Preaching: Sharing God's Truth

“One of the reasons for the disinterest in expository preaching is surely that so many attempts at it prove lifeless, dull, and even thoroughly boring. I never cease to be amazed by the ingenuity of those who are capable of taking the powerful, life-changing text of Scripture and communicating it with all the passion of someone reading aloud from the Yellow Pages!”  Alistair Begg

  Today we’re in the third week in our return to the study of Luke’s Gospel, Luke: Finding Jesus. Every now and then it’s important to share why we do what we do at Grace Church.

  At Grace, we’re committed to a systematic study of God’s Word. All of us have lots opinions and sometimes can speak with authority, but only God’s Word has ultimate authority. It’s what the Reformers called, Sola Scriptura. That term is from the Latin. Sola has the idea of “alone, ground and base.” Scriptura means “writings,” referring to the Scriptures. Sola Scriptura means that the Bible, God’s Word alone is authoritative for faith and practice. It’s complete, authoritative and true. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

  Because the Bible is our only authority, we’re committed to expository preaching. That simply means that the sermon is designed to communicate what the biblical text says with its meaning and application for today’s audience. A recent example would be the last two sermons from Luke 12.

  Yet, those were very difficult passages. First, they were very convicting for all of us and secondly, Jesus says some “hard things.” To be candid, if we were not working our way through Luke, I doubt if I’d ever preach on those passages. But they’re part of the Bible and specifically, the words of Jesus. They’re very important. Expositional preaching means that just because something is uncomfortable or not PC, we can’t skip over it.

  Expository preaching then means to preach with the highest view of Scripture. It demands that the preacher take the Bible seriously and show the utmost respect to the original meaning. The preacher is not the interpreter of what God has written, rather he is responsible to honestly seek to understand what the passage means and then share that with the congregation. It’s not bringing one’s own interpretation or opinions to the biblical text, but instead submitting to God’s intended meaning and purpose. The preacher must let the text speak again through the sermon with the same message God intentionally had the original message declare.

  Expository preaching is not a commentary or seminary lecture. It’s a sin to take the living Word of God (Hebrews 4:12) and make it boring. Our aim in preaching is not to be some world class scholar. Nor is it to titillate and amuse. Our aim is not even to build a big church or be flooded with comments of “nice sermon” at the door at the end of the service. No, our aim is to take the sacred text, explain what it means, tie it to other scriptures so that people can see the whole a little better, and apply it to life so it corrects and heals, instructs and edifies. It’s our conviction that there is no better way to accomplish this end than through expository preaching.

  Dr. Don Carson, professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School has suggested a number of strong reasons why expository preaching deserves to be the primary method of preaching God’s Word.

  It’s the method least likely to stray from Scripture. If you are preaching on what the Bible says about self-esteem, for example, undoubtedly you can find some useful insights. But even when you say entirely true things, you will likely abstract them from the Bible's central story line. Expository preaching keeps you anchored to the main source.

  It teaches people how to read their Bibles. Especially if you're preaching a long passage, expository preaching teaches people how to think through a passage, how to understand and apply God's Word to their own lives.

  It gives confidence to the preacher and authorizes the sermon. If you’re faithful to the text, then you’re certain that your message is God's message. Regardless of what’s going on in the church—whether it’s growing or even whether people like you—you know that you’re proclaiming God’s truth. That is wonderfully freeing for a preacher.

  It meets the need for relevance without letting the clamor for relevance dictate the message. All true preaching is to be properly applied. That’s of extraordinary importance in our generation. Expository preaching keeps the eternal and the real world central to the discussion.

  It forces the preacher to handle the tough questions. You start working through text after text, and soon you hit passages about divorce, re-marriage, church conflict, lawsuits, etc., and you have to deal with the text.

  It enables the preacher to expound systematically the whole counsel of God.  If we’re going to preach the whole counsel of God, we must teach the whole Bible. Other sermonic structures have their merits, yet none offers our church family more, week after week, than careful, faithful exposition of the Word of God.

  Preaching and deep study of God’s Word is not just for older saints. Millennials long for truth and authenticity. Even in today's hyper-techno-driven conversational-wiki-culture, preaching is of supreme importance. Of the several church-related or pastor-related issues noted by church dropouts, preaching came up several times as a critical issue in retaining young adults. In a day of “fake news,” the world is starving for ultimate truth. God’s Word is that source of truth and we must honestly share it!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

"Giving a little talk" just doesn't cut it....

“The preacher’s task is to declare what God has said, explain the meaning, and establish the implications so that no one will mistake its relevance.” Alistair Begg

  If later today, you received a phone call from a good friend and they said to you, “I’ve got something fantastic for us to do this week!” As you’re thinking of all the wonderful things they might be about to suggest, they say, “There’s this new preacher in Milwaukee. I thought it would be fantastic if we went to hear him preach.” So what would your response be?

