Worshipping God in Preaching

The early church of Christ “continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine” [teaching] (Acts 2:42). This was a part of the first worship service of the church that took place on the Sunday during the Pentecost feast in Jerusalem (Acts 2). This is indicated in the list of other activities that were taking place along with this teaching [i.e. “fellowship, breaking of bread, prayers”].

Preaching is defined as “publicly proclaiming or teaching; delivering a sermon or religious address to an assembled group of people, typically in church.” Preaching has its place throughout the Bible, but always finds priority among God’s people,  especially New Testament Christians, for regular instruction or teaching unto righteousness.

Numerous passages remind us of its purposes:

• To proclaim and teach of Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:2; 2 Cor. 4:5)
• To teach all nations / all the world (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16)
• To hear and believe in the Gospel (Romans 10:13-14)
• To grow in our faith (Romans 10:17)
• To grow unto maturity (2 Peter 1:off)
• To grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (1 Peter 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18)
• To become teachers (Hebrews 5:12-14)
• To be able to defend (1 Peter 3:15)
• To keep our focus on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2)
• To stay focused on the prize of Heaven (Philippians 3:14)

J. Winfred Clark wrote an article years ago and then republished in EXPOSITIONS OF THE EXPOSITOR entitled The Fruit of Sound Teaching from Titus 2:1 which reads: “speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.” This article included below reminds us of the place of Gospel Preaching in our worship services and in our daily lives.

The results of the preaching of the Gospel:

There Would Be a Balanced Life (v. 2-10)

If you take the time to read through these verses, you will find those things addressed to each group that would help them to live mature and complete lives of godliness. In fact, you will find the phrase, “in all things” in verse 7, 9, 10. That means one’s life is affected in all things, whether in his talk or his walk, whether in public or in private. Sound teaching will govern his life and lip in all that he does or says.

Not only is there balance in each life in each group, but there is also that balance to be maintained between each group. Note the term “likewise.” This means there is no double standard.

There Will Be a Blameless Life (v. 3-5)

The life that is affected by sound doctrine will be in accord with holiness. Such will mean their speech will be blameless, for they will tell the truth as they are not false accusers. This is in contrast with the reputation of those on the isle of Crete. There will also be temperance as they are able to control themselves.

There Will Be a Beautiful Life (v. 6-10)

In this section, one is able to show by his manner of life what the gospel will produce. His manner of life will attract people to that which produces such. Such a life is attractive and is made to be so by the teaching of Christ. Such a life will be well ordered and properly arranged by the guidelines set forth by sound teaching.

The preaching of the Gospel of Christ affects change to all those who believe (Romans 1:16). May we never take for granted the part of our worship services characterized by preaching and teaching.

~Wayne Rodgers

Source:

Clark, J. Winfred. Expositions of the "The Expositor": J. Winfred Clark. Ed. Michael McDaniel. Vol. 1. Memphis, TN: Memphis School of Preaching, 2001. Print.

CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD

by Preston Silcox

What does it mean to “call on the name of the Lord?” Legion are they who teach that this means to approach Christ in prayer, asking Him to forgive one’s sins and come into one’s heart for the purpose of being his “personal Savior.” Usually, Romans 10:13 is quoted as a proof text for this teaching: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” However, this phrase is used in other places in the Bible and to understand its meaning in Romans, the phrase should be studied in the other contexts as well.

In Romans 10, Paul is quoting Joel 2:32 emphasizing the universal nature of the Gospel. Another New Testament spokesman who quoted Joel was Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:21). Peter was preaching to those who were guilty of shedding the innocent blood of Jesus. Upon realizing the severity of their crime, the convicted crowd cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” They knew they were guilty and they knew they needed forgiveness. In addition, they

had heard Peter quote Joel, saying, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” So, what was Peter’s response to their question? Did he tell them to pray to Jesus for forgiveness? Did he command them to ask Christ to come into their hearts as their personal Savior? No! He told them to “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). Here is inspired commentary on the phrase, “call on the name of the Lord.” According to Peter, who was speaking by inspiration, calling on the name of the Lord is appealing to, and complying with, the authority of the Lord. In the case under consideration, it meant repenting and being baptized.

