Easter Preaching - I'm coaching from the sideline this year.
(***This was written in 2012-praise the Lord I am preaching this 2013 Easter Sunday 11:00 at Good News at Noon!)
I'm not on the injured report.
I'm just not getting any calls.
I am in the bull-pen ready to go.
No calls in a while to preach from a pulpit to a congregation.
In The Lord's time He will use me again.
Preacher you have a mission to complete this Sunday.
You have many obstacles from outside and within- do your duty!
This is Easter week.
This is what I as a preacher, and also a member of a congregation, suggest to help preachers to think about to get it going.
1.) Preachers Do Not Be Smirky Or Rude To People Who Need The Gospel.
Preacher do not say Merry Christmas and Happy Easter or refer to people who
need to hear the gospel as the C&E (Christmas and Easter) only crowd.
Many mothers, fathers and friends have prayed fervently that they could get who they can in the family and in their friendships to hear the gospel.
Jesus told Peter to "feed my sheep."
If you feed the sheep they will return.
Preach the gospel!
2.) Do Not Abandon Your Pulpit For Any Reason - PREACH THE GOSPEL!
Last year on the road I attended six church services for two weeks prior including a main Easter morning service.
No Word or gospel message.
Music dominated.
I was driving from church to church last Holy Week yet it was like the day of young Samuel.
1 Samuel 3:1 (NASB) "... And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent."
When I go to recitals, schools, businesses or art performances I have never had the event stopped and someone say "And now the gospel will be preached and the mystery of the gospel will be delivered to convert your soul and change your eternal destiny."
This is our time, our place and our mission.
This Sunday preach the gospel.
3.) God Had One Son And He Made Him A Preacher.
I heard R.C. Sproul say that once.
God places high value on the preached Word.
You should too.
The carpenter tools were long ago put up.
Jesus had a three year itinerant preaching ministry that changed the world.
I once started a lively discussion in seminary pointing out that Jesus was a preacher.
This shows you what my seminary really thought of gospel preaching.
As a matter of fact Jesus was not only a gospel preacher. He was a expository (basing the gospel message on the Scripture read) preacher.
Matthew 4:14-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
"14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
15 “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI,
BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES—
16 “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT,
AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,
UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
4.) Remember God Ordained And Established Preaching To Share The Gospel To Save This Lost World.
The LORD believes in the power of preaching - you do it.
1 Corinthians 1:21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
"21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
5.) Remember Saint Francis Was A Fireball Gospel Preacher.
Saint Francis never said the silly statement attributed to him-
"Preach the gospel always, when necessary use words."
People who say that hate or do not understand gospel preaching.
Lives depend on the preached Word.
Why would he not say such a stupid statement?
He believed Holy Scripture and PREACHED THE GOSPEL!
Check this link to Christianity Today's Mark Galli's article putting that lie to rest.
"Speak the Gospel, Use deeds when necessary."
Mark Galli | posted 5/21/2009
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/mayweb-only/120-42.0.html
Preacher, yes you can sing special songs on Easter, art work can be displayed by the kiddies, and yes you can do a lot of new things this Sunday.
Do not forget to make the main thing the main thing.
Preacher, you cannot forget and not verbally explain humanity's sin, the need for a Savior, Jesus Christ and His perfect life lived, His sacrificial death as He took the wrath of God on the cross intended for sinners, He was the perfect sinless Lamb of God sacrificed for sinners like me, that we are commanded to repent and turn from our sins and to Christ for forgiveness of sins, peace with God, salvation for the unworthy like us, and eternal life and citizenship in Heaven for those who believe.
Preacher you can do it.
This Sunday smile, say hello to all, walk to the pulpit, turn your back on the fluff and many non-essentials and as Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said take your Biblical text and "make a beeline to the cross."
1 Corinthians 1:17 (NASB)
"17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void."
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