[Re-Post] Why I Preach With An Open Bible

 

WHY I PREACH WITH AN OPEN BIBLE.
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

Blogs and articles abound in promoting myriads of ideas relating to preaching and of being relevant to the audience and clever in the delivery. My commitment has been and will continue to be simple: to open the Bible, to read a biblical text, to explain that biblical text, to press home its application to the hearer’s heart, and to proclaim the saving gospel and call sinners to repent and believe. In doing this, I preach with an open Bible -- always. I’ve compiled a few reasons why I preach with an open Bible.

1. it conveys my only authority.
When the preacher speaks, he has only one authority -- the voice of God that goes forth in the declaring of divine truth as it is sourced in the written Word. Other than that, the man has nothing to say. When I open my Bible and preach from it, it conveys to the congregation that my only authority to stand before them and speak is simply and solely is the written and sufficient Word of God. I want it to be seen. I want the audience to understand I’m a man under divine authority as I speak God’s truth to His people.

2. it models biblical hermeneutics.
Preaching is hermeneutics publicly spoken. To preach the Word means that a man has prayed and studied and done all the hard work so as to present biblical truth in a clear, compelling, and understandable way. I preach with an open Bible because I want to model biblical interpretation -- good hermeneutical principles and practices -- even in the act of heralding God’s Word. I don’t want people to ever come away and say “I believe this because Pastor Geoff said it!” Rather, I want people to leave convinced of theological truths because they say: “I see this in the Bible!” I want to model for them the art and discipline and proper methods of arriving at the proper meaning of the biblical text. And preaching with my open Bible aids me in this endeavor.

3. it prevents self-contrived ideologies.
Preaching with an open Bible prevents me from inventing self-contrived ideas and self-promoting messages. How easy it would become to start tickling the ears of the audience and fall into the cunning trap of people-pleasing. But to preach with an open Bible prevents me from creating and crafting my own fabricated ideologies and sermonettes and it causes me to preach what God wants me to preach in the following paragraph as I preach expositionally and sequentially through entire books of the Bible. I don’t want to be in charge of what I say or preach; I want God to dictate what and how I preach. And to prevent my own ideas infiltrating in, I believe that having an open Bible on the pulpit before me and constantly referencing verses in the Bible helps prevent self-contrived ideologies.

4. it visualizes the Headship of Christ
Jesus rules His church. I don’t think very many people would argue with that. But when you observe much of American Christianity you see something vastly different. One way, I believe, to emphatically show that Jesus rules this church is to preach from an open Bible on the pulpit so that all the congregation knows and hears and understands that Jesus Christ speaks to us now through the exposition of sacred Scripture as it is read and expounded through God’s appointed messenger. I don’t want to neglect anything that would downplay the headship of Christ. I don’t want to pick and choose verses and paste them on a screen. I want people to see the truth in their own Bibles. I want people to see me hold my Bible. I want the congregation to see me point to my text of Scripture. I want them to see my authority comes from Christ as it is codified and revealed in the inerrant Scriptures.

5. it proclaims its own sufficiency
Preaching with an open Bible in front of me is a simple proclamation in and of itself. It declares the sufficiency of the Bible. I don’t need gimmicks, or dramas, or entertaining techniques. I don’t need visual aids or clever anecdotes or humorous stories to catch people’s attention. God does that. So in opening my Bible, reading it, explaining and applying it, and pressing it home to people’s hearts and consciences, I believe that this testifies to the Bible’s own power and sufficiency.

6. it enhances frequent cross-referencing
One key principle of rightly interpreting the Bible is the analogy of Scripture -- comparing Scripture with Scripture and interpreting texts in light of other biblical texts that speak to the same truths. When I preach, I want the congregation to all know that the Bible -- though containing 66 uniquely inspired books -- comprises a glorious unity of divine wisdom. Nothing ever contradicts itself. No part of Scripture will ever diminish or negate or eliminate another. So in my preaching, I want my Bible to be open so that I can readily tell the congregation: “turn to…”, or, “let’s see this further in another portion of Scripture…” So in the open Bible before me as I herald, I want the freedom and readiness of turning to many Scriptures throughout the entirety of the message to aid and serve the message going forth. An open Bible helps with this.