What about you? Are you one who calls on the name of the Lord (I Cor. 1:2)? That is, are you one who obeys the Christ? If not, why not determine to follow the example of those 3,000 on the day of Pentecost?

Preston's Bio:

Preston Silcox is a 1995 graduate of the Memphis School of Preaching. He has preached for congregations in Tennessee and Oklahoma, and now works with the Margaret Street Church of Christ in Milton, Florida.  He and his wife, Tanya have two children: Rice Paul-Travis and Curry Christine.

Links:

http://margaretstreetchurchofchrist.org

pic credit: revelationandcreation.com

EVANGELISTIC IDEAS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO CHURCH GROWTH

By Ryan Tuten

The year was 1985, the song was Ronnie Milsap’s 27^th number 1 hit. The song was praised by critics and fans alike, and remains as one of Milsap’s most popular recordings.  The title of the song was… “Lost in the Fifties Tonight.”

I believe the title of this song well describes the mentality of many congregations of the Lord’s church today.  In other words, if the 1950’s ever come back around, we will be ready.  No doubt, during that period of time the church experienced phenomenal growth that we have not seen since.  Yet how sad it is that many leaders in the church today want to recreate those days of old not realizing that times have changed and what worked then, regardless of how good and effective it was, may not work today.

I believe for most of us it has been a long time since we put ourselves in the place of a guest visiting with us.  We have forgotten how intimidating it was the first time we visited the church.  We have forgotten the questions we once had, “Am I late?” “Am I early?” “Where do I go?” “Will my children be safe?” “Will my family be comfortable?” “Will I know what to do in the service?” “Will someone call on me or point me out?” Experts believe that most visitors may determine whether they return to a church based on the experience they have in the first five minutes.  If that is true, should we not be asking ourselves if anything is standing in the way of our guest having a positive experience at our services?

Yet before we can ever discuss “keeping” our visitors coming to services, we must first be able to get them to visit us.  What can we do to encourage our community to visit the Lord’s church for the first time?  What evangelistic ideas can we use that will contribute to church growth?  Can we get out of the fifties and into the 21^st century before it is too late?

Communicating our Identity:

I believe in order to have an effective community outreach program, we must first be able to communicate our identity. This is done when we equip our members to be inviters.  The Scriptures teach that Jesus had an outreach mentality (Luke 19:10) as well as the early church (Acts 8:4).  It is sad but many congregations have had to close their doors because they refuse to change.  Of course, we realize that we are not talking about changing the message (Gal. 1:6-9; Rev. 22:17-19), but changing the way we communicate that message to the lost.  Any congregation that does not change from ‘status quo ministry’ to ‘mission outreach’ will slowly die or become hopelessly irrelevant.  If we want the church to be effective in evangelism, then we must all cultivate a true heart for seeking the lost.  

To have successful church growth and evangelistic success, we need to consider several stepping stones that will help contribute to that success.  We must be able to effectively communicate God’s saving message with the lost.  We must be able to tell them who we are and what we are about.  We must know our “product” and be able to present that product to the world.  Let us consider some stepping stones that will help communicate our identity:

