Defining moments are pivotal decisions that will impact the essential nature of your sermon. So far we have thought about getting started, and about the move from passage to message. Now let’s add a couple of unplanned moments that tend to show up quite often in the process:
5. The moment of breaking through a log jam. Most messages are not a smooth journey from passage selection, through each sequential step, to a pulpit-ready sermon. Somewhere along the way, there tends to be a log jam and we get stuck. It could be the wording of the main idea. It might be a needed illustration. Or perhaps the sermon is ready, but the introduction feels bland and in need of a major overhaul. Sometimes the whole thing might feel okay, but flat. You are stuck and you feel it. What can you do? Sometimes the jam is the necessary reminder to really pray about the message – wrestling with God for some kind of breakthrough. Sometimes the jam needs to break you free of your computer – stand and preach it out loud, then when it seems to flow better, go back and try to capture what you said into your outline. Sometimes the jam will break only after you take a break – pray about it and leave the preparation for a walk, a night’s sleep, or a conversation with someone else. I suspect new preachers will know the panic a log jam can create in your heart. And I suspect that seasoned preachers will know how often a log jam occurs in the preparation process, and then proves to be a defining moment.
6. The interruption or even, the attack. Maybe you have a nice predictable rhythm. Perhaps you start preparing on a certain day, then take X number of sessions to study the passage, move on to shape the message on another day, and then have X number of hours to complete the message. It may be nicely and neatly regimented by years of practice. But then there is the interruption. It is almost predictable. The washing machine breaks, the family member’s computer goes down, the phone call from the congregant in a crisis, the thing that demands several hours that you do not have to spare. It happens. If it happens so often that you feel under-prepared every time, perhaps you need to review your standard plan for sermon preparation. Perhaps it is time to lift some stress and get further into the process sooner in the week. At the same time, it is good to recognize that God has used many sermons that felt under-prepared from the preacher’s perspective. Sometimes the interruption, or even spiritual attack, is the necessary mechanism to push our dependence back onto God, where it belongs.
Do you experience variations of the log jam and the interruption? How often?
As you prepare your sermon, there are numerous defining moments. That is to say, pivotal decisions that will impact the essential nature of the sermon. The whole process is important, and every little detail of your preparation will build the character of the message. But the defining moments will fundamentally change the outcome of your process. Therefore, it is helpful to be especially aware of these key points in the process.
Here are seven defining moments in your sermon preparation:
1. The choosing of the passage. If we genuinely believe in expository preaching, then the choice of passage will always be a key moment in our preparation. Why? Because that passage will be the boss of the message. We cannot say whatever we want using any passage. Some preachers do. We must not. If it is a series from a book, then the moment will primarily be the selection of the series, although the length of the next section to be covered will also matter. If it is a one-off message, then the choice of the passage matters for the content of the sermon. And also the timing of that choice will matter for how much time we can give to the preparation. Some preachers make a good choice, but they make it so late that the preparation is adversely impacted by lack of time.
2. The decision to start preparing. If you have a tendency to procrastinate, and many of us do, then deciding to start preparing is important. If your routine is established and it works well, then this may not be a key point for you. However, if you find that life often presses in and the week is often eaten up before you even start the process, then this point is for you. Decide to start early. Just the first step. For me, that means pasting the passage into a document and starting to recognize the shape of the passage. Once you have started, even if only just, then the brain starts to collect and sort exegetical information, and the heart starts to bow to the truth of the text. Some helpfully choose to get started, even if only just, more than a week before preaching. Some even take some time to get started on every series, and even every passage, months before the time comes to preach.
In the next post we will continue the list of seven defining moments in the preparation of a sermon.
The most famous literary description of love is surely 1 Corinthians 13. It has been read aloud at countless weddings, and yet, it was not written for a wedding. It was written for a church. Actually, it was written for a struggling and divided church in Corinth. This was a church that was splintered by factions, by immature Christians flaunting their supposed superiority, and by a whole host of interpersonal tensions and issues. This was the church into which Paul unleashed “the love chapter!”
The chapter sits at the heart of a section addressing the right use of spiritual gifts in the church. It begins by underlining the necessity of love (v 1-3) and ends with the never-ending reality of love (v 8-13). And at the heart of the chapter, in verses 4-7, we find a familiar and poetic depiction of the nature of love. In just four verses, Paul offers fifteen descriptions of love.
