labelled with a political slur (either way). No party will ever represent key biblical values perfectly, but can we stop hiding our heads in the sand and acting like we are somehow “above all that stuff?” We cannot be “above” freedom of speech, or morality and the redefinition of crime, or sexual ethics, or the protection of children, or assisted suicide, or abortion, or war, or terrorism, or compassion, or any number of other issues. Values drive agendas, which in turn drive policies, legislation, and ultimately, change, affecting people’s lives for better or worse. Some political issues are directly related to our Christian values, and so we must speak up.
“Charlie shouldn’t have been so outspoken.” Why? First, a lot of people are taking the British media slurs of “hateful”, “racist”, etc. as if they are accurate. Watch Charlie for yourself, don’t trust the BBC, Sky News, ITV, etc. Second, realise that if you or I were significant enough for the media to go after us, they would probably use some of the same derogatory labels for you and me. Unfair? That’s precisely my point. Third, many people, especially young people, admired Charlie for his courage in speaking out. Was it the silence of many church leaders on “controversial” issues that made so many young people flock to Charlie as a mentor from a distance? We would do well to consider that possibility and examine ourselves. I am doing that myself. Let’s not fall into the trap of fear. Speaking truth and the gospel may cost any of us our lives, but we should speak it anyway. With grace, of course. With kindness, absolutely. Christlike? Without a doubt. But silence, fear, and trying to be acceptable to a fallen world is not the Jesus way.
“If you live by the sword…” Can we be clear, please? Charlie lived “with two microphones” – he let people disagree, he listened to people, he encouraged dialogue, and he believed in open debate. He put people who disagreed with him at the front of the line. He spoke as a Christian, and he was killed for it. He didn’t live by the sword.
“There is hate speech and violence on both sides.” Can we find bad examples of individuals on all sides of political divides? Of course. Are there good-willed people on all sides of political issues? Absolutely. But this “both sides” line is a misleading and disingenuous summary. Compare and contrast the response to Charlie’s murder and other high-profile deaths. Where is the looting, the rioting, the destruction, etc.? Do we see Christians or political conservatives celebrating the deaths of others, or even worse, calling for the killing of more people they disagree with? No, we don’t. The way of Jesus is profoundly different. We are called to love our enemies and not to return evil for evil. Ideologies differ, and it shows. Let’s stop pretending every ideology is the same.
“He has been silenced.” No, he hasn’t. He has been amplified and multiplied. Charlie’s death is only going to raise up thousands of others like him who are ready to be courageous and speak for Christ and for the truth. God is going to build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
“What will the impact be?” We cannot know yet. I’ve seen people posting videos saying that they’ve been fearful in the past, but now they want to start speaking the truth, sharing their faith, and so on. I’ve seen people writing about buying their first Bible and beginning to read it. I’ve seen people asking where to go to church. When the five missionaries were martyred in Ecuador in 1956, nobody could have known the multiplication in missionary sending that would follow that atrocity. Perhaps Charlie Kirk’s death will turn out to be a turning point in history, too. Actually, not perhaps, but definitely. God knows what He is doing, even when evil seems to get the upper hand. He is building his church, and we know the end of the story. Somehow, in the midst of grief, indifference, and even evil celebration, God is working out His purposes, and we will eventually see that God does all things well.
“Things feel different.” My brother was assassinated, and I know many are feeling it deeply. However we’ve been impacted, may it make us all different. Perhaps more courageous, gracious, informed, and deeply committed to Jesus, to truth, to communication and to conversation. If speaking costs you your life on earth, is it worth it? I’m sure Charlie would say absolutely, Jesus is worth it.
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We sang these words on Sunday, words I am sure Charlie would have sung wholeheartedly:
During a storm in life, people often look back to the calm moments before everything turned chaotic. It is strange to look back on a moment of tranquility when you had no idea what was about to take place. Psalm 27 reflects that experience. In the first half of the Psalm, David appears to be filled with faith and peace. Then, in the second half, there is more than a hint of fear in his words. Where other psalms begin with fear and end with faith, this psalm seems to reverse that pattern.