7. it reminds me of my grave responsibility.
Quite simply, preaching is a sober calling and a majestic task. In a sense, the preacher always fails when he preaches because he can’t due justice to the beauty and glory of the God that is being presented, nor can human words adequately convey the splendor of Christ and the efficacy of His atonement. Nevertheless, all biblical preachers fearfully and joyfully take up the divinely-given call to preach. No greater joy exists in the world than to open God’s clear word and explain its meaning to the people God has brought to hear it. Preaching with an open Bible serves as an ongoing reminder that my responsibility is great and my duty is lofty. I am a mouthpiece, a messenger, an ambassador, a prophet-like man, to take God’s given revelation and speak it faithfully, unchangeably, and powerfully to all who have assembled. Having an open Bible serves to continually bring the weight of sobriety on my soul that I am a man under obligation, a man devoted to God, a man enslaved to Christ, a man in love with souls. Thus, I preach God’s Word to God’s people with an open Bible with joyful trembling and sober expectation that God will work in and through the going forth of His word to accomplish His perfect will. 

** More podcasts on Preaching / Exposition can be found HERE.

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[RE-POST] Practical Ways to Listen to a Sermon

 

How Should You Hear the Word of God Preached?
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church


Q. 160. What is required of those that hear the Word preached? [From the Westminster Confession, 1647]
A. It is required of those that hear the Word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the Scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.

1. You should attend to it with diligence.
It is as if you were going to meet with the king of the land himself, one would most certainly plan accordingly, come with punctuality and listen with diligence. So it must be for the children of God who listen to the preacher herald God’s Word. God’s people must diligently come to be fed divine truth. An earnestness must be exuded from God’s people as they have one primary object on their minds on the Lord’s Day — God. Nothing else captivates the believer’s mind like Christ does. Nothing ravishes the believer’s heart like Christ does. Nothing wins the affections and nothing woos the saint’s love more than the saving gospel of God’s grace freely bestowed in Christ’s death on behalf of repentant sinners. So come! Come with diligence! Come with Christ-centeredness! Come with eagerness! Come with expectancy! Come with frequency! Come with sobriety and expectation to meet with, commune with, and hear from the Living God.

2. You should attend to it with preparation.
As one would prepare for an important business meeting, so God’s people should also prepare to meet with the God of all creation. To prepare is to make oneself ready to meet with, come before, and stand in the presence of God Almighty. Preparation must begin with prayer. It must continue with sufficient sleep. Preparation includes the reading of the scripture text that will be preached on the following day. Preparation demands arriving to corporate worship early to meditate, pray, expect, and adore God. Without preparation, one cannot worship properly. One gets out of worship what one puts into worship. Without preparation, little heart warming and soul feeding will occur. As one would prepare equipment, leave early and take diligence to arrive on time to a sporting or entertainment event, how much more should God’s child prepare his heart, his Bible, his wife, his children and leave early and arrive promptly to worship God. A prepared heart is a ready heart. A prepared heart is a humble and willing heart. A prepared heart is a moldable and shapeable heart.

3. You should attend to it with prayer.
To pray is to take hold of God’s power and beseech God to rend the heavens, come down, descend powerfully, and with supernatural power. Only God can convert. God’s people must pray for the conversion of sinners, the edification of God’s people, and the magnification of God’s Triune name and work in salvation. God’s people must pray in repentance to rid themselves of all known sin before the Word comes. God’s people must pray that the minister of the Word would speak with supernatural power. Indeed, the mouth is that of a man but the voice is that of God. Pray for unction — the sovereign, effectual power of the Spirit in and through the preached Word — as the man of God preaches the Word of God to the people of God. All God’s people should pray for God’s help on the way to hear the sermon preached. Believers must pray and ask the Lord to grant assistance while the Word is heard. And saints must pray for a soft, humble, and willing heart to specifically apply and implement the sermon throughout the course of the week. O the danger of not hearing sermons well! O the danger of distractions while the sermon is going forth! O the danger of hearing the Word and allowing Satan, like a pecking bird, to snatch the seed of the Word so that it bears no fruit. Nothing prepares a man of God for worship more than earnest wrestling with God in prayer. Expect God to work. Pray for God to revive. Adore God as preeminently worthy! Confess! Rejoice! Pray!

Just as people of old would bake bread on Saturday evenings so it would be warm on Sunday morning, so the people of God should read, pray, and study the Scriptures on Saturday nights so that their hearts are warmed and prepared for worship on Sunday.

 

** Many more resources/podcasts can be found HERE on the topic of "Expository Listening".

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Why Is The Church Important? Why Do You Need A Church Congregation?