Their world, like ours, was a confusing melee of ideas when it came to love. There was romance, passion (appropriately marital and many harmful alternatives), family, and friendship. I don’t know whether they used “love” to speak of food and sport, quite like we do in English, but let’s not imagine their culture was any less confused than ours. In the face of that confusion, Paul offered a confrontation with God’s kind of love.
What do we do with a list like this? Our tendency is to see it as a behavioural checklist and to consider it as a suggestion for greater effort on our part. The problem is, not only do we all fall short of God’s perfect love, but we are unable to self-generate genuine godly love. We can only love, John tells us, because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). So, while it may look like a list of descriptions, actually, Paul wrote it as a list of verbs. This is love dressed up and going to work!
So, as we consider this love in action, we should let it confront our own areas of lack, but also point us to the only one who perfectly lived out God’s love in this world. Let this list point you to Jesus, and then let his love flow more freely in your local church setting. As we look to Christ’s love, it will stir Christlike love in us. And when the body of Christ starts to look like Christ, we can pray for the church to have an impact like Christ!
1. Paul begins with a basic foundation:Love gives. He begins his list with two positive statements: love is patient and love is kind (v 4a). Patience here speaks of having a long-fuse with other people, giving them space and time, instead of flaring up at the first opportunity. Patience is partnered with kindness, which gives of our own usefulness for the higher good of the other. A loving church is a place where grace infiltrates every relationship. Grace for the weaknesses of others, and grace that gives of ourselves to build them up. Love gives.
2. Paul zeroes in on the Corinthian core issue:Love is not selfish. His list shifts into a sequence of nine points, most of which are negative. The central thought in this list of nine points is like a summary of the whole section: love is not self-seeking (v 5b). Ever since the Garden of Eden, we humans have been largely unaware of how self-oriented our hearts now are, by nature. Our selfishness is built-in from birth, but it is only because our nature is fallen. It seems so normal to seek our own good, but God’s design is love that is not self-seeking. (Look at the Trinity for the greatest example of this: how consistently does the Father lovingly honour the Son, and vice versa? Our God is a God who lovingly and selflessly lifts up the other, and the good news is that can even include us!)
Before and after that central thought, Paul offers two sets of four descriptions of love. When there are differences between us, love does not self-elevate (v 4b-5a). It does not envy what others have, longing for self to be satisfied by that salary, that house, that spouse, etc. Neither does love boast, trying to make the other person long for my ability, possessions, or strengths. Love is not arrogant, puffing up self to push others down. And love does not disregard accepted standards of behaviour to elevate self and so disregard and dishonour others. Some versions have “love is not rude” at this point. That might bring to mind inappropriate vocabulary or noises at the dining table. But Paul’s word goes beyond the odd little social faux pas. It is the same word used for unnatural sexual relations in Romans 1. It is that casting off of restraint and acceptable norms, because, well, because I want to . . . so I should. Actually, love wouldn’t.
And when there are problems between us, love does not self-protect (v 5c-6). Love is not easily angered, that is, it is not irritable and touchy. If we take any of Paul’s negatives and pursue the opposite, we will discover a painful loneliness. Now, there is a place in the Bible for legitimate provocation. Jesus was provoked by death at Lazarus’ tomb, and Paul was provoked in spirit by the idols of Athens. Luther was provoked by a false view of God and so launched the Reformation, and Wilberforce was so provoked he sought to end the slave trade. Maybe today many of us have grown too nice before the provocations of society, but perhaps still too easily angered at little personal slights in church life. Love is not easily angered in church fellowship. When people say and do wrong things, love lets the grievances go instead of inscribing them in our internal memory ledger of grudges against others. And when those people that grate on us turn out to be sinners in some way or other, love does not rejoice in their sin. Rather, it rejoices in what is true – God’s love for them, their position in God’s family, their gifting, and their key role in our lives.
3. Paul points them beyond any notion of personal ability becausetrue love relies on God (v 7). Undoubtedly, Paul is offering a literary flourish to complete the list. The last four descriptions add the word “always” or “all things.” It feels good to the ear, but if you consider it carefully, it feels impossible to the heart. How can I always protect? The idea is to cover, like the seal on a ship that keeps all water out. One commentator describes the idea of “throwing a blanket of silence over the failings of others.” Obviously, there are legal and moral exceptions to this. But as a general rule, when I am annoyed, provoked, antagonized, and bothered, love will keep that sin hidden from others who do not need to know about it. Paul points upwards to God – love always trusts and always hopes. That is not easy. And back to the struggles here below again, it always perseveres. That kind of persistent endurance of inter-church tensions can easily take us beyond ourselves.
