Preaching: What's on the Menu?

“The first mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching. It is not only the first mark; it is far and away the most important of them all, because if you get this one right, all of the others should follow…If you get the priority of the Word established, then you have in place the single most important aspect of the church’s life…The congregation’s commitment to the centrality of the Word coming from the front, from the preacher, the one specially gifted by God and called to that ministry, is the most important thing you can look for in a church.”  Mark Dever

   If you’re new to Grace you may wonder about our commitment to Scripture and what’s the “pulpit menu.” At Grace we’re committed to what’s known as “expository preaching.” Rather than interpreting the Bible, we want to understand Scripture and what God has written for us. That’s why it’s exciting to return to our study of 1 Samuel: God of Reversals. Today we’re picking up our study in chapter 11 with the commencement of the reign of Israel’s first monarch, King Saul. 

  Why are we so committed to this kind of study? Let me share a story about a guy who happened to notice one day as he was looking out his window that somebody was building something near his home. He watched each day as construction workers cleared the land and moved dirt and trucks rolled in and out. The guy said that the first thing he saw them do was to pour a big concrete slab and then they put a big steel looking box on top of the slab. There was just this big box on the slab, so he figured that this must be some kind of storage shed or something the workers kept their tools in. But then he noticed that after a day or two that the workers began to build a concrete wall all around the big box. Then, they added drywall and now he’s really wondering, “What in the world they are building?”

  Finally, his curiosity gets the best of him and he goes over and says, “I’ve been watching you guys each day. I saw you pour a foundation and put this box in the middle and then build a wall around it. I’m curious, what in the world you’re building?” The construction worker replied, “Oh, we’re building a bank. That box you’re talking about with the wall all around it is the vault.” He then explained that when you build a bank, you build the central and most important part of the bank first, then you build everything else around it. Because of the large size of the vault and its weight, they had to start with it or later they wouldn’t be able to fit it through the door. 

  Because of the importance of the vault, that it would contain all manner of riches, treasures and wealth, it was the key part of the building. They wanted to be sure they got it right, and then built everything else around the centrality of the vault.

  The same is true when you want to build up God’s people and build a local church. When you build a family, when you build a relationship, and when you build a life, you first make sure that the most important part is in place—the Bible. Then, you build everything else around it. 

  Because the Bible contains all the riches and treasures and wealth of the Gospel, it’s the foundation of our lives. Everything else must be built around the centrality of the Bible. When we do this our lives are built to last, not just for this temporal world but for all eternity.

  From the world of real estate, you’ve probably heard the repeated refrain that identifies the most important consideration in a transaction as “location, location, location.” That’s true when it comes to expository preaching. The most important consideration for preaching a sermon is “the text, the text, the text.” Our goal is to simply show or “expose” what God wrote in His Word. That’s because…

  Expository preaching proceeds from the authority of the text. We don’t invent the sermon. Ours is a derived ministry in that we’re charged to share the message found in God’s Word. Without a word from God, we have nothing meaningful to say. We believe that the Spirit has authorized and inspired the words of Scripture in a manner with which He has not inspired our words. Our authority in preaching hinges at every point on the uniquely authorized nature of the biblical text. It’s why we stay as close to the text as possible. As J. I. Packer put it, “Preaching is letting texts talk.”

  Expository preaching gives functional priority to the text in the passage of Scripture. Prioritizing the text in our preaching can’t be overstated. The passage of Scripture must govern what we say about it, when we say what we say about it, and even how we say what we say about it. A sermon’s affirmations and assertions should be linked to the text.

  Structurally, an expository sermon is more than simply offering a running commentary on the passage. The sermon must be arranged as the text presents itself and have a concise main idea that reflects it clearly. The message should convey something of the “spirit” of the text. Delivery must reflect joy when the text focuses on rejoicing. Likewise, it should convey gravity and brokenness when the text focuses on sin and its consequences.

  Expository preaching recognizes the life-changing potential and eternal impact of the text. Our commitment to expository preaching is rooted in the recognition of the timelessness of Scripture. As important as dynamic delivery and careful crafting of words are, what changes lives is not pulpit passion, great stories or cleverly timed phrases.