WHY IS THE CHURCH IMPORTANT?

Geoffrey R. Kirkland

In this brief article, I will explain why the local church is important. Someone recently said to me: I know Christ, but I don’t need the Church. Or maybe you’ve heard: I like Christ but I’ve been burnt by the Church. I’m all for Jesus but not for the “organized religion”.  

The Word of God addresses all of these statements in plenteous ways, but for the purpose here I wish to answer the question as to why the church is important. If you claim to be a believer, then why do you need the Church? That is to say, if you are a professing Christian, you need a local congregation of converted, Christ-honoring worshipers to gather with regularly. 

In what follows, I will provide a handful of reasons why the church is vitally and unarguably important for you.

FOR YOUR SOUL’S SAKE 

God has given His children a family to meet with and gather with and grow with for many reasons, one of which is your own spiritual good.  You need a local congregation of believers for your eternal, soul’s good. You cannot be saved by going to church but a sinner saved by God’s grace thru Christ knows he cannot live without nor thrive healthily apart from a gathered assembly of saints.

FOR YOUR LEADERS’ SAKE

You need the church for the sake of the shepherd-leaders. God has given elder-pastors to lead and oversee local church assemblies and to care for the people of God. You really need a local congregation for the leaders to know who they must shepherd and who they will give account for on that final day. Without meaningful and deliberate membership and accountability in a particular, local congregation, your soul is like a sheep wandering without an under-shepherd to feed, lead, guide, pursue, and nurture. 

FOR YOUR CONGREGATION’S SAKE 

Every local church is comprised of believers. By definition, the church comprises the assembly of called-out ones. You must see the importance of the local church so that a congregation will know whom to reach out to, whom they’re accountable for, and whom is on the inside (that is, not on the ‘outside’). You need the gathered assembly for the sake of the church so that the church knows who to care for, minister to, devote energy, resources, time, and service to.

FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL-GIFTEDNESS’S SAKE 

The Christian must have a local assembly they have plugged into for the purpose of spiritual service and Christian ministry. You need the church for you to have a place to utilize and grow in and employ your spiritual good, for the benefit of others. You cannot use your spiritual gift individually or privately and for your own sake or benefit because a spiritual gift, by definition, is a God-bestowed grace-gift for you to use with other believers for the purpose of edification and building up of the body of Christ.

FOR YOUR MATURATION’S SAKE 

Quite simply, you cannot grow without the church, a local church, a gathered assembly of worshipers. You could study theology and have an online-preacher you frequent, but you will not grow in both ascribing worship to God and in ministering to the saints, and in obeying the one another’s if you do not invest yourself in a local assembly. 

FOR YOUR HEAVENLY-PREPAREDNESS’S SAKE

Amazingly and to the bewilderment of the world around us, Christians do not live merely for this world, but for the next. And let’s face it, heaven is quite a large gathering! If you wish to be well-prepared for the corporate worship, the assembled gathering, the loud singing, the Christocentric worship in endless bliss, then you shall certainly want to prepare now in gathering with like-minded worshipers who long for that eternal shore!

FOR YOUR PROFESSION’S SAKE

You claim to be a Christian, a member of the body of Christ.  How can you profess to be part of the body while living disassociated to the body you claim to be part of? Your human body does not even function like that. How much more important is your undying soul! You make a profession to know Jesus and be connected to Him by faith, but you choose to not join yourself to a congregation? That is senseless and harmful. You profess to know Christ, then possess the love that Christ has for His church in your own heart as you join yourself deliberately to a local congregation of believers. 

Philippians 1:7 — For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.

Additional resources and podcasts on the local church.

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Justification By Faith Alone

Justification by Faith — The Foundational Doctrine
A gracious work of God whereby He pardons a sinner & judicially declares him to be perfect righteous because of Christ’s righteousness credited to the sinner by faith alone.
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church


The church stands or falls based on its definition of, biblical fidelity to, and commitment to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. If a person gets this doctrine right and believes in Christ alone then he is justified. If the doctrine of justification is corrupted in his mind and heart and he does not cling to Christ alone then his soul is lost and still dead in sin.

Because we must understand justification by faith alone, this paper serves to help in providing a number of helpful points that biblically define what the biblical doctrine of justification entails.