Paul’s great list is a bit like the Law of Sinai. A wonderful revelation of what is right and good, but beyond our ability to keep. And so, let 1 Corinthians 13 not only confront your struggle to love like Jesus. Let it also point you to Jesus. We can only love at all because God has first loved us. May our hearts be so captivated by his love that our churches increasingly look like the body of Christ! We can only live this life in the flesh by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us.
4 Love is patient, love is kind.
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It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
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7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
So many people seem to want to listen to preaching that is “applicational.” I understand the impulse. After all, who would want to listen to non-applicational preaching? That sounds like preaching that is not relevant to my life and will not make a difference.
Actually, if we are talking about preaching that is relevant to life and genuinely transformative, then I am completely on board with that desire. The problem is that when we talk about “applicational preaching” it can fall short of what we really need. Here are some of the potential weaknesses:
1. Applicational preaching can place emphasis on action points and to-do lists. Now, there is certainly a place for knowing what is expected of us at the end of a sermon. If a passage gives an instruction that applies to us, then we should certainly note it and look to obey it. However, is the Bible primarily an instruction list for life? Some sermons give that impression, but perhaps that is missing something of the richness and purposefulness of God’s revelation.
2. Applicational preaching can point the listener in the wrong direction. When our preaching emphasizes what we must do, then the focus will tend to move toward our own willpower. Sermons that point the listener to their own discipline, their own choices, their own efforts, etc., are not the best sermons. And I don’t just mean they are not the most theologically impressive sermons. I also mean they are not the most effective sermons. Lives are not transformed by to-do lists. They can help, but they remain mostly on the surface. God is in the business of transforming lives from the inside out.
In order to see the full potential of any preaching or teaching ministry, I would encourage you to think about the ABCs of Application. Here is a brief explanation:
When churches think about sharing the gospel with visitors, we can easily jump straight to outreach strategies and event planning. But here are seven ways to cultivate a culture for greater gospel growth in the church – foundational pieces that need to be put in place:
1. Gospel Clarity – Make sure your church is clear on the gospel, consistently clear. We can easily fall into using Christian language in a sloppy way. The gospel is good news, not vague news. So do not settle for a gathering of people that are united by church tradition, or who know how to behave a certain way and dress like they belong. Speak about the transforming power of meeting Jesus and following Jesus. Present the good news of who Jesus is and what Jesus did for us on the cross. Feature the importance of the resurrection as a historical fact and the basis of genuine faith. Explain what it means to respond, to repent, to receive, etc. Do not assume a vague gospel agreement in preaching, or in conversation. Too many churches rely on a specific event and a specific speaker to give a gospel message. There is a place for special events and overtly evangelistic speakers, but the church should have the good news of Jesus in its DNA, permeating its culture.
2. Loving Community – The church is not just another social club in a society full of social clubs. The church is a family that does not make sense. Why do these people love each other like this? There should be a level of love, concern, practical support, patience, graciousness, and warmth that is genuine and profoundly different from any social club in society. A healthy church will grow in diversity. Everyone will not be the same. Obviously, if a town is full of very similar people, then that will impact the church. But few towns are! There should be diversity of race, of class background, of education level, etc. Then the unity of believers in a church community will be magnetically attractive to visitors who don’t experience that kind of family warmth anywhere else – in many cases, not even at home. This takes more than labeling to be genuine. It is not enough to say from the front, “we are a church family.” It has to be true. Live it out at the leadership level and encourage mutual care wherever you can. For example, don’t overcrowd the schedule with meetings so that people don’t have space in the week to connect relationally.
3. Obstacle Removal – Will visitors feel awkward? The church is a very different subculture than the world around. It will feel different, but it does not need to feel unnecessarily awkward. In our church, we have often said that we only want visitors stumbling over the gospel and Christians loving one another. We do not want them feeling like they do not know where to go, what is happening, if their children are safe, if they will be embarrassed, if they are welcome, etc. When I was in seminary, in one class, we were required to attend a religious service of a different religion. The benefit was huge. Most of us had always gone to church so it just felt normal. But thrown into a different subculture, we became profoundly self-conscious. It taught us to try and imagine coming to church as an outsider. What could we do to make that experience warm and welcoming, rather than starkly awkward?
