The First 35 Years!

 

“Our privilege is twofold. We have an amazing task, 

and we get it to do it among people we get to love.” Daryl Dash

 
It’s been a year of anniversaries for me. In May I was honored for twenty years of service as the chaplain of the Burlington Police Department. Then, on July 2^nd our church family joined Jane and me as we celebrated 40 years of marriage and this weekend marks 35 years as your pastor.
  Little did Jane and I realize that as we moved our family from Detroit that we would some day be celebrating 35 years as your pastor in Burlington. We were in the midst of assisting a new church plant on the northwest side of the Detroit suburbs when God called us here. They celebrated their launch of their first Sunday on our first Sunday in Burlington.
  No doubt you have heard the old saying, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.” Wisconsin was not our first choice of places to minister. Jane and I had both gone to school in Watertown and the college we attended sadly had an adversarial relationship with the community. Then, most of our family and friends lived in Michigan. We thought that we might serve the Lord in Wisconsin for five or so years and then head back to Michigan…and an opportunity did arise, but I turned it down. It just didn’t seem like it was God’s will.
  Today this is our home. You are our family. This is our community (please, just don’t demand that we be Packer fans).
  Looking back. Burlington was the smallest town either of us have lived in. In 1988, the city didn’t have a traffic light. I quickly realized how small the city was when I opened a bank account the next morning after we moved in at what was then “the Bank of Burlington.” The woman at the front desk greeted me with, “You’re the minister who moved in last night.”
  Yet I look back with gratitude at the faith and hope of those 30 some people who called us to come. The church had recently gone through some deep waters. That small group had discussed closing, but they persevered. They didn’t just talk about making changes, as so many churches do, they truly wanted change. They were cognizant that it was change or die…and so we did.
  They weren’t astronomical changes. Most were incremental. Many times, we fail to realize that as each of us needs to grow spiritually, churches too must grow spiritually…and pastors must grow spiritually. My approach and philosophy of ministry today is very different from my approach to ministry in 1988. God was going to work on my heart.
  Funerals are the dark valley of being a pastor. God was so gracious to me in my first one at our church. It was for a dear old saint, Bess Norum, who was 95-years young. Bess was a firecracker and had sung in the choir for Evangelist Billy Sunday’s crusades and Bess was ready to go Home. It helped prepare me for my next funeral of a young mother who was a cancer victim and left behind a husband and two young children.
  In thirty-five years, there are thousands of memories. Yet, as I look back, I continually marvel at the faith of our church family. They trusted the Lord. They trusted Him to work through our leadership. There were some big challenges and some deep waters, but they remained faithful. We changed our philosophy of ministry from internally focused to externally focused, our music, our version of Scripture, even our location to our present building. Those are radical changes for a church. Many a church has died because they refused to grow and change. We are here today because of their faith in God and perseverance.
  Looking at the present. The most dangerous place for a believer is to become satisfied and think that they’ve arrived. It’s even more dangerous for a church. Too many churches rest on the victories of yesterday.
  I’m so thankful that our church has a holy sense of discontent. There is a passion to continue to grow in grace and to reach our community with the gospel. Most churches talk about reaching their community but have internal barriers that hinder it like cliquishness, pettiness, legalism, liberalism or politicalization.
  Currently, most churches grow either through children in the church coming to Christ or believers from another area church transferring in, not through outreach. At Grace, we’re thankful for children who come to faith, yet hold that we’re co-laborers with other churches not competitors. Our mission field is our community and those who have not yet met our Savior.  
  I feel so blessed to systematically work our way through Scripture with you so that we grow in our understanding and application of His truth to our lives. This is our family! It’s a privilege to pray for each of you and to share your needs and burdens with the Father. I am so thankful that our church is growing in its understanding that our church is not a “business,” it’s a family of redeemed brothers and sisters. That means that we’re not clones. Our differences become building blocks of unity and spiritual growth. Today our church is made up of those from varied walks of life, marital situations, and economic levels. Committed discipleship is one of our goals as we continue to move forward together.
  What’s ahead? Personally, I’m thankful that I don’t know. Retirement is not in our plans. We still have a fiery passion to take new ground and reach more folk for His glory! We don’t want to coast or be satisfied with the status quo. We want to invest and be part of raising up the next generation to love Jesus and reach our community for the glory of God.
  Yet, there comes a time to step away. Most pastors leave too soon, some though stay too long. Jane and I want to be sensitive that we are helping you move forward into becoming more like Jesus. All of us need to be cognizant of the fragility of life and good health. Experience has taught us that one’s health situation can change quickly. We never want to get in the way of God’s plans or what He’s doing. Afterall, it’s His church.
  One of our next steps is to continue with our master plan and build a children’s wing. We want to plan for the future and next generation. This church is not about us, it’s Him and them.
  Jane and I look forward to one day going Home. Yet we know that we are so blessed to have had a taste of heaven for the past 35 years of serving Him by serving you, our Grace Church family! All I can say is: Thank you for being so good to us! We love you so much!!

