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.