by Steven Nguyen “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27 First and foremost, I want to let everyone breathe and clarify that this isn’t a relationships devotional but a devotional about preaching and God’s role of preaching within the context of the local church of Jesus Christ. Yet, this is God’s desire and plan for us if we are married or desire to be married men. Early on in my walk with the Lord I was invited to church and my first ever Christian sermon that I listened to was in Acts 7:54-60 where Stephen gets stoned after he performs signs and wonders. Men from the synagogue of the Freedmen rose up and disputed Stephen and he preaches and then they stone him. As a new Christian and not understanding what’s going on I thought to myself a very long resounding, geez.
I was constantly curious about what the purpose of the pastor preaching the Word of God on Sunday mornings in a particular local area church. Before we can begin with the purpose of preaching we must look at the study of what the local church is defined as. Jonathan Leeman defines the local church as “a group of Christians who regularly gather in Christ’s name to officially affirm and oversee one another’s membership in Jesus Christ and His kingdom through gospel preaching and gospel ordinances.[1]” We are going to look at gospel preaching in a minute but gospel ordinances are defined as the taking of the Lord’s Supper and baptism by immersion in water. We can see in 1 Peter 5:2 that pastors are to shepherd the flock of God that is among them underneath the Chief Shepherd who is Jesus Christ and we as members of a particular local church should submit to our pastors for they are keeping watch over our souls as Hebrews 13:17 states. One of the ways in which pastors of a local church shepherd the flock of God that is among them, underneath the leadership and rule of Jesus Christ is through Gospel preaching. The three types of Gospel preaching are expositional, topical and evangelism. Expositional preaching takes a particular passage of Scripture as the subject of the message. Topical preaching takes a particular topic that the preacher would want to discuss. Evangelism preaching is when you individually share the gospel one on one or preaching to crowds in a general local area. There is a time and place for all three types of Gospel preaching yet the main type of teaching that a local church should emphasis is expositional preaching. Bryan Chappell in his book, Christ-Centered Preaching states that in expository preaching “the ultimate goal is not to communicate the value of our opinions, other’s philosophies, or speculative meditations but rather to show how God’s Word discloses his will for those united to him through his Son.[2]” Chappell goes on to say “the work of the Spirit is as inextricably linked to preaching as heat is to the light a bulb emits. When we present the light of God’s Word, his Spirit performs his purposes of warming, melting, and conforming hearts to His will.[3]” In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we can see that God has spoken and that the Bible is the very Words of God. It’s through the Word of God that the Lord transforms us and the preached Word of God is the means by which God shepherds the local church through her pastors. As under shepherds, it is through preaching from pastors that Jesus will accomplish what He has stated in Ephesians 5:25-27 that Jesus will present His bride, the Church to Himself in splendor by the washing of the Word. As believers in Jesus Christ we are to:
I pray that this helps us to understand what the local church is, what the purpose of preaching is in the life of the local church, the role of the local church pastor and the role of the member of the church of Jesus Christ. My hope is that we as the Church of Jesus Christ would be all that the Lord would intend His bride to be for the glory of His name and for the Kingdom of God here on Earth until His second coming. [1] https://9marks.org/article/what-is-a-local-church/ [2] Chapell, Bryan. Christ-Centered Preaching. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2005. Pg. 31. [3] Chapell, Bryan. Christ-Centered Preaching. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI. 2005. Pg. 33.
0 Comments
by Larry Hernandez Genesis 13:5-12-Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.
As I read this I will be focusing on who Lot is and what we can learn from him. Lot Strengths and accomplishments: He was a successful businessman. Weaknesses and mistakes: When faced with decisions, he tended to put off deciding, and then chose the easiest course of action when given a choice; his first reaction was to think of himself. Lot often took the easy route the path of least resistance. Although he grew up without father he had great examples of courageous leaders in Abram his uncle and Terah his grandfather. He often did not consider the consequences of his actions. Lot’s character is revealed by his choices. He took the best share of the land even though it meant living near Sodom, a city known for its sin. He was greedy, wanting the best for himself, without thinking about his uncle Abram’s needs or what was fair. Life presents a series of choices. We, too, can choose the best while ignoring the needs and feelings of others. But this kind of choice, as Lot’s life shows, leads to problems. When we stop making choices in God’s direction, our only option is to make choices in the wrong direction. Later on as we go into Genesis 14 Lot’s greedy desire for the best of everything led him into sinful surroundings. He was captured by the people of Sodom. His burning desire for possessions and success cost him his freedom and enjoyment. As a captive to Kedorlaomer, he faced torture, slavery, or death. In much the same way, we can be enticed into doing things or going places we shouldn’t. The prosperity we long for is captivating; it can both entice us and enslave us if our motives are not in line with God’s desires. By God’s Grace he was rescued by his uncle Abraham. Even Though Lot made poor choices he was reference later in the New Testament as being Righteous, 2 Peter 2:7,9 “and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” Isn’t it awesome that God saw Lot as righteous even after all the mistakes and choices that he made? That’s awesome because it is how he sees us in the midst of our mistakes, and just like Abraham rescued Lot, God sent Jesus Christ to rescue us from our sinful desires. God also sacrificed himself so we no longer could be condemned or controlled by our sin and made us righteous by his own righteousness so we wouldn’t have to strive and labor for perfection knowing he has already achieved it. Our part is to seek him and to be more obedient to him daily knowing that when we trust in him we are on a good path. 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. |
Follow us on instagram
Categories
All
|