Can we help you spiritually? 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. 

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. 

The Priority of Preaching: Why We Do What We Do

 

“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 

Once after the famous French preacher, Jean Baptiste Massillon had preached, a listener exclaimed, “What an eloquent sermon! How gloriously he preached!” When that comment was reported to Massillon, he replied, “Then he did not understand me. Another sermon has been thrown away!” 

  God has not called preachers to entertain or be eloquent. He’s called us to something so much higher and so much greater. We are to “preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:2). That’s our commitment at Grace Church. We are not attempting to please people but a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s His Book and we want to honor Him. 

  Humanly speaking, particularly in our media saturated culture, preaching doesn’t make sense. It never has. It’s why 1 Corinthians 1:21 refers to “the foolishness of preaching.” The pulpit and preaching are not to be a bully pulpit or a place for our opinions. It must be the message from God’s Word that the Holy Spirit anoints and applies to our lives. 

  After I’m done preaching, my heart’s desire is that you can look at your Bible and understand what Scripture is saying and how it applies to your life. One day we will all stand before our Sovereign, Jesus Christ the Judge of the living and the dead. In view of that solemn day, it’s essential preachers preach God’s Word. It’s essential that you listen to the preaching of God’s Word with a view to obedience. It’s frightening when someone is goofing off, whispering or scanning their phone during a sermon. Some day they will give account for ignoring the Word of God. On that great coming day when we stand before Christ, we want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Preaching and hearing the Word are of utmost importance in view of eternity. Then, how do we accomplish this? 

  We must preach God’s Word. Our preaching must be resolutely Biblical. The task of the preacher is to expound or bring out of the biblical text what is already there. The preacher’s responsibility is to open up the passage in such a way the message is communicated clearly, accurately, relevantly, without addition, subtraction, or falsification. Preaching is not a dull lecture. God’s Word is alive and powerful. Nothing is boring about His Word. It’s a sin to be boring with Scripture. We enter the pulpit with confidence that God has spoken, that He’s caused what He has spoken to be written and we have this inspired text in our hands. It’s astounding that we have God’s Word in our hands and on our lips. It’s God’s grace. Understanding what God has written is hard and serious work. 

  We must preach to our contemporary world. God’s Word is relevant. It intersects with cultural and social issues: racism, civil liberties, morality, poverty, government, ethics, marriage, family…to name a few. As Scripture speaks to these issues, the preacher must not be silent or he has failed the Lord and his God-given mandate. Wise preachers are to equip the congregation with biblical convictions through expository preaching. It’s our responsibility to open up scriptural principles which relate to the problems of our culture in such a way as to help everybody to develop a biblical worldview. The pulpit must help listeners develop Christian thinking so they can penetrate their segment of the community more deeply for Christ. We’re not to sacrifice truth to relevance or relevance to truth, yet resolve to be faithful to Scripture and pertinent to today. 