1. What is our mission?  Again, we know that Jesus and the early church had a mission, but what is our mission and how well do we communicate that mission to our members?  Our mission should be the foundation for all that we build upon. It should define our heart and passion. It should establish our priorities, direct our resources and focus our goals.
2. Who are we trying to reach?  In order to be effective in outreach, a congregation must know the community they are trying to reach.  What are the Geographic’s of the area (where are the homes, how close are they to the building, etc…)?  What are the Demographics or make up of the people in your community?  What are the Psychographics of the community (the spiritual mindset)? Knowing this will help us direct and focus our attention. There are several websites that give this information and many of them are free.
3. What are our resources and how are we using them? We need to evaluate our resources often and ask what are their outreach potential.  For example:  Are we utilizing our members’ talents and abilities.  What do we use our building for? Does every program or ministry have our evangelism mission in mind? How well do we communicate to others about our resources?
4. What about our image?  Everything from our signage, brochures, advertising pieces, communication materials and even our building communicate our image.  This is often overlooked today because we know that the church is the people and not the building.  But again, I want to encourage you to step inside the shoes of a visitor who has never visited the church of our Lord and knows nothing about the Bible.  The truth is that the community makes judgments about the church based on the image they see.  We must be up to date and not back in the fifties.

Learning Evangelistic Outreach From Acts 2

Let us now turn our attention to attracting visitors by communicating our identity.  Let us consider Acts 2 as a model of effective evangelistic outreach.  Consider these four principles from this chapter.

1. Strategic Timing:  Why did God wait 40 days after the death and resurrection of Christ to establish the church?  Could He have started the church the day after the resurrection? Sure He could have; then why wait several weeks?  It may have something to do with strategic timing.  Remember Jesus told His apostles to “tarry” (wait) in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4).  Again, why wait?  No doubt it was because the masses of people would soon be gathered there. What about us today?  How can we be more effective in evangelism using the same principle of strategic timing? I believe we need to evaluate what we preach and when we preach it.  For example:  What about the religious holidays we share in our Nation? In our culture today the two most attended services of the “church” are Christmas and Easter.  Yet how many good brethren have written articles for their bulletins and preached lessons on why we should not celebrate these holidays and condemned people for doing so?  I did not say what they preached was wrong or in error, but was it using strategic timing?  Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor. You come to services for the first time on those particular holidays and you read those articles and hear those sermons. Would you ever come back?  Why not use these times to take people from where they are and take them to the cross?  Instead of condemning people for celebrating these holidays, use it as a spring-board to teach them the truth.  We could also use secular holidays and shared cultural events, like elections, world catastrophes, wars, divorce recovery, new parents, money management, etc… The lessons we design and deliver should help bring people closer to God.
2. Targeted and receptive audience: Again, why wait or “tarry” in Jerusalem?  It may have something to do with the audience that would be gathered there shortly.  In Acts 2 we see the Jews are gathered together for the feast and it would be the Jews who would hear the gospel first (Rom. 1:16).  If we are ever going to be effective in our evangelistic outreach efforts, we need to know our audience.  We must consider the Geographic proximity, the Demographic proximity and the Spiritual proximity.  We need to know and understand the audience that makes up our community. Are they young or old, what ethnic group, median age, miles of travel, etc… How are we ever going to reach those that are lost if we do not know who it is?
3. Compelling Message:  In Acts 2 one quickly realizes that the message Peter and the other apostles were preaching was compelling because of the content.  The message was about the Messiah, His death and resurrection.  This message got their attention, captured their interest and prepared their hearts to hear the Gospel.  We all realize that the power to save souls is the Gospel (Rom. 1:16) but are we speaking to people in their language?  Are we answering questions that people are asking?  Too many preachers today are preaching and have given little or no thought to their audience.
4. Appropriate Communication Methods: In our society today we have access to every form of communication and we should use every one of them.  Mass communication through radio, TV, newspaper, billboards, yellow pages, etc… Direct communication through direct mailing and even door to door.  Also, personal communication through personal invitations, emails, websites and brochures.

Equip the Members:

We know that the early church grew through relationships (Acts 2:41-47).  The church cannot sustain growth beyond its ability to care for people. Let us consider four ways to equip our members to be better inviters and show how much we really care.

1. Provide invitations:  We need to be able to provide business cards, post cards and brochures to be used as invitations.
2. Special Messages:  Plan a special message series, events and other activities designed for members to invite their non-Christian friends.
3. Evangelism class:  Start an evangelism class designed to help the members become more familiar and comfortable with teaching the lost.
4. Communicate your identity: Constantly communicate your identity to the congregation and community reminding them who we are and what we are about.