4. Whole Experience – What does a visitor experience when they park their car or arrive at the venue? Do they know where to go? Are they welcomed and introduced to children’s workers if they have children, or helped into conversation with someone who will be sensitive to their being first timers? Will the service itself be explained in non-jargon terms? Will they know if they are supposed to stand for singing and when? Will there perhaps be a simple explanation of why Christians sing at all? Will the location of Bible readings be given in Bible code, or will there be a page number given if people are using the church Bibles? Will “normal people” who are not officially welcoming guests be genuinely friendly too?
5. Assume Visitors – When we started our church, we had a period of several months where we were learning how this new church was going to function. We did not actively promote the church at that time. There was no website, no signage, etc. People were welcome, but our focus was on getting used to functioning in a new way. Every week we opened the service as if guests were present. The small number of believers would sometimes look around with a grin, fully aware that there were no guests present. Why would we do that? Because they needed to grow in confidence that when they did bring someone along, it would be a safe environment. We don’t want our people hesitant to invite others to church. It can be risky to a friendship if you invite a colleague and their experience is poor. So, the experience has to be consistently trustworthy. A number of people in our church had past church experiences where some weeks the preaching was guest sensitive, but other weeks when you would hope no guests were present. We had to work to earn trust and cultivate a culture where guests could come any week.
6. Every Service – Every service is a gospel service. Obviously, there are sometimes church business meetings that are restricted to members. But a normal church gathering on a Sunday (presumably) has the potential to attract visitors. They could be there because they are visiting family members. They could have found the church online. They could be looking for a church, or passing a couple of hours in a one-off visit. But the point is, we should not be wishing they would come back in four weeks’ time when there is a special guest-friendly gospel service. It is possible to make every gathering guest friendly, and it is possible to make every sermon relevant to everyone.
7. Driving Values – Is the church driven by tradition, by the preferences of influential people, or by defined values? If the church is driven by denominational tradition, then there will be plenty of opportunity for what is normal to actually be strange to first-time visitors. At least explain it but consider changing it if necessary. If the church is driven by the preferences of influential people, then there will be plenty of ways in which the church is quirky for guests. It is harder to explain an eclectic set of church features when they are present because of someone sitting in row three. Changing this internal power dynamic will be necessary for genuine gospel growth! As much as possible, seek to define the values of the church and aspire to be a church that God will trust with newcomers and new believers. The whole congregation may find it uncomfortable to be consistently and genuinely welcoming to others. By identifying its value, the leadership can then model buy-in and help the whole church take the steps necessary to live out that church value.
God may bless outreach strategies and special events whenever you implement them. But my sense is that deliberately cultivating a church culture ready for gospel growth in these seven ways will prepare the church for greater fruit from outreach and special events. What would you add to the list?
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Click on this image to find the playlist of Enjoying the Word videos from Cor Deo:
New year and new project! Last year I enjoyed working through the book of Psalms on YouTube. I hope those videos will be useful to more people this year as people choose to use them as companions in a journey through the Psalms. And now we are into a new year and a new project: Enjoying the Word.
Enjoying the Word will be a growing collection of videos that will hopefully help people to enjoy reading and studying the Bible. The first part of the sermon preparation process is the privilege of every believer – to spend time in God’s Word so that it gets into us and changes us.
The plan is to release short videos related to Bible reading and Bible study. I will share a simple process to think through the Bible study journey. I plan to release more mini-series called Pursuing God’s Heart Yourself. These short series use a single Bible book or section to illustrate important principles of biblical interpretation. And I may work through a Bible book or two from start to finish to show the workings of healthy Bible study.
I hope this will be helpful to you and to others you know. Please do let me know if you have questions or ideas for videos. And please share the resources with others too! As videos are liked and shared, and as more people subscribe to the channel, so these videos will get in front of more people. (You can click here to subscribe to the YouTube channel.)
I am also planning to write companion posts on this blog to point to individual videos or mini-series of videos. The subjects we will cover in the videos perfectly fit this blog, so why not?
The introductory video includes a quick look at a fantastic biblical truth!
Definition matters massively. One person might say, “professional preachers are the problem!” Then another person might say, “amateur preachers are the problem!” And both might be right. It all depends on what they mean by what they say.