  We must listen before we preach.  How do we learn to build bridges from the ancient biblical text to our contemporary world? The wise preacher listens carefully both to the ancient Word and the modern world to be able to relate the one to the other with faithfulness to the Word and sensitivity.  We must listen to the voice of God in the Scriptures above all. It’s the first and most important act of listening. Yet, God has called us to share His message with real people so we must listen to the voices of those in the world around us. It means listening, knowing and caring about both those in the congregation and those outside the church. Faithful preachers need to ask questions and listen to the answers. It means listening to those from varied generations, ethnic and economic groups. 

  We must practice what we preach. It’s not enough to preach well, we must live well. The message that breaks the heart of the listeners must first break the preacher’s heart. I don’t know what other preachers do, yet I find that I’m often broken and humbled before the light of God’s Word as I work through the text. Wise is the preacher who is cognizant that his actions before and after speaking will speak louder than his words. A preacher must be a person of deep convictions and commitment. He must live to serve and please King Jesus and to bring glory to His name. 

  Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones pastored Westminster Chapel in London during World War II. London suffered, with tens of thousands killed or injured. One Sunday, a bomb fell a short distance away while Lloyd-Jones prayed during a service. The sound was tremendous. Windows rattled. Plaster fell. Lloyd-Jones paused for a moment and then continued to pray. 

  The man who gave announcements came up when the prayer was over. After he’d completed his task, he dusted Lloyd-Jones off, and then Lloyd-Jones started preaching. Why would he do this? Because D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones knew that preaching was the main thing. 

  Wise are D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones words: “I would say without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.” 

  With bombs falling, and the future of England in question, Lloyd-Jones kept preaching. Our world desperately needs the message from God. We need that focus today. God’s preachers dare not abandon their post! 

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. 

Peanuts, Popcorn...NOT for the Pulpit!

“May I beg you carefully to judge every preacher, not by his gifts, not by his elocutionary powers, not by his status in society, not by the respectability of his congregation, not by the prettiness of his church, but by this – does he preach the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation?”   C.H. Spurgeon

  Sadly, for the most part, the contemporary Church is spiritually emaciated. You often sense it as you walk in the door. There’s a lack of seriousness, fervency, or even a heart for God. May that not be true of us!

  There are many reasons for this sad situation. A primary one is that we’ve jettisoned what Scripture teaches is to be a priority – the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Recently, I was told that we use the Bible too much at Grace to be a successful church. The typical church measures success by numbers of attendees and size of the budget. Churches are constantly looking for that next “thing” that will bring in crowds and cash. The end result is that we’re pragmatically driven, rather than biblically motivated. But having a big crowd doesn’t mean we’re making disciples or are successful in God’s eyes.

  From a human perspective, one of the dumbest things we do is put a man behind a pulpit and have him deliver a monologue. Adding to the tedium, he uses an ancient book written two millennia ago in an ancient language as his primary resource. Could anything be more passé? Yet, amazingly, the Bible commands us to “preach” God’s Word and even warns us that preaching will be considered stupid, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe… but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:21-25). But because we’re this world success driven, we use cheap substitutes for preaching like…

  Entertainment. In many churches, you’re not sure if you’re in a worship service or a circus. The music, light show, drama, video and dance routine drive the service. Preaching is a sidebar. Church gurus tell us we need these things so we don’t bore people. While there are boring preachers, the Bible is anything but boring. Martin Lloyd Jones said, “Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. A man who can speak about these things dispassionately has no right whatsoever to be in a pulpit and should never be allowed to enter one.” God’s eternal Word needs to grip the heart of the preacher and the congregation by the power of the Holy Spirit.

  Sharing. A pastor will say something like, “There are some things I just want to share with you today…” Since when is the man of God some Dr. Phil and Oprah combo? God called the preacher to preach His message. Because it reveals the human heart, because we’re naked before a Holy God, it’s often uncomfortable…even offensive. We dare not remove the offense from the Gospel: I’m a mess, you’re a mess, this world’s a mess and there is no cure except Jesus Christ and His cross. Either you run to Christ as Savior or you’ll face Him as Judge. There is no in between.

  Sermonettes. Anyone want a discount open heart surgery? Half the price, half the time. When we preach God’s Word, we’re doing soul surgery. You can’t do that in 20 minutes. It takes time. Truth must be explained clearly. It needs personal application. We also naturally resist it, so resistance must be broken down. It’s impossible to do meaningful life change in a hurry.