It is a declaration that we are righteous. It does not mean that we are made righteous.
Jesus told a story of a man who prayed in the Temple and begged God to “be merciful to me, the sinner.” The text then says that he went home “justified” (δεδικαιωμένος) (Luke 18:14). Romans 5:1 pronounces that a sinner is justified by faith thus resulting in peace with God. In the following verses, however, the person still grows in sanctification and Christlikeness. Thus, justification is a declaration of righteousness rather than a making of one righteous. Put similarly, justification is an instantaneous act of God rather than a continuing, ongoing work of God and/or man.

Justification by faith means that we are justified by the righteousness of another, not our own righteousness.
No man is justified by works of the Law (Gal 2:16). By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified (Rom 3:20). In other words, no sinner can ever be justified before God because of his own works, merit, religion, ethics, morals, traditions, or knowledge. No one can ever do anything good enough to bring about his own justification. Rather, the sinner is justified by God not by his own righteousness but by the righteousness of another — namely, Jesus Christ. Paul says that he does not have his own righteousness but rather his righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ (Phil 3:9). The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel (Rom 1:17) and this righteousness of Christ is credited to the believer who has faith in Christ (2 Cor 5:21; 2 Pet 1:1).


No man is justified because of his faith or on account of his faith. The Bible no where attests to this. Rather, faith is the instrument, the means, or the channel through which God declares us righteous.
A person is justified through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 2:16). A person is saved by faith (Gal 2:20). The Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). The Bible never says that a person is saved “on account of” or “because of” his faith. This would mean that a person must initiate his own faith and then God would save him. That would make man the savior of himself and the initiator of his own salvation. The Bible, however, clearly says that even faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9; Phil 1:29; 2 Tim 2:25).

Justification by faith powerfully and instantaneously saves the sinner not because of his own faith but because of the sufficiency of the object of the One in whom he believed — namely, Jesus Christ.
Everyone who has been saved and has been given a faith receives it by the righteousness not of himself (or of any other mere man) but by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Pet 1:1). The one who has repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ will be saved (Acts 20:21). The righteousness of God comes to the sinner fully, gloriously, graciously, and eternally only through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith cannot save. It is not the faith itself that saves. The saving work of God comes when that powerful faith is in Jesus Christ. Many people have faith. Many people believe strongly in their religion, morals, mass, religiosity, or knowledge. But this faith cannot save — no matter how strong it may be. But the object of true, saving faith that justifies must be Jesus Christ alone. You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:26).

Justification by faith announces that no man is justified by his own works. A sinner is justified by God’s grace not because of our works but because of Christ’s work. Our works cannot save us. But Christ’s work does save us.
It is the righteousness of God that saves. It is God’s perfection that must be credited to the sinner’s account to deliver the sinner. No religious act however passionate or sincere it may be can save a soul. One must be perfect (Matt 5:48) and never sin (Ezek 18:4). All are convicted before God (Rom 3:19-20) and have fallen short of God’s perfect glory and standard (Rom 3:23). The only work that can save is the work of Jesus Christ that is credited to sinners who believe. It is Christ who becomes for the sinner “righteousness” (1 Cor 1:30). It is one act of righteousness that leads to justification and life to all men (Rom 5:18). And in the following verse, by the obedience of one man — Jesus — many will be made righteous (Rom 5:19). Thus, a sinner must become perfect in order to be justified. But that sinner cannot be perfect on his own. The perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ (his active obedience and passive obedience) are credited, imputed, transferred, reckoned to the sinner who has faith so that God forensically declares that sinner to be perfectly righteous because of the work of Christ (Rom 8:33)!

God justifies a sinner only once. There is no need for a second regeneration, a later ‘re-justification’ or another salvation. When God justifies someone, He sovereignly, eternally, graciously, and judicially justifies him. In other words, justification is a monergistic act.
Titus 3 says that when the lovingkindess of God appeared, He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to his own mercy … so that we are justified by His grace and thus made heirs of the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7). God justifies His elect and no one can ever bring a charge against them ever again (Rom 8:33; cf. 8:34-39). He who begins a work in His elect will bring it to completion (Phil 1:6). God confirms His people to the end (1 Cor 1:8). All this shows that God does not justify someone and then that sinner falls away or becomes ‘unsaved’ or ‘unjustified’ at a later point. When God saves, he saves to the uttermost; those whom God savingly loves, he savingly loves to the uttermost (John 13:1). The text of Scripture simply says: “he saved us” (2 Tim 1:9). The verb only has one person as the subject, “he”, and that’s God alone. Man contributes nothing to his justification. Man brings nothing to the court-room table in order to produce his justified status before Heaven’s Judge. It is all of grace! It is all God’s action and doing. “But by God’s doing you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30).