  What changes lives is the word of God, inspired and energized by the Holy Spirit. That changes lives forever. God’s Word has an eternal impact in that, like no other source, it confronts hearers with ultimate realities like life and death, heaven and hell, and hope and hopelessness.

  When we prioritize the text, we honor the Lord who inspired it and Scripture edifies those who hear it. Our handling of the text sets the tone for how our church will handle Scripture. Through faithful expository preaching, we have the opportunity to model an appropriate reverence and regard for God’s Word. We also have the wonderful privilege of assisting others in learning how to care for their own spiritual meals.

  How we preach and teach reveals what we believe about the Bible. Anyone can sign an orthodox statement of faith, but that doesn’t prove what we really believe. Our true convictions about God and His Word are evidenced by what we preach and how we preach – that it’s God’s Word, not our opinion or perspective.  

  This is why we’re committed to working our way through 1 Samuel (and other books of the Bible). We want to hear what God has to say to us and apply His truth to our lives!

 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. 

You can't have your wedding cake and eat it, too

“Christians are supposed to be conspicuously holy, not for our own reputation but for God’s. We are to be the light of the world, so that when people see our good deeds they will glorify God.”   Mark Dever

  Have you used the Buy/Sell/Trade Sites on Facebook? You can find some real deals. Last Tuesday, June 28^th, was Jane’s birthday and yesterday, July 2^nd, was our 33^rd Anniversary. All that partying and gift-giving gets expensive. So I’m scanning these sites and stumbled on an elderly couple celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary. They’d planned a big celebration, purchased a huge cake BUT way overbought. Only a few friends were able to make it. So they’re stuck with all this cake with just a few slices missing. They’re on a fixed income and need money, so they listed this “used anniversary cake” for a song. I got a deal! They assured me, too, no one licked the knife and none of their friends have any communicable diseases…that they know of. So celebrate with us. It’s our anniversary weekend and we got a deal on this barely used cake. Join us in the coffee café for a piece of hardly used anniversary cake. You can barely see their names, Earline & Ralph, with the extra frosting covering them.

  If we announced there was “used” cake today, other than a few junior high boys who will eat anything, there wouldn’t be a long line for cake. Why is it we’re so concerned with purity when it comes to food, yet so casual about it when it comes to sexual intimacy?

  Before you read further, concluding I just stepped out of the Dark Ages, this particular column is only for those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, for those who have a personal relationship with Him, want to be obedient and please Him. They’re concerned about holiness. If you don’t know Jesus, while having sex outside of marriage has serious sociological and emotional ramifications, those concerns are minor compared to your greatest need of salvation. Those in God’s family are very concerned about pleasing Him and desire His blessing on their life and marriage.

  Because our culture is so oversexualized, our identity is no longer found in that we’re human beings made in God’s image. Instead, we’re primarily identified by our sex organs. Sexual behavior is our most talked about, joked about and considered our most valuable trait. Some 90% of sexual relations in the media are between unmarried individuals. Sex outside of marriage is promoted as healthy, natural and normal. That’s not what the Bible teaches. It’s instead a naturalistic worldview, not God’s viewpoint.

  God designed sex. Sexual intimacy is to be pleasurable and practiced often within marriage. During pre-marital counseling, I’ll ask couples: How do you spell sex? F-U-N! Sadly, too many have embraced a godless world’s viewpoint when it comes to sexuality. They’ll say things like “the Bible never says it’s wrong, I’ve studied it.” Or, the ultimate spiritual one upmanship, “We prayed about it.” Often, there’s little or no shame, even if they move in together. The greater tragedy is when Christian parents or grandparents give them their blessing. One colleague in ministry, prior to marriage, was encouraged by his future wife’s parents to move in with each other. It was the unmarried Christian couple who said, “No.” Rarely does anyone stop to consider that this is disobedience to God or the long term cost to the couple. Frankly, I think most parents would be more upset if their kids stole a candy bar, than they are with their children’s immoral behavior. No one seems to put together our epidemic emotional and mental health issues, exorbitant divorce rate, or rising violent and sexual crime rate with contemporary society’s laissez-faire attitude toward sexual intimacy.