1. “Professional” can be referring to very different issues. What image does the term “professional” bring to mind? You might think of a person’s skill, or how they handle their communications with customers, or their manner in person, or their motivation for what they do. That is already four variations of potential meaning for the term “professional.” Perhaps an electrician is called to solve a problem in your house. They might be a real professional in their work (positive – they knew exactly what to do), their invoice was very professional looking (positive – good communications), their conversation and manner in conversation might have been a bit professional (negative – cold or aloof communications), and their reason for working may have seemed too professional (negative – it was all about the money).
2. “Amateur” can be referring to very different issues, too. What image does the term “amateur” bring to mind? You might think in the same categories as before. Perhaps the electrician was amateur in their work (negative – they did not know what to do), their invoice looked very amateur (negative – sloppy communication), their conversation might convey the enthusiasm of an amateur (positive – they love what they do), and their reason for work may have been the best side of an amateur (positive – they do it for the love of their craft).
3. In terms of skill, be professional. I don’t want someone showing “amateurish” skill levels when they fix my car, cut my hair, or operate on me. Skill is good. In reality, some of the most skilled people in the world may not be paid for what they do, while some who are paid should not be allowed anywhere near your car, your scalp or a scalpel. So actually, pay is irrelevant. The point is about skill. So as a preacher, it does not matter to this point whether you are paid to preach or not. In terms of skill, be as professional as possible. Read, learn, study, grow. Be a good steward of the ministry opportunity God has given you.
4. In respect to motivation, be amateur. When someone’s vocation has been “professionalised” then their motivation becomes suspect. This is why a nationally known car exhaust company may not be trusted (did they do more work than was needed in order to get more of my money?) Or why it is a problem if your medical practitioner is incentivized by drug companies to prescribe treatments to as many people as possible (whether they need the treatment or not!) In this respect, skill is not the issue. The point is about motivation. A highly skilled mechanic who rips off the customer is not to be celebrated. A brilliant clinician who risks lives to increase their income should be prosecuted. So as a preacher, your skill level (in this point) is not my concern. In terms of motivation, be as amateur as possible. Love God, love people, and love your craft. Be driven by the privilege of getting to speak God’s Word to people for their benefit.
5. And in the area of interpersonal communication, be genuine. I have underlined issues of skill and motivation, but interpersonal communication is also part of the package. Coming across as too professional can be problematic, even when you are not preaching. Coming across as an amateur might be an issue too. Instead, how about we settle on the need to be genuine? It does not resolve all the complexity of conversational dynamics, but it does leave us with two clear points to finish.
6. As a preacher, let’s do what we do as well as we can. If that means being professional in some sense, so be it. We certainly don’t want to be amateurish.
7. As a preacher, let’s do what we do with heartfelt motivation. If that means being amateurs in some sense, so be it. We certainly don’t want to be professionalised.
The definition of labels is important. This is an example worth pondering as far as preaching is concerned and how we might view our ministry. We should preach as professionals in the sense of “to the best of our ability” and as amateurs in the sense of “with the passion of a captured heart.” We should not preach as professionals in the sense of “relying on our own ability,” or “just for money,” nor as amateurs in the sense of “to a poor standard.”
It is also an example to keep in mind in a world where labels so easily get applied as a pejorative, and the mud sticks because people don’t question what is really meant.
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In the next week or so I will be completing my short video collection through the Psalms. Please do check it out and share with any who may find it helpful as a reference, or better yet, as a companion through the Psalms in 2023!
As we come to the end of another year, the finish line is in sight. Christmas plans are in place, and all those events will soon be over. Before you know it, we will be into 2023 with all the familiarity of a New Year and the uncertainties of a new year. We know people will join the gym and try to read through their Bible, but we never know what is about to happen.
Between the Christmas events finishing and the launch of 2023, let’s take a moment to take the pulse, actually, several pulses. If you are involved in church ministry, then here are some pulses you need to be checking:
1. God. How does God feel about your church? How does God’s heart beat for all that matters to you? God’s heart is your ultimate concern. Knowing God’s heart doesn’t require mystical guesswork. It requires time in the Bible and time in prayer. We should prayerfully prepare every sermon we preach, and I think it is wise to seek God’s heart for each passage and how it should land in the hearts of your listeners. But why not take the year-end as an opportunity to seek God’s heart about your church, your ministry, and your part in His plans?
2. Society. Are you aware of what is going on in society? There is a whole edifice presented by the media, the news, and the current catalogue of acceptable issues and concerns. We need to have our finger on the pulse of society, whether we agree with all of it or not. That sense of what is normal will throb in the veins of the people you encounter daily.
