What is the task of Preaching? Updated: Now with corrected spelling.

Going through scraps of paper in my giant pile, I found something I wrote down while talking with a pastor friend from Ohio.

"The Text has given prominence to an Idea."

Thinking about preaching the Word of God, this is the task of study: What is the text saying about the idea contained there?

It is easy to read all kinds of things into Bible texts. We can use texts to prove things that they were never intended to say. The task of preaching is to find the author's emphasis in the text, expose those ideas to God's people in a way that connects to them and their lives, and show them how they apply in real life.

This is the question I try to ask myself every week: Am I making these points because I want to seem brilliant or creative or to wow my audience, or... is this what the authors (God, and the human author, working by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) intended to say here?

The Scripture is unique, and yet like other books. It is unique in that it is the sword of the Spirit, the very living and active Word of God which accomplishes God's will and desire in the world. On the flip side, it is very much a book, with syntax and grammar and authorial intent. We can never say that the bible means something other than what it meant when it was written.

(Of course, prophecy can be produced to prove this point otherwise, but the exception proves the rule.)

The Text has given prominence to an Idea.

In God's strength I pray I never bring His people anything but that.

On the Physical Death of Jesus

A classic the moment it was released 20 years ago. I first heard Dobson read this article on the air in 1996 while painting the apartment I would move into with my bride. It brought me to tears then. Some might find it mildly disturbing, but our faith points us to a dying man on a cross and says, "That is salvation." It can be helpful to be disturbed once in a while.

Link


HT: Justin Taylor

LEAD Audio from 031808

Esnips is giving me a hard time.
Here's the link to the audio.

No search of the internet turns up Chad Allen's "Team Wheel". This is his idea, I have some paper files, and want to give him adequate recognition:

Chad - Thanks for this great idea. I appreciate you. I am using your idea.

More to come on this in future meetings.

We'll be focusing on Solid Relationships (with an emphasis on growing in fellowship and recruiting for ministry), Clear Roles, Effective Processes, and Clear Communication in our future meetings.
Here is my re-creation of the Team Wheel. One of my youth group kids gave me a card with this color scheme on it a few years back, so when I recreated the team wheel, I used the colors, threw the card away, and now have this watermelon-ish pallette without any clutter. TMI?

Discipleship... a format that works at the speed of life.

How does discipleship work? Jesus commands us to "make disciples" in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) which involves teaching them to obey all He commanded.

How does this process work? What would it look like for you to live it out on a daily basis? Two things occur to me:

1) You need to be the prototype. A desire to fix someone else or to be a leader is not enough. While we will never be perfect in this life, we are called to discipline ourselves for the sake of Godliness (1 Tim 6:7) and to show ourselves as models of godliness (Titus 2:7-8) so that when we teach, we need not be ashamed, embarrassed our rebuke by our own lack of character.

2) You need a format that works. Chances are you can't stop working and make discipling your full time work. People are busy, and discipleship takes time. Someone once asked the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" prompting the response, "One bite at a time."

For discipleship to be effective, it needs to be regular, ongoing structured times of one-on-one work. Don't just fall into a discipleship pattern, ask someone to join with you in study. Tell them what the plan is... and get some resources to help guide you and give you some content.

Some folks out at this church helped me boil a discipleship meeting down into its essential elements. Here they are:
- Meet at least every other week. Meet too often and no time is left for truth to sink in and take root. Too seldom and there is no accountability and encouragement... the green growth of fresh faith withers and dies...
- Try not to accomplish too much too fast. Discipleship involves sifting through deep areas of the soul. Allow time to develop a connection with the person you are meeting with. Take some time to find out about the person you are working with: kid's names, how long they have been married, their testimony, etc.... this information is essential to relating the truth of the gospel to the life of the person you are working with.
- There are four essential areas of discipleship (Thanks, Gary Delashmutt)

1. Bible Study: Opening the Word and discovering all that Jesus taught his people to know and do.
2. Prayer: Asking God to invade our life circumstances and transform them for His glory and our joy.
3. Personal Issues: How are they doing in their personal life? Is the family okay? Are they walking in purity? Where do they set their affections? What does the heart and mind worship? Are they in regular prayer? Reading the word? Trusting in Christ?
4. Ministry Issues: How are they passing on the grace of God? Church involvement? Who are they sharing Christ with? How is their ministry in the church going? Do they have a ministry at all?

I try to focus on a 2:4 ratio. Always pray. Make sure you always get in prayer and something else, but don't let it always be the same thing. Ideally, prayer and bible study should lead to commitment in areas 3 and/or 4. Finish with prayer for life change.

Good resources:
- 3o Discipleship Exercises
- The Lost Art of Disciple Making