Justification by faith does not mean that a person can be saved and never produce any good works of any kind.
When God justifies a sinner, He does so by His grace alone. No work, religion, deed, tradition, rite, or ritual can ever cooperate with God’s saving work. Justification is by God’s grace and totally apart from man’s contributing work. With all that said, however, justification by faith alone will never be alone. Justification will always be followed by sanctification. Justification is a work of God whereby He sovereignly declares a sinner righteous by faith apart from the sinner’s work. Sanctification is a work of both God and the saint whereby the sinner progressively grows in Christlikeness, holiness, and purity until that process is ultimately perfected in glory. Those whom God saves he washes (1 Cor 6:11). Those whom he justifies he will glorify (Rom 8:29). And without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14). Even though a person is saved by grace through faith in Christ alone (Eph 2:8-9) that justified sinner realizes that he is God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand for him to do (Eph 2:10). Sinners who are justified will abide in Christ (John 15:1-8). If someone claims to be justified by faith but has no works (=sanctification) to validate that profession, he is a liar and is not truly converted (James 2:14-26). God clearly says that faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead (James 2:17). In other words, a faith that is truly genuine will most certainly manifest its validity in a life of holiness, sanctification, and good works (James 2:26).

We can conclude with the helpful words from John Calvin:

Justified by faith is the person who, excluded from the righteousness of works, grasps the righteousness of Christ through faith, and clothed in it, appears in God’s sight not as a sinner but as a righteous man.


"The moment a sinner believes,
And trusts in his crucified God,
His pardon at once he receives;
Salvation in full, through his blood."
                    — Charles Spurgeon

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Teach Your Children. Pew Principles.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN.
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church  (St. Louis, MO)


In this brief article, I hope to convey some parenting advice to teach your children while in the pew at Church.  We as a family have prayerfully and thoughtfully tried to implement these truths — and we are still working at it — and I hope and pray this will benefit other parents who strive to teach the children to sit and listen while in the House of God. Obviously, this requires must patience, compassion, consistency and prayer. May God equip and encourage and enable you to do this for His glory.


Stay awake.  
When we gather to worship God we must give full attention and devotion to the God of the universe because He deserves it. His character is so flawless and His person is so impeccable and when the gathered church assembles, we draw near to His immediate presence through Christ. Because this is true, parents must diligently teach the children to be alert, awake and focused during the worship service. Of course children squirm and their attention span may differ from child to child and depending on their age. However, parents must diligently strive as those who know their children best to call them to pay attention, to sit up, to stay awake, to look ahead and give God their full attention.

Have the Bible open.
Smaller children may not have their Bibles open simply because they do not read yet. However, as children grow and have the ability to read and follow along, it is my encouragement for parents to have their children take a Bible with them to church and do their best to open it, turn to the passage, follow along and benefit from the living Word. Of course, the Bible itself can be a distraction, especially if the children have a kids’ Bible with images and pictures. But parents must carefully and thoughtfully think about when to give their children a Bible and encourage the kids to have their own Bibles with them in church. It is my encouragement for this to be done as early as possible. The power is in the Word, the written and living and soul-converting Word.
 
Sit up and look ahead.
Part of the honor we give to God is giving attention and focus to the man who preaches the Word. When the congregation has gathered, it behooves parents to teach the children to sit up and look straight ahead during the worship service. This helps the children focus. And this also helps minimize distractions from those around them. Encourage your children to look straight ahead and focus on the song lyrics, the preaching of the Word of God, the word that is read publicly, and the corporate praying. This doesn't happen perfectly every time. But little by little, strive to teach the children by setting an example for them, sharing your expectations with them, holding them to this at home during family worship, and then reminding them before the service begins.


Be still.
Children love to fidget. And that is not always bad. But in the house of God, we must instill in our children the importance of being still in the presence of God and drawing near to listen to His Word. Work diligently in the home during family worship times to implement this with your children. Encourage them to sit still, to not fidget with toys or stuffed animals in their hands, and not to distract themselves with other things, but rather keep teaching and reinforcing and reminding them of the joyous duty and highest privilege to gather in God’s presence and hear from Him through the reading and preaching of His Word.  Keep at it. Stay faithful. Persevere!