3. Reality. Are you in touch with what you are not supposed to think? There will usually be significant parts of society that are not convenient for reality as presented in the media. It is good to have a sense of what people are thinking but not saying. Or what they are saying but you are not allowed to hear. It is good to know what is happening, and sometimes others will need you to point beyond the cultural narrative they are constantly hearing.
4. Congregation. Your congregation is not a perfect representation of your society. The culture is pushed along by sophisticated ideas and/or unsophisticated entertainment. Still, your congregation is a specific group in a particular location. The country could be thriving while your part of town is economically depressed, or vice versa. The nation could be gripped by avant-garde notions, while your congregation may seem to be living a generation behind. Who is in your church? What are their concerns? How are they doing? The culture may be focused on saving the planet, but your people may be more worried about staying warm and paying their bills this winter.
5. Future Congregation. It is understandable that we tend to focus on the flock God gave us. But it is also wise to ponder what the future may look like for your church. If you have a very established congregation, you still need to preach to people new to the church. They may not even be coming yet, but preach to them anyway. Your congregation will not feel comfortable bringing them along if you don’t make it a suitable environment. So, what kind of people might God want to add to your church in the coming years? Why not prayerfully think about preaching as if they are already attending so the church is ready to receive them when they do?
6. Co-Workers. If your church program gives you room to breathe, be sure to prayerfully consider the health of your coworkers. You know that your church is not your church. You cannot do everything yourself and your church would be in dire straits if all your coworkers were to quit or burnout. Whether they are paid staff members, or busy volunteers who give sacrificially of their “spare” time, how are they doing? Pray for them. Reach out to them. Write them a note to thank them. Make sure that you do not head into 2023 unaware of warning signs from those around you.
7. Me. Ministry can take its toll. How are you doing? Are you in a good place with God? How much has your ministry depleted your energy reserves? Are any situations weighing heavily on you and setting off warning lights? Are you letting yourself slide in any areas, succumbing to temptation, or developing unhealthy habits? The end of the year is an excellent time to take your pulse before launching into another year. Take your pulse spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. How is your walk with Christ? Are you looking after yourself properly? Do you have the relationships you need to thrive? Is someone mentoring you? Are you mentoring someone? Who can you be open with as a peer? Who is looking out for your heart? Are you proactively meeting people outside of church circles? Oh, and don’t trust yourself to self-evaluate. Ask God to search you and try you, and ask those close to you for their perspective as well.
8. Family. Ministry can take its toll. How is your family? It is easy to sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry, but is God honoured when you do that? Suppose you have a child who is not thriving spiritually. Would it make sense to devote more time to your primary responsibility of parenting? You might even do well to consider a sabbatical or taking a step back to pursue their heart for a season. I know it is complicated if you depend on ministry for your income, but many readers are not receiving a salary. And whether you are or not, it could be a significant example to others to see you put family first and seek to win the hearts closest to home. It is not a simple decision. Nevertheless, I raise it because too many of us would not even consider stepping back from the ministry that gives us too much of our identity to care for the people God has most entrusted to us. Nobody else can be your spouse’s spouse, and you only get a limited window with that child still under your roof. Of course, you may find such drastic changes are not needed. But perhaps you need to tweak some things at home so that your church ministry can flow out of greater strength at the family level?
I know we are taking a deep breath before the chaos of Christmas. I pray that your Christmas events will proclaim the peace that only Christ can bring into this desperately needy world. And I also pray that we will all get the opportunity to take a deep breath after it is all over. May we all take the opportunity to check the pulse in these areas and head into the New Year looking to Christ for each of the needs we discover!
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This year’s video quest through the Psalms will soon reach the finish line. Here is Psalm 139:
1. They can know God’s will. Bruce Waltke made a fascinating point in his book about guidance. He says that divine guidance is often treated as a bit of a conundrum. However, he points out that in the ancient world, pagan religions were obsessed with finding some sort of guidance from the higher realm. They would diligently study the ashes, entrails, or whatever other indication they could find in order to get a hint from beyond this world. Sometimes Christians act like we are in an ancient superstitious religion trying to make something out of nothing. In reality, we have an entire collection of books inspired by God. In some churches the Bible is subtly (or not so subtly) pushed aside in favour of some kind of speculative new revelation and guidance from God. People engage in a game of celestial hide and seek with a God who is never easy to pin down. And yet, we have the Bible. Properly read, it will not tell you which specific college to attend or person to marry. But it will tell you the kind of wisdom needed to make such decisions. It will reveal God’s values so that as you know him more and more, you can better reflect his values in the decisions you make. And in chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians, it does underline something that should be self-evident if you have spent time in God’s Word – his will for you is your sanctification. You do not have to wrestle with whether or not God wants you to succeed in your sinful scheme. He does not. And if your goal is to please Him, then you already have the Spirit of God, so live holy.
