What is Preaching and Why is it Important?

(This is a summary of the first sermon in the six-part series, “God Gave Pastors and Teachers,” preached on June 1. The audio is available here.)

The title of this sermon series comes from Ephesians 4:11-14, which says, in part:

He gave the . . . pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Note that God gives pastors and teachers to the church.

  • They are His gifts, His presents, tokens of His love for the church.
  • They play a key role in equipping God’s people to minister as God intends.
  • They play a key role in guarding the church from waves of false teaching.
  • Thus they play a key role in enabling the church to become the interdependent, smoothly functioning body of Christ Paul describes in Ephesians 4:16.

Five main points: (more…)

Running the Race of Faith

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)

The Bible is full of images that help us to understand the Christian life: we are part of the army of God, engaged in battle; we are part of the body of Christ; we are Christ’s ambassadors, his envoys, representing him in this world; we are a building, being built up into Christlikeness; we are branches, Christ is the vine; we are the bride of Christ; we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. All of these analogies are rich and useful.

My favorite analogy, however, compares the Christian life to running a race. This analogy is not common throughout the Bible, but Paul loves it, as he uses the running and racing image at least nine times in his epistles. In addition, the author of Hebrews uses the analogy once.

The analogy is particularly rich for me because I am a product of the running boom. I grew up during a period when mile world records would be the lead headline of the sports section; when an American set two of those world records; when 100,000 fans filled a stadium to witness a track meet between the US and the Soviet Union. Then came the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. That summer, as a 16 year old who had been running competitively for less than two years, I watched Jim Ryun, the mile world record holder and my boyhood hero, fall in his 1500 meters heat and thus fail to make the final; I watched Steve Prefontaine, an American runner only five years my senior, make a game effort to win Olympic gold in the 5k; and, most importantly, I watched Frank Shorter demolish the field to win the Olympic marathon. After those Olympics, millions of Americans began running, many hoping to complete a marathon. Every teenage boy in the country who was already running competitively began to dream of mile world records and marathon victories. I was no exception. (more…)

Submission and Disagreement

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)

In Sunday’s sermon, we looked at Hebrews 13:17, which reads in the NIV:

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

In discussing this verse, I said, “Submission only comes into play when there is a disagreement.”

Several of you have asked (respectfully and submissively!) if this is correct, particularly considering that God the Son submits to God the Father. Surely there is no disagreement between them!

This is an excellent point, and many thanks for the input. I’ll correct my statement briefly next Sunday; here let me elaborate on the idea more fully than will be possible in the sermon. Consider first the nature of God the Son’s submission to God the Father: (more…)

Elijah and the Priests of Baal

As part of my devotions this morning from the Bible Unity Reading Plan, I read the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal from 1 Kings 18. The king of Israel is apostate, worshiping false gods, the Baals and the Asherim. The people – though they were chosen as special to the Lord a thousand years previously, and though their very name, Israel, was given by God (see verse 31) – are “limping between two opinions” (verse 21); not really knowing who is mighty, they are trying to cover all bases by worshiping both Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, and the local Canaanite deities.

So Elijah tells them this makes no sense. Either Yahweh is God or He is not. If He is God, follow Him; if Baal is god, follow him (verse 21). Yahweh’s claims are exclusive: “Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39). He won’t share the pantheon with other supposed gods.

Elijah therefore sets up a contest on Mt Carmel between Yahweh and Baal through their representatives: Himself on the one hand and the 450 priests of Baal on the other. Both build altars, kill bulls, and prepare the bulls to be burned as a sacrifice, but neither is to set the wood of the altar on fire. “And the God who answers by fire, He is God” (verse 24). Interestingly enough, the priests of Baal are amenable to this. Do they really believe Baal will answer? Or do they anticipate that neither offering will be burned, and they will win simply by force of numbers? (more…)

Scripture References on Money

Scripture references on money:
In the sermon on April 27, I read the following passages (and promised to post them on the web) in partial answer to the three questions:

  • What good things do we deserve in this life?
  • Where do we find security?
  • What do we believe leads to happiness?

Here are the Scriptures. I encourage you to meditate further on them, and explore their context.

  • The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Mt 13:44
  • Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Ps 73:25
  • God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all contentment in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Cor 9:8
  • I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. Phil 3:8
  • The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Gal 6:14
  • 8 if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6:8-10
  • 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
  • Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mar 10:29-30
  • Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! 2 Cor 9:15

Other Sermons on Money and Giving

Over the years at DGCC I’ve preached a number of sermons related to money and giving. For those of you who would like to explore this issue further, here are links to some of those:

2 Corinthians 8:1-8, The Grace of Giving (Preached 1/11/04): text, pdf, audio (7Mb mp3)

2 Corinthians 8:9, The Rich Became Poor for You! (Preached 1/18/04): text, audio (7Mb mp3)

2 Corinthians 8:10-9:5, Giving God’s Way (Preached 1/25/04): text, audio (9Mb mp3)

2 Corinthians 9:5-8, The Joy of Giving (Preached 2/8/04): text, audio (7Mb mp3)

2 Corinthians 9:9-15, Will God Reward You for Giving? (Preached 2/22/04): text, audio (9Mb mp3)

1 Timothy 6:6-16 The Tragedy of Desiring Money (Preached 4/23/06): text

1 Timothy 6:13-19: How to Be Rich and Still Be Happy (Preached 6/22/03): text, audio (11Mb mp3)
Proverbs 22:1-23:11: Wealth and Poverty (Preached 7/9/06): audio (8Mb mp3)

Inner Change or White-Washed Tombs?

During Sunday’s sermon, I briefly discussed the implications of being in Christ on three different aspects of a person’s life:

  • First, the inner life: How do you think? What occupies your mind? What do you value and treasure? What do you long for?
  • Second, the personal life: How you work, how you allocate your time, how you spend money. These are decisions you make on your own that primarily affect you.
  • Third, your Life in Community with others: Your relationships in marriage, in your family, among your neighbors, among your colleagues.

Most Christians would agree that becoming a believer should change all three aspects of our lives. But how do these changes take place? Is there a correct, biblical order to the changes? (more…)

Death is Dead!

On Sunday we sang the great hymn, “Crown Him with Many Crowns” by Matthew Bridges. Here is one of the verses:

Crown Him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife
For those He came to save.
His glories now we sing,
Who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring,
And lives that death may die.

Jesus died and now lives “that death may die.” This week I’ve meditated on that biblical theme, looking at passages throughout the history of redemption that discuss the coming of death into the world, God’s plan to overcome death, Jesus’ victory over death, and the final destruction of death. Here is a selection of key passages on that theme. Read them – and rejoice that death will die. (more…)

Sovereignty and Responsbility

In last Sunday’s sermon text, Malachi 1:1-5, God proves His love for the returned Israelite exiles in a strange way. “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother? . . . Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.” There was nothing to choose between Esau and Jacob. Both were horrible sons; both were disobedient to God; the descendants of both were stiff-necked and rebellious. Both deserve judgment. Both deserve condemnation. Both peoples deserve hell. But God chooses to destroy Esau’s descendants and to love Jacob/Israel and his descendants. This is His sovereign choice. Only because He loves them are they not cut off.
We too need to see ourselves as deserving of hell, as undeserving of His mercy, and thus to bow before Him, asking for that mercy only on the basis of Jesus’ death on the cross. That is the clear message of the passage.

But a question remains: How can God say He hates Esau when God is said to love the world (John 3:16)? Doesn’t God love everyone? Doesn’t God desire all to be saved? (more…)