  Would you suddenly remember you needed to give your hamster a bath? Maybe tell them, “I’ve got a big project and can’t. The ceiling tiles in my kitchen need to be recounted. We were debating the number last night and I must prove to my wife I’m right!” Or how about, “I’m trying to be more sensitive so this week I’m observing National ‘Don't Go Out At All Week.’ You haven't heard of that? Really, it’s very popular in Brussels right now!”

  Last Sunday we worked through the feeding of the 5,000 and just prior to that miracle, the interruption by the huge crowd. Remember, Jesus was on an “Us Day” with the disciples, but somehow the crowds learned Jesus was in the area and began to gather.

  So you’re with Jesus, you see this great ministry need, what do you do? What do we think Jesus should do? Organize a new ministry to take care of people? Teach them to care for themselves? At the very least start healing those who need healing (which Jesus does). Yet, it’s all secondary for Jesus. Jesus’ first priority is to preach. It’s to teach. It’s His number one ministry and primary focus: “When the crowds learned it, they followed Him, and He welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God”

  To be honest, as a preacher it feels a bit disingenuous to talk about the importance of preaching. Yet, this is what the Bible clearly teaches.

  We discovered that when we were in Luke 4. After a big day of healing with record crowds, the disciples come looking for Jesus so they can have another big day. Remember what happened? “And the people sought Jesus and came to Him, and would have kept Him from leaving them, but Jesus said to them, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.’ And Jesus was preaching in the synagogues of Judea” (vss. 42-44).

  But preaching is not the focus of ministry of the typical church. It’s the band. It’s the programs. It’s the children’s ministry or youth group. Rarely is it the preaching. We may think drama or films are the way to reach people, to grow the church, but that’s not what the Bible says.

  Think about this. You have a Bible. You can read. Can’t you just study it for yourself? Wouldn’t you do better in a discussion group where you can ask questions and all give input? Preaching seems so old and moldy.

  Yet, preaching was the focus of Jesus’ ministry. We can’t sidestep that fact. God has chosen the foolishness of preaching, to quote 1 Corinthians, because God’s Word has power. It is not the messenger; it’s the Message. God has chosen Spirit empowered preaching to communicate His truth and bring glory to Himself.

  Famed Canadian theologian, J.I. Packer, insightfully observed: “We shall never perform a more important task than preaching. If we are not willing to give time to sermon preparation, we are not fit to preach, and have no business in the ministry at all.”

  Too many pastors are CEOs. Some spend the bulk of their time in counseling or head up the local coffee clutch. Perhaps they focus on visitation, being in homes, convalescent centers or hospitals. Did you know the Bible never teaches any of that is the Pastor’s calling or responsibility? Just a side note, Scripture teaches the Deacons are to do the bulk of ministerial care of the church family (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:8-13).

  Scripture teaches that the pastor is to be a man of the Word and prayer. So if a pastor does not study, if he’s not faithfully in the Word, he should be terminated. He’s failed his biblical calling. Please do not come on Sundays to hear the preacher. Come to hear God’s Word taught. And if God leads you to some other part of the country, look for a church where preaching is central to that ministry. That’s a biblical ministry.

  Jesus knew, much like today, the crowds came seeking other things, in Luke 9, healing. It was miracles they sought; it was divine truth they desperately needed. Preaching is important because God says it’s important—in His God-breathed Word through the Apostle Paul to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:1-5). He says that preaching the Word and hearing the Word are essential for God's people.

  Preaching then is not just a good talk. The purpose is not to be inspiring or even funny. It’s to help us see Jesus. It’s to help us know God. It’s why at Grace we are committed to what is known as systematic, expository preaching. Typically, we work through a book of the Bible, verse by verse…or at least portion by portion. The reason we do that is so we have the context of what God has written for us. It also makes us study some of the tougher, even uncomfortable passages.

  One of the central acts of worship is hearing the Word preached.  John Calvin said that where the Word is not preached and heard, there is no church. To be the Body of Christ and to worship God, we need preaching.

  Yet, a neglected element of faithfulness today, often neglected by preachers is time. A preacher who does not commit the time to study is unfaithful to his calling. Like a great meal, a good sermon requires time to prepare. John Stott in his book for preachers, Between Two Worlds, suggests the preacher needs at least twelve hours to prepare a sermon. Most preachers probably need more time than that and a healthy congregation will encourage the pastor to take that time. 

  Jesus’ and the early church’s example remind us that preaching is vital. It’s the power of God unto salvation. It needs to be valued by the Christian community as a family values food.  Preachers must use the best of their time and abilities to nourish their flocks with the Word of God. It’s what God has called them to do!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.