2. They can know a human shortcut for decision-making. There is always complexity in making decisions, but sometimes the Bible gives us some simplicity too. For the Thessalonians, they were loving one another, and they simply needed urging to do so more and more (see 1Thess.4:9-12). It is a bit like Colossians 3:12-14, where Paul gives a list of instructions and then says, “above all these, put on love, which binds them together in perfect harmony.” They should live in such a way that they are not making an unnecessary show of themselves, or being an unnecessary burden on others, or giving an unhelpful testimony to outsiders. Do the loving thing. I know there is complexity in that, but let’s be thankful for the simplicity too!
3. They can know encouragement in the face of death. This young church was introduced to the hope of Christ’s return during Paul’s brief visit to their town. Bizarrely, we live in a time when secular reporters and political leaders might use the language of “disasters on a biblical scale,” “Armageddon,” “apocalyptic,” etc.. Yet, the church can be eerily quiet on our subject of eschatology. The Thessalonians were not concerned with sinister global plots. They were concerned because some of their fellow believers had died. When death hits a congregation, the focus is understandably localised. Did those who had died miss out on Christ’s return? Paul wrote to encourage them, and to encourage them to encourage one another. That’s what a biblical understanding of the end times will do for a church – it will stir hope and a heavenward, Christ-ward gaze. Death is brimming with the pain of separation. But we have a hope that answers that pain. Those who have died will be brought “together with” Jesus when he comes (v14). When Christ calls, we will be caught up “together with them” in the clouds. Together, our forever state will be “together with the Lord” (v17). Death, for believers, stirs anticipation of being together! As death becomes a more prominent feature of your congregation’s experience in the coming years, let’s encourage one another with these words (v18).
1. Young believers need to be prepared for suffering. Paul understood their context. They were in a city and a society that would react antagonistically to their newfound faith. So Paul had prepared them for suffering, and as time passed, Paul knew that they needed to be supported in their struggle. He knew the enemy would be on the attack against these new believers. Maybe we need 3:1-5 to direct our path more in our ministry? Do we understand our context? Our believers are in a culture that is increasingly antagonistic to their faith. The enemy is very much prowling around today seeking to pick off vulnerable believers. As much as ever, and perhaps more than ever, we need to prepare believers for suffering. There is the immediate and usually subtle antagonism of our time. And surely we can’t be so naive as to think that our cultures can undergo such radical shifts as we have seen in recent years, and yet remain essentially unchanged in the coming years? Are our people prepared for living in a society that may bear more resemblance to countries we used to pray for than the countries we used to live in?
2. Don’t just let vulnerable believers drift. Paul’s team adjusted to offer support to the Thessalonian believers. Timothy was sent back and returned with an encouraging report. Let Paul’s statement bounce around your heart for a moment, “For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” (3:8) For now we live . . . I wonder how often I hold back from this kind of concern for the sheep under my care? It is true that life change is God’s business and I can’t force it; and it is true that sometimes people need to drift in order to become sensitized to their need for Jesus; and it is true that with limited ministerial resources we will inevitably prioritize the sheep that are leaning in to be fed and cared for, etc. However, with all the practical wisdom of real-life ministry acknowledged, let us never grow calloused and comfortable with people drifting away from Christ.
3. Is there a more important ministry than prayer? Remember Acts 6:4 – the apostles didn’t want to get dragged into serving tables (which included negotiating inter-racial tensions within the new church: a significant and important role!) But what did they not want to be dragged away from? The ministry of the Word and prayer. And prayer! Is there a more important ministry than prayer? For many in ministry, it can appear that the priorities are preaching and leadership. Or preaching and organisation. Or preaching and publishing. May we all gain a secret reputation before God for the priority of prayer in our ministry. And somehow, let’s also encourage our whole church to be prayerful. Look at the Paul-team and how they prayed in 3:10-13. “Most earnestly night and day” and, “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all,” and “that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God…” Earnest prayer for growing love and established holiness. What believer would not want to be the beneficiary of that kind of concern?
Biblical Preaching 