However, it may be helpful to see the psalm differently, not as part 1 followed by part 2, but as an outer layer and an inner layer. In the outer layer, David seems gripped by the reality of God’s greatness. He knows that God is greater than any enemy. He has seen it in the past, and he has confidence for the future. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (v 1)
He begins the psalm stating that God is the refuge of his heart (translated “life”), and his heart will not fear, even in the face of enemies, armies, and wars! (Psalm 27:1-3) Then at the conclusion of the psalm, he declares confidence in his future experience of the goodness of God and calls on others to strengthen their hearts by waiting for the LORD. (Psalm 27:13-14)
We live in tumultuous times. Whether we are in an active war zone or not, it seems that most of us are living in countries where tensions are running high. How can we have confidence in the Lord, strengthening our hearts as we wait for Him? Perhaps it is not enough to know that our God is bigger than our enemies, although that is undoubtedly true. Perhaps we should examine what happens in the inner layer of this psalm.
In verse 4, David describes his devotional determination to dwell in the house of the LORD and gaze upon the beauty of the LORD. It is in the security of God’s presence that he can get to know God for who He is. To be close to God is to be hidden in God’s shelter, concealed in His tent, lifted on a rock. The word translated as “shelter” carries the sense of a lion’s lair. Is there anywhere safer, presuming the Lion is good and is for you?
The secret to confidence in God is to meet God in the secret place. To gaze upon Him. To know Him. Jonathan Edwards wrote of Christ that He “has infinite loveliness to win and draw our love.” He went on to say that the angels in heaven, who can look on His face all the time, have never run out of reason to praise Him, even to this day. How lovely He must be! And so it is that we too can draw near to God in the person of Christ, and day after day, gaze upon the face of our God.
In fact, in troubled and tumultuous times, our people need us to do just that. If we are going to lead our families, our ministries, our churches, then we need to be spending time hiding in God’s presence, gazing on and getting to know the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Not only does David declare that he will seek God’s face, but God invites him to do so. It is a bit like playing hide and seek with a small child. Hide and seek is a classic children’s game. One person counts to 100, while the other players hide. Then the seeker goes hunting for the hidden. It can be frustrating if the players are too creative. But when you play the game with a toddler, it can be so much fun. They want to be found! All you need to do is say out loud what you are thinking, “I am thinking she might be behind the armchair?” And a little voice will giggle behind the curtain. “Is she behind the television?” And a little voice will say, “No!” It is all about the moment of discovery, the unbridled joy when two faces meet.
“Seek my face,” God says. And as leaders of God’s people, may the cry of our hearts be, “Your face, O LORD, do I seek.” We need to gaze on the beauty of His character to have confidence in His strength. The greatest one is for us, so let’s not hold back. Draw near, gaze, and grow in confidence. Fearful times will come, but faith-filled leaders will emerge from God’s presence confident and ready.
When we preach a Bible passage, we need to preach the text. That may sound obvious, but many don’t do it. Some preachers use the text as a launching point – they read the text and then preach an associated thought from their own thinking or theology. Others bounce briefly off the text and then preach other passages with some perceived connection.
God is the best communicator, so as preachers, we want to reflect his communication as best we can. When you are preaching a passage, really try to preach it. That includes helping your listeners to see what is there, to understand what is there, and to feel the force of what is there. To really preach a passage is not simply to educate listeners in the meaning, although that is a good start. It is to get them into the text and get the text into them, and it is to introduce the God who is revealing himself through the text so that they experience the transformative power of a personal encounter. The preacher is not merely teaching, but introducing, match-making, and fanning the flames of the relationship between listeners and God.
If we commit to truly preaching a passage, then we will come up against the challenge of saying more than the text says. That is, if we are really committed to a high view of the biblical text, are we straying if we add any detail not overtly stated in the passage? If we have a biblical narrative, are we restricted in telling the story so that we cannot fully tell it, but instead end up preaching theological points connected to it? Are we trying to cram a 100-word reading into a 4000-word speech without really saying anything beyond the 100 words of the passage?
Here are five thoughts that may help when it comes to the subject of “adding to the text.”