  Please don’t take my word for it, examine for yourself what God’s Word says. Here are several passages which make it unequivocally clear any sexual relationship outside of marriage is wrong: Acts 15:20, 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:13, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 5:3 and Hebrews 13:4 to name a few.

  Sex is a gift from God to be pursued and enjoyed within the proper parameters of marriage. Playing in the sandbox may feel good, but it can’t compare to a day at the beach. In the same way, sex outside of marriage feels good, but that doesn’t mean it is good. Please pursue a greater pleasure. So why should anyone wait until marriage?

   Your relationship will be built on love that’s real, substantial, and stable. Love isn’t a feeling, it’s a choice. Many mistake feelings of pleasure for love. When you differentiate between love and sex, you love a person, not because of how you feel or what they do for you. You become spiritually, mentally and emotionally connected first. Sex within marriage is much more fulfilling and secure. It’s not about self or performance but love for your partner, meeting their needs and having yours met.  

  Waiting for sex helps control lust.  It greatly strengthens your trust in each other. The foundation of a healthy marriage is trust. When you resist sexual temptation with someone you love today, it helps build fences to not become sexually involved with someone who attracts you later. All of us find ourselves attracted to someone else from time to time.

  You become better communicators. What’s a continual problem in most marriages? Communication. When you wait, you build a communication foundation first. A married couple should be best friends, know each other better than anyone else, trust each other with inside information, trust even when flaws in our lives are exposed. It’s an intimacy sex alone can never achieve. Better communication even means more productive “fighting.” Issues are easier to resolve. We’re safe, comfortable and open with each other, and can express our emotions and needs better.

  You’re fighting for (and earning) that 1^st piece of wedding cake and amazing sex for your future marriage. Imagine your first night together after waiting, fighting temptation, growing in faith, knowing the deep emotional and spiritual love you have, and finally getting to have guilt-free and blessed by God sexual intimacy! It’s powerful and incomparable! It lowers feelings of self-consciousness, knowing how deeply you are loved!

  God designed sex for marriage and is the Designer we’re accountable to for all of our behavior, including sexuality. Marriage is the only covenant relationship where sexual expression is supposed to flourish. Scripture limits sex to within marriage only because sex is an expression of the lifetime covenantal union between husband and wife. When a relationship is merely a “test drive” both parties ask themselves stuff like, “Am I good enough?” or “Am I settling when I should be looking for someone better?” 

  Perhaps though you’ve already blown it. With our gracious God, it’s never too late to make the decision to pursue purity. Christ died for our sins. His grace is sufficient. All you must do is repent and commit, leaving old ways behind and following Jesus’ plan for your life (Ephesians 4:22-24). Then, you’ll find lasting and enduring joy. God Himself promises this!


Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

Caring for the Hurting

“Do you want to know that your [Christian] life is real? Commit yourself to a local group of saved sinners. Try to love them. Don’t just do it for three weeks. Don’t just do it for six months. Do it for years. And I think you’ll find out, and others will, too, whether or not you love God. The truth will show itself.”   Mark Dever

  When you read your Bible, do you find that the Psalms are encouraging? Do they often touch your heart? As you read them, do you sometimes feel that David has been peeking into your soul? Think for a moment. Do you think his greatest burdens, heartaches, sorrows were physical or emotional?

  I think we’d all have to agree that they were emotional. As you read the Psalms, it’s apparent that David was not struggling with physical pain but emotional pain – depression, fear, rejection, loneliness…to name a few.

  Most of our greatest hurts are not physical. They’re emotional and they’re spiritual. God powerfully brought that home to me just recently.