  How can I listen to a sermon so that I get as much as I can out of it? Even those of us who believe God’s plan and command is the preaching of His Word have often given little thought on how to listen to a sermon. Yet, shouldn’t we be highly motivated to learn how to develop the spiritual discipline of listening to a sermon? If for nothing else, just the practical, utilitarian reason of not wasting time. If you’re an adult who’s been in church for several years, you’ve spent hundreds of hours sitting through sermons. Just the sheer amount of time we spend listening to sermons should spark some curiosity in us on how to listen to a sermon effectively.

  And there’s a far greater motivation for a believer to want to listen to a sermon well: Scripture teaches that preaching is God’s design and His great gift to us (1 Cor. 1:20-25, Eph. 4:7-16 & 2 Tim. 4:1-5). In our ADHD world, listening to a sermon is a learned discipline that can be developed. If we know preaching is God’s plan and we’re going to spend lots of hours doing it, shouldn’t we want to get good at it? Learning to listen well to a sermon will change your life and maximize the effect of the preaching of God’s Word upon your life. Here are some basic pointers:

  It’s requires effort. With our growing increase of technology, we’re probably the most distracted generation in history. That means you’re going to struggle to concentrate to listen to a monologue for forty minutes. That doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. Yet, like anything worthwhile, it’s going to demand that you put forth some real effort.

  It means pre-planning. It’s the same advice your parents gave you when you were a child. Go to bed early. Have your clothes and other items ready before you go to bed. Get up at a decent time so you don’t have to rush. Leave home with enough time so you can relax. Plan for the rest of the day beforehand. If you have to think about Sunday afternoon – What you’re going to eat? Who you’re spending time with? What time is the game on? – You’ll have difficulty focusing during the preaching.  

  It demands thinking. Since at Grace, we preach through books of the Bible, most Sundays, you know in advance what passage is going to be preached on. Why not take a few moments during the week to read the text, familiarize yourself with it, and begin thinking through it so you aren’t starting from scratch when the sermon starts? Perhaps do a little research and work through some background information on the passage.

  Please pray. Pray in advance for the sermon time. Preaching is a very spiritual phenomenon: God revealed through Christ revealed through the Scriptures revealing a particular message through His appointed, earthly messenger to a particular audience on a particular Sunday. If you fail to approach it spiritually, you won’t experience its full impact on your life. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give the preacher His message and to help him deliver it. Pray for our church family and yourself to hear and understand it. That all requires the work of the Spirit working in us.

  It means knowing how you’re wired. Know your learning style and prepare for the sermon time accordingly. If you’re easily distracted by people around you, sit in the front and center of the room. Take extra notes. Engage the material, asking questions. Taking notes usually forces us to concentrate more and keeps our minds focused on the message. 
  God’s Word is a priceless treasure. Let’s determine to value the time invested listening to Scripture being taught!

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The Gospel is everything

“Without the gospel everything is useless and vain.”

John Calvin

  Recently, Jane and I attended one of the classiest and sharpest churches I think we’ve ever attended. It was a mega-church in Atlanta. There are several of them in that area. The pastor is well-known internationally and is the author of several best selling books. The church averages some 25,000 people in attendance every weekend. There were parking attendants guiding us on where to park. The facility was beautiful. They even had a bookstore (always a big plus with me). When they discovered it was our first time there, a volunteer actually took us to our seats and gave us a packet of information on the church. We were seated in some of the best seats in the church, about five rows or so back…not too close but not too far away. The worship band could go on tour and probably does. The media presentation was first class. The assistant pastor who made the announcements was warm, welcoming and funny. The pastor is probably one of the best communicators in America. His message was both powerful and practical. He was very engaging. No one seemed to be checking their watch or to be bored in any way.

  There was just one major problem – there was no Gospel. In fact, the pastor even said something to the effect, “If you don’t like talk about Jesus, you’re going to be comfortable today because we’re going to be in the Old Testament and we’re not going to talk about Jesus at all,” and he didn’t.