1. Think about the “informing texts” – As well as the passage you are preaching, there will be other passages that inform the content of your preaching passage. Any passage quoted, or alluded to, or that provides the relevant history (think Acts for some of the epistles) should be considered as fair game for helpful content as you preach your passage.
2. Consider “related texts” – This is more subjective, but some passages are more related to your preaching text than others. The same author or the same time period will tend to be more related than a distant author and era (unless the era is earlier and may have informed your writer, but then we are back to number 1: informing texts). Related texts can be helpful, but don’t lean on them so much that your preaching passage is lost in the process.
3. Make plain “assumed knowledge” – When the Bible writers wrote, they were not thinking of readers in a different culture, language, location, and historical era. So there is a lot of background information that is assumed. The author might assume the reader knows who the Pharisees were, named individuals, cultural events, or societal norms. Geographic descriptions weren’t needed for the original readers, but they might be highly helpful for modern listeners to make sense of the setting of a passage. It is not going beyond the text to state overtly what is implicitly assumed within the text. Study the background, the culture, the geography, etc., and help people to understand, visualize, and feel the impact of the passage as you preach.
4. “Imagined” thoughts and feelings in a passage can be shared honestly – We don’t know what was going through a character’s mind, or even what was happening in their life around the events of a story. Where we use our imagination to help bring a passage to life, be sure to help listeners know that you are not asserting divine revelation. I was listening to a Haddon Robinson sermon recently, and he said something like, “I’m not sure he said this, but I know we do…” It was a helpful way to connect the real-life aspects of the story to the real-life experiences of Haddon’s listeners. “I can imagine how Peter may have felt…” is a perfectly legitimate statement because your listeners know you are using your imagination.
5. Only “assert what the text asserts” – While sanctified, humble, and informed imagination can be helpful, it should never be the substance of your preaching points. Let the thrust of your message, both at the level of the main idea and the main points, come from the passage. Do not make assertions based on assumptions, imagination, or guesswork. An example comes from Psalms where the historical setting is not stated but only guessed, and then the preacher makes a point that depends on a guessed historical setting. Let the text drive the points you are making. Use your imagination to help proclaim the passage.
Seasoned preachers know that the bigger challenge will always be what to leave out, rather than what to add to a message. But in some settings, people have an overly restricted view of what should be said in a sermon. They fear saying anything more than the passage itself states overtly. That can restrict effective preaching.
Let’s make it our goal to plumb the depths of our passage, to proclaim it as fully and engagingly as possible, and to make sure that it does its work in bringing listeners into an encounter with the God who reveals himself through the Word.
It does not surprise me when I find scholars who do not believe the Bible is God’s inspired Word and also have a problem with the Apostle Paul. But it still surprises me to find Bible-believing Christians who view Paul negatively. For some, this is a reaction to his argumentative persona and intellectual presentation of complex truths. For others, the antagonism comes from the feeling that he is misogynistic or overly self-referential.
Where there is a specific criticism based on a particular passage, it helps to study that passage in its context and take into account the rest of his writings as well. But where the criticism is more a general feeling (i.e. he is too argumentative or complex), I think what helps is to try to enter into his world and see Paul in action.
At the beginning of Galatians, we find an extended biographical section that, at first glance, may appear self-congratulatory. However, delving into Paul’s world is a worthwhile endeavour. Not only will we find a brilliant and articulate fighter for the truth of the gospel – perhaps even a hero of the faith – but we will also find a motivation we can emulate. Maybe most of us will never be as brilliant as Paul. But all of us could love Jesus and the truth of the Gospel as Paul did. And if we did, perhaps the global and eternal impact would be beyond anything we have dreamt.
Let me try to give you a taste of this. On Paul’s first missionary journey, as recorded in Acts 13-14, Paul and Barnabas arrived in the region of Galatia, preached the gospel, and saw churches established. They were understandably excited as they headed for home base to report what God had done. But when they arrived, they discovered that others had followed in their footsteps and sought to correct their ministry. The criticism? Paul was not a full apostle, and Paul did not preach a complete gospel message. Perhaps Paul was portrayed as well-intentioned, and his message was seen to serve as a good starting point. But these later teachers were promoting themselves as representatives of the Jerusalem apostles and their Law-based message as a more complete and committed version of what God expects.