If we want our congregations to grow and be more effective, we must have a true heart for seeking the lost so that Jesus can save them.  Evangelism must permeate every part of our congregation.  Our ability to reach the lost will be determined by the passion and strength of our outreach identity and mentality.

Ryan's Bio:  Ryan Tuten currently preaches for the Forrest Park church of Christ in Valdosta, Georgia, where he has labored since October 2010.  He also served as the minister of the Lake City church of Christ in Lake City, FL from May 2001 to October 2010. He is a 1998 graduate of the Memphis School of Preaching.  He has taught in several preaching schools, gospel meetings and lectureships in the states as well as foreign countries.  He has been on twenty two mission trips to Central and South America, Russia, Africa, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. He has also served as session director for the Florida Bible Camp and Georgia Bible Camp. He is very active in his community, coaching and serving on various school councils. He and his wife Michelle have been married since February 1996, and are greatly blessed with two children, Noah (14) and Chloe (12). 

Links:

http://forrestpark.org

Do We Receive The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit Today?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each record the words of John the Baptizer who states: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:31-34).  While showing his humility, John shows the superiority of Christ, the Son of God and His work to come.  Our study will deal with the phrase “he shall baptize with you with Holy Ghost” and answer the question: Do we receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Today?

John was baptizing in the Jordan River.  “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan” (Matthew 3:5).  The Pharisees and Sadducees come out to see John’s baptism (3:7). He gives predictions concerning the baptisms of Christ that were to come. Predictions are seen more clearly in their unfolding and as more information is revealed.  For instance, John, clearly upset with the Pharisees on this occasion of baptizing many, refers to Jesus’ baptism of fire and then refers to the chaff that is burned up after the harvest time.  As more teaching is revealed, Jesus makes clear this references the Judgment Day to come.  As pertaining to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, let us notice the unfolding events and revelation of Scripture.

What Scripture Reveals of the Nature of Holy Spirit Baptism

We should notice in each of the Gospel records, John the baptizer mentions Jesus’ promise to baptize with the Holy Spirit.  This predicted baptism was a promise, not a command. 

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49, emp. W.R.).

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:4)

What Scripture Reveals of the Who & Why of Holy Spirit Baptism

Among the audience there were also Jews who were penitent unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees.  This promised baptism was to be administered by Christ to His apostles.  He promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to them from the Father.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26).

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning (John 15:26-27).

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come (John 16:13).

Jesus spoke these words to His apostles, giving them hope and comfort as He was soon to die and then return to the Father.  This continues to reveal the predictive promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit to come upon the apostles.  The apostles would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit to teach them, give them remembrance, and guide them into all truth.  After His resurrection, Jesus is again with His apostles and would indicate they were the ones to receive this promised baptism.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained (John 20:22-23).

The apostles would receive this baptism for the purpose of remitting sins.  They would accomplish this by preaching the message of remission of sins, the Gospel.

And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:46-48).

What Scripture Reveals of the Where & When of Holy Spirit Baptism

Luke recorded in the Gospel record as well as the book of Acts more unveiling of the predictive promise of the Holy Spirit baptism. 

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:4).

“Not many days hence” would be found in Jerusalem and after Matthias was “numbered with the eleven” (Acts 1:26).  Chapter two of Acts opens with the following scene:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).

The apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit and given the ability to speak other languages, preaching the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e., the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).  This promised baptism administered by Jesus Christ himself was given to the apostles for their work of preaching the Gospel before the complete revealed word was written (1 Corinthians 13) so that “every creature” could be saved by their belief and baptism (Mark 16:15-16).  Once that message was completely revealed, the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit would be fulfilled.  The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not promised to us today; however, we have the “apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42), and we must be obedient to it.  

Wayne Rodgers

published in THE GOSPEL JOURNAL, July 2012