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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 1, NUMBER 11, APRIL 15, 2001 WHAT
SHOULD I PREACH?
Every once in a while someone will ask me, “How do you come up with two
sermons every week?” Occasionally
the question is more specific, such as, “How do you decide what to preach
about?” All the preachers that I
know who are worth their salt give serious and prayerful thought to that matter.
There are a few basic principles that need to be considered whenever a
person undertakes the task of preaching. One
such principle is found in Paul’s address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20.
As Paul was bidding them farewell, he made the following statement in
verses 26 & 27, “Therefore I testify to you this day, that I am
innocent of the blood of all men. For
I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”
In order to be a faithful gospel preacher a man must be willing to preach
“the whole purpose of God”. By
looking at the entire address of Paul at that time, it is easy to see that “the
whole purpose of God”, is another way of saying, “the gospel of the
grace of God” (v. 24), or “preaching the kingdom” (v. 25).
That responsibility includes many things.
It includes preaching the facts that need to be believed (1 Cor. 15:1-8),
the commands that must be obeyed (2 Thess. 1:7-8), the doctrines that must be
embraced (2 Tim. 1:9-11), and the promises to be enjoyed (Acts
Preaching “the whole purpose of God”, brings other principles
into play. In 2 Tim. 4:2 & 3, in
Paul’s exhortation to the young evangelist, Timothy, we find, “Preach the
word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great
patience and instruction. For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have
their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance
to their own desires.” This
simply means when folks want to hear it, and when they don’t.
I have had people over the years tell me, “I don’t like negative
preaching.” You know something, I
DON’T LIKE NEGATIVE PREACHING EITHER! However,
if a person is going to preach “the whole purpose of God”, and “be
ready in season and out of season”, a fair amount of that kind of
preaching is going to have to be done.
With those principles in mind, the decision still has to be made as to
what Sunday’s sermons are going to be about.
How is that decision made? In
my case, several things enter in to the decision.
First of all, I consider what I need to hear.
I know that I am no different from anybody else, so if I need to hear
something; somebody else in attendance probably does too.
Occasionally the elders will ask me to preach on specific subjects.
That has already happened a couple of times here.
This usually comes about because they have seen a particular need or have
perceived that it would be beneficial for the congregation to have a certain
subject addressed. I have been
personally blessed over the years in that I have never had a group of elders say
to me, “Do not preach about….”. In
other words, every group of elders that I have worked with have all wanted “the
whole purpose of God” to be presented, whether it was pleasant or not.
There are times when brothers and sisters in Christ have asked me to
preach about a particular subject that was of special interest to them or that
they thought was needed. If it is
possible and appropriate for me to do so, I am always more than happy to
accommodate such requests.
There are certain “seasonal sermons” that I preach as well.
For instance, at some point in the early spring I will undoubtedly preach
about appropriate apparel and the reason for that ought to be easily understood.
Historically, I have found myself addressing the subject of social
drinking around the holiday season, due to all the parties and such that people
are invited to at that time of the year.
There are times when I become aware of a problem that may be existing or
a situation that some may be struggling with.
Experience has proven that if one person has it, others either have it as
well, have had it, or will struggle with in sometime in the future.
The time to preach about something is when you know it needs to be heard.
Every preacher that I know of is trying to do the best job he can.
I suppose that there are some who use the pulpit for personal vendettas
and quite frankly, those folks ought to just quit preaching altogether.
But for the rest of us, what an awesome responsibility, whether we preach
full time or occasionally. Passages
such as James 3:1, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren,
knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment”, must be
constantly remembered and considered. Ezek.
3:17, 18, & 20, haunts me. The
prophet wrote, “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of
I
truly believe, brethren, that your prayers help to make the selection of topics
easier and more effective as well. A
preacher ought to occupy the pulpit because he has something that he has just
got to say, and not because he has got to say something.
QUESTIONS
THAT WERE ASKED
“Where
in the scriptures are examples of someone coming forward when they have publicly
sinned? Is this just a convenient
means to inform others and to repent?” First
of all, there are no examples of someone “coming forward”, so to speak, but
I do believe that we have a call for public acknowledgment of sin.
In James 5:16, we read, “Therefore, confess your sins to one
another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
There is nothing in the word “confess” itself that tells us whether
the confession should be public or private; but the context in which it appears
does help us. Since it is to be “to
one another”, it implies that the confession should be as public as the
sin committed. “Coming forward”
is simply a convenient means to inform others.
Let me hasten to add, when a person “comes forward” in the manner we
are discussing, it is not for the purpose of repenting.
The repentance must have taken place before, and the “coming forward”
informs the brethren that such has been done.
“What passages should be used to teach ‘liberal minded’ brethren
that eating in the church building (fellowship potlucks, etc.) is
unscriptural?”
Personally, I would use 1 Cor. 11:22, “What!
Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink?
Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?
What shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you? In this I will not
praise you.” Also,
1 Cor. 11:34, “If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you may
not come together for judgment. And
the remaining matters I shall arrange when I come.”
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