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Sermon Application Questions (Some Examples for Self & for Others)

HELPS FOR AFTER THE SERMON:
QUESTIONS TO ASK OTHERS AND TO ASK YOURSELF

Here are some helps for *after* the sermon.  How can you hear the Word and exit with profitableness?  Here are some pastoral helps and ideas to exit with intentionality, focus, deliberateness, sermon-application for your own heart and for others. 

1. QUESTIONS to ask others (how do we talk with others?)
#1) how did that sermon challenge you?
#2) what do you need to change in your life because of that sermon?
#3) what did you learn from that text?
#4) how did God instruct your heart about His own character?
#5) what did God show you about yourself in this sermon/text?
#6) what did God show you about Christ & the gospel tonight?


Thomas Gouge admonished, “Had you ever tasted of the sweetness of this duty of Divine Meditation, you would finde little time for vain talk, and idle discourses, especially upon the Lords day.”

And:

2. QUESTIONS to ask myself after I hear a sermon
Questions to ask yourself after you hear the Word:
1. Is there change I need to implement in my life?
2. Is there sin I need to confess and repent?
3. Is there instruction I need to embrace and obey?
4. Is there doctrine I need to further study and apply? 

Luke 8:15 -- “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance!

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Preaching Displays Pastoral Love.

PREACHING DISPLAYS PASTORAL LOVE.
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church (St Louis, MO)    CFBCSTL.org

 

WHY AND HOW?

 

1.  it is the best way to feed God’s people.
The minister of the gospel who faithfully expounds the Word of the living God week by week provides the best diet, the greatest nourishment, the healthiest intake of divine blessing for the people of God. No greater pastoral way of shepherding God’s precious people exists! Feeding the flock of God necessitates a healthy diet of hearing from God through His Word. The best way to nourish God’s people, to strengthen them for Christian living, to motivate them for holiness, and to gladden them in the Triune God is to relentlessly preach the Word of God!

2.  it allows people to hear from God their Father.
Every believer has been brought into the family of God. Amazingly and divinely, it consists fully in the work of God. He has brought dead sinners to life and has transferred them into His very own Kingdom. Furthermore, he has adopted them into His family and views them as sons and treats them as such. Preaching is the voice of God the Father ministering tenderly and specifically to the hearts of His people. To refuse to preach the Word is to hinder the people from hearing from God for their good, growth, and joy. Preaching the Word is the way for the Spirit to minister His divine love to Christ’s people as the God-breathed Word goes forth weekly.

3.  it enhances the Spirit’s work thru the Word in lives.
The Bible that God has given to His people has been preserved, breathed out and powerful by the Spirit divine grace. As the man of God shepherds the congregation by preaching the Word, the Spirit of God marvelously and graciously works in the individual hearts of His own people to convict of sin, to expose error and faults, to glorify and spotlight Christ, to remind of Christ’s perfect redemption, to motivate godly obedience and true repentance. The preaching of the Word is the channel through which the Spirit matures, grows, and strengthens the people of God into the image of Christ.

4.  it provides stability and hope in shaky times.
Circumstances around the world change and world events totter constantly. However, the preaching of the Word of God is the unchanging, rock-solid bedrock for Christians to stand on while living in such shaky times. Wars and rumors of wars abound. Threats and violence and collapse of world systems seem to totter reel daily. But the shepherd of love who preaches God’s Word weekly, relentlessly, consistently, consecutively and powerfully demonstrates His Christlike care for God’s sheep as he helps them refocus on eternal things, that is, the things that really, ultimately matter.

5.  it cares for the greatest need of the people - soul-care.
The great need of all of God’s sheep is Christlikeness, the daily grace to walk with Jesus in holiness and in love.  Men of God know the great need of Christians is not to meet a ‘felt need,’ or to give people ‘what they want,’ or to ‘tickle the ears’.  Rather, men of God who are called by the Spirit and who minister the gospel understand the great need of the church is to preaching of the Word of God. It is the Word of God that reaches the very innermost part of man and shows Christ to the weary and needy soul.  


In conclusion, pastors who really love their people will consistently, weekly, prayerfully, and powerfully preach the Word of God! This is one of the greatest and most Christlike demonstrations of compassion and care for the people of God!  Shepherd: feed the flock of God with the Word of God. And in doing so, you tangibly demonstrate just how much you love them.

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