Paul was livid! He wrote Galatians to ward off this falsehood and try to win back the hearts of the believers before they were pulled away by this destructive corruption of the good news he had preached.
Why did Paul write with an edge? (No pun intended) Why does he seem to be shouting? Why is Paul so sharp with them? (Ok, that was slightly deliberate for the context!) The answer is that Paul loved Jesus, the Gospel, and the believers in the Galatian churches. Like a parent shouting sharply at a child walking towards a busy road, Paul was desperate to get their attention.
In the latter verses of Chapter 1, he laid out his apostolic credentials. This was not about showing off but about exposing the lies being told about him. He did not derive his authority from Jerusalem. He had barely been there. His authority came from God himself. And in the opening verses of Chapter 2, he focused on his Gospel message. It was a message that he had laid before the Jerusalem apostles. Even under pressure from the same false teachers, Paul’s Gentile companion Titus had not been compelled to be circumcised. The highest council of apostles, the inner circle itself, had affirmed his calling with a hearty handshake and no doctrinal caveats.
When you ponder the world Paul inhabited, it becomes clear that he was driven not by a desire to win arguments or a passion for self-promotion like an early social media influencer. A deep love for Jesus drove Paul, and therefore, a passion for the gospel of God’s grace that truly transforms lives from the inside out. It was that deep love that drove Paul to travel, to preach, to be misunderstood, to be persecuted, to suffer, and eventually, to die for the Lord that he loved. In Galatians 2:11-14, it was that deep love that drove Paul to take a most uncomfortable step: he publicly called the great senior apostle Peter a hypocrite in front of his home crowd.
I’m not suggesting we should be looking for opportunities to poke others in the chest. I’ve seen far too much bombastic finger-wagging on social media. But I’ve also seen far too little courage in person when faced with character and behaviour that compromises the Gospel. Will we be willing to take uncomfortable steps in the face of compromise, or will we be willing to take uncomfortable steps in the calling of missionary need?
We cannot give ourselves a good talking-to and suddenly generate sacrificial motivation for ministry. Neither can we muster up Paul’s level of theological brilliance just because we start to find him inspiring. But we can gaze long and hard at Jesus. We can ponder the wonder of the gospel of God’s grace in Christ deeply. We can ask God to give us a heart-exploding glimpse into the wonder of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Because if we see Jesus for who he is, if we get a sense of the wonder of the gospel, then perhaps we will start to share in Paul’s motivation for the truth of the gospel.
Why did Paul contend for the truth of the gospel, even in the face of opposition? Two words from Galatians 2:5 – it was so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved “for you.” And by extension, from Galatia down through two millennia, it was for it to be preserved for us. May we be ever more captivated by the glorious good news of God’s great love for us so that we are motivated to preserve it for others.
The last couple of months have been busy, to say the least. A conference with Josiah Venture in Czech Republic, the European Leadership Forum in Poland, two family weddings, two baptism services in the midst of a busy season at church – these all added up to not sharing much on this site. So, it is time for a catch-up on the podcast. What has been happening since the last post that was linked to an episode?
Mike and I discussed the various kinds of interruptions that can add some intricate dynamics to a preaching event. We also talked through the most basic sermon preparation process. While there is plenty of potential for complexity in the area of sermon preparation, we wanted to make sure the basic process is clear.
Along the way, we also had a couple of episodes hearing from Si Munsie of Life Church, Southampton. (Click here for part 1 on preaching to real people, and here for part 2 where we think about past employment and preaching.) And this week, we have part 1 of my interview with Andy Paterson, currently pastoring in Hong Kong – a fascinating conversation with a very experienced pastor-preacher! We have some great interviews lined up in the next months too.
So my apologies for being quieter on here and social media in recent weeks. We really do appreciate every encouraging comment, both in person and online. If you are able to subscribe on YouTube and in whatever podcast platform you use (eg Spotify or Apple), that really does help. Also, every like, comment, share, etc., is massively appreciated. Thank you for helping to get this podcast off the ground!
Biblical Preaching 