  Recently, I ran into a friend that I’d not seen in several months. Looking back, somehow I knew that something wasn’t quite right. Eventually, in our conversation he shared that he and his wife had gotten divorced. He was a broken man. I remember previously, just a few years before when he’d shared with me about their recent trip to China for the funeral of his wife’s father and how fulfilling that had been for him. Yet, here he was in retirement, looking forward to spending his retirement years with the love of his life, now attempting to put on a stoic face, but broken, hurting and confused.

  Let’s go back to the book of Psalms – here’s David, a man who Scripture describes as “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22), baring His soul not only to God but to us. The reason we find such encouragement and hope there is that we are reminded that we are not alone. We are not the only ones who struggle with depression, discouragement, worry, fear and a myriad of other emotions.

  Interestingly, for some reason anger or impatience are appropriate emotions to express and admit in our culture (maybe they’re seen as power emotions while others are seen as signs of weakness). But depression, grief, anxiety, fear or discouragement are possibly admitted to the closest of friends, but often not even there. We often wait until we find someone we can “pay” to share our heart with, a therapist or some other professional counselor. Sometimes we might share them with a pastor because he’s considered “safe.”

  If you’re a parent, you’ve gone through this. Your child came home from school. They’re discouraged, hurt or wounded. It probably started with a conversation like this. You notice something is wrong and you ask, “What’s wrong?” They retort, “Nothing!” Usually, eventually, particularly if you have a healthy relationship with them, it all comes pouring out.

  But what if you’re child never shared that they were hurt or struggling, would that be normal? Healthy? Of course not. Often you may not have the answer but what they most need is for you to listen and to care. They need you to pray with them and for them, not necessarily give them the solutions right away. That’s what family does. We love, care, help and pray with each other as we walk through life’s hurts. If that’s normal for family, shouldn’t it be normal with our church family? So why isn’t that the case?

  1). We really don’t know each other. Most of us won’t share our hearts with those we don’t know. Please understand, we can’t know each other unless we spend time with each other. That’s why even activities like last Sunday’s 60’s Party are so important – we start getting to know each other. It’s why small groups and Sunday Morning Live classes are so important – we start getting to know each other. That’s why we break you into even smaller groups in those classes – we want you to get to know each other, to begin to peel back the layers. If we don’t know each other, we’ll never feel safe with each other, safe enough to share our burdens and cares.

  2) We must realize that God has designed all of us with emotions. Usually, when someone shares their heart, there’s a sense of discomfort both on their part and everyone that just heard their “feeling.” Wow! What’s going on here! Someone let a feeling get loose. How did that happen? Someone catch that feeling and stuff it back in a drawer. We can’t have feelings running around loose. Yet, we all have feelings, even pastors. Every emotion that you feel and struggle with, everyone else at our church has too. Do you worry? So does everyone else? Do you get discouraged? So does everyone else? Do you periodically feel hopeless, depressed? So does everyone else?

  Currently, it weighs on me that our building hasn’t sold yet. I know that it’s in God’s hands and we’re on His timeline, yet it still weighs on me. I know that until we’re able to move and build a new facility, our ministry is terribly handicapped. The needs of our community and the many lost and hopeless folk I meet, weigh very heavily on my heart. I need your prayer support that my faith will deepen during this point in our church’s history.

  3) We must want and be ready to help. Simply put, we must care and love others. As believers, we have the best heart medicine available. We’re to love each other as God loves us. We have the Father’s promises (that means that we must know our Bibles). We can pray for each other (that means we need to know how to pray).

  Please understand that I’m not suggesting we indiscriminately share our hearts. Yet, as we’ve been working through in our current series, Me to We, God designed us for relationships. It’s part of our DNA. It’s who we are as image-bearers of God. So in a church family, we must build those relationships with brothers and sisters outside of our immediate family that we can share our hearts with and who can share their hearts with us. It will lighten our burden and help us grow – both by caring, being cared for and even having someone share with us those things that we can’t see because we’ve lost perspective.

  That’s normal church family and the church that the Father intends for us! At Grace, we want our church family to grow by seeing lost folk come to know Jesus and we want to grow by having His love pour through us as we love, care and share with each other as a church family!