  You must always be careful evaluating a church based on one service, but there was no Gospel that morning. No Gospel for 25,000 people…no cross, no plan of salvation. The message was timely and practical about getting advice from the right kind of people but no Gospel.

  And it broke my heart. If you have no Gospel, what do you really have? Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). Here were 25,000 people in church, in a “worship” service but on that particular day, they didn’t hear a thing that ultimately mattered. If they were all believers it might not have mattered, but in a crowd that size, statistically, I have difficulty believing that was the case.

  Tragically, in the American church we’ve often bought into a lie of what’s vital and has ultimate significance. We teach about marriage, and we should. Yet, you can have a great marriage but if you don’t know Jesus, so what? You can have a great family, wonderful relationships with your children. They may stay off of drugs and booze. They may be very successful but if they don’t know the Lord, if they’ve never accepted the Gospel…does it matter? You could be smarter than Warren Buffet with your money. Your 401K big enough to make Donald Trump turn green with envy, but if you’ve never come to the Cross, admitted you’re a sinner and need a Savior…you’re spiritually broke. If you are in great health, if your blood pressure is ideal, you’re not overweight, you have a the body of a teenager and you’re a senior citizen, but if you’re not a Christian, it’s a dead end. So you’re educated, even brilliant. You have an IQ over 150. You may have a Ph.D. Perhaps you’re the next Steven Hawking or Paul Allen, but if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you’re a fool.

  The Gospel is not just something, it’s everything. And at Grace, we’re unapologetically committed to communicating the Gospel. It’s our primary message, and without it, we have no message. The Gospel is the answer to our world’s greatest need, my greatest and your greatest need. That’s why we’re committed to “Gospel preaching.” So what is Gospel preaching?

  Gospel preaching is Bible preaching. The Bible is the one and only textbook and the preacher is a teacher or messenger delivering the Word of truth. He must be focused first of all on the only truth that ultimately matters. Every idea he uses must have a solid foundation in the Bible, no exceptions. Without Scripture, someone can perhaps give a good talk, but can't preach a Biblical sermon. Sermons are based only on the word of God." The late H. Leo Boles often told young pastors, “Boys, there is a great difference in preaching the gospel and making a talk on a Bible subject.” Let the media take care of social and economic problems, the preacher must be about the business of preaching the Gospel.

  Gospel preaching is Christ centered. The very heart and core of the gospel is good news about the Savior. The coming of Jesus into the world to save a defiled and ruined human race through the offering of Himself upon the Cross is the central theme of the Bible. That’s what Gospel preaching is all about, and to fail to point people to the Lamb of God is to fail to preach the Gospel. They must be made to understand that Jesus “gave Himself for our sins.”

  Gospel preaching is distinctive. The story of the cross and the plan of salvation God devised to save us from our sins is a very distinctive message. Gospel preaching identifies these truths and thus draws a sharp line of distinction between the Gospel and any other talk of ways to gain God’s favor, forgiveness and entry into heaven. There is only one Gospel. Our goal is not necessarily to make listeners feel good but to see themselves accurately spiritually, that apart from Jesus Christ, they are eternally doomed for their sin and guilt. We must help the lost to see that they are lost, or we have failed the Lord and our mission. We must help them see that there is hope, forgiveness and new life in Christ.

  Gospel preaching is loving and compassionate. God is a God of love and doesn’t want anyone to go to Hell. Because He loves us so much, God the Father gave His only Son to pay our sin debt by sacrificing Him on the Cross. God loves the world. If we’re going to please God, we must love the world too. When Jesus walked this earth, He wept over the blindness and sinfulness of those around Him. It broke His heart and it must break our hearts too.

  One of the most successful companies in the fast food industry is Domino's Pizza. Domino’s has a clearly defined mission statement, “To be the best pizza delivery company in the world.” Everything they do at Domino's is centered on that goal. What about us? What about Grace Church? Is everything centered on the great commission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:19-20? Are we centered on the Gospel? Without the Gospel, we have no mission and we have no message.