What is Preaching?

Genuine preaching and its importance is linked with the centrality and authority of the Holy Scriptures. Why did Paul exhort his son in the faith, Timothy, to “preach the word"? The reason for preaching the word is clear:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16)


Why was Timothy to preach the word? His was to preach the word because it is God’s word. All scripture is God-breathed, therefore, preach all scripture. Biblical preaching finds its authority and centrality in the Bible.

Authentic preaching does not find its authority in the preacher, or in the position, but finds its authority from the word of God. Even the Old Testament Prophets did not find their authority in their calling, or their office; instead they found their authority in the word of God they proclaimed. Their authority came when they said, “Thus says the Lord."

Consequently, the Bible is central to true preaching. The preacher has the awesome responsibility of proclaiming the infallible word of God. The only way one can judge whether preaching is speaking the word of the Lord is the Bible.

Genuine preaching is Bible based, or “Bible-centered.” If one is going to preach a Bible based sermon then one must first handle the text in such a way that “the real and essential meaning as it existed in the mind of the particular Biblical writer, and as it exists in scripture” is understood.

Dr. Stephen Olford said that preaching “is the Spirit-empowered explanation and proclamation of the text of God’s word with regard to the historical, contextual, grammatical, and doctrinal significance of a given passage.” This definition indicates that the sermon is already prepared, that is, God prepared it. Biblical preaching studies the text to understand the meaning it had to its original hearers, then bridges the gap to contemporary times so that modern day hearers can hear the transforming word of God.

True preaching first takes the passage of scripture and studies its historical background. This is significant because the culture in which the text is found and the culture in which the preacher’s listeners are found are centuries apart. The religious situation, the geographical situation, the governmental situation is different, and so it is very important to understand the historical setting of a passage, if it can be known.

Next, true preaching studies the passage in its context. Contextual significance is important because if one does not understand the context, then one cannot understand the meaning. One such example can be found in Philippians 4:13, where Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” If we take this verse alone we will think that we can do all things, when, in reality, we cannot do all things. Study of the context shows that Paul is speaking about being content in all situations. The reason he can be content in all situations is because he is given strength to do so by Christ.

Grammatical understanding is very significant. I will hasten to state that much of the preaching heard today lacks grammatical understanding. It is easy to do word studies when preparing a sermon, but one must learn the syntax that is involved with the text of scripture. Each passage of scripture will have a dominating theme, and that theme will have subordinating clauses that modify that theme. So it is important to have a grammatical understanding.

Finally, genuine preaching shows the doctrinal significance of the passage being preached. It answers the question, “In what way does the teaching of this passage fit in with the rest of the Bible?”

What is preaching? It is, first of all, Bible-centered, and the preacher must submit his thoughts and opinions to the God inspired text so that when the preaching takes place the preacher is echoing the word of God and not the word of man.

Let's Help the New Staff Members at FSBC

Dear Church Family,

As you know we have called Peter Cunningham as our High School/College minister, and, Lord willing, we may be calling ___________ to be our next Minister of Music this Sunday.

Both men are trying to sell their homes. So please pray for a quick sell.

Also, to relieve some of their stress during the transition, I have set up transition fund to help provide temporary housing for them until they sell their homes. A gracious church member has provided two apartments for them at a very reasonable price. However, they can’t afford payments on a home and an apartment.

I am asking our church family to give a little extra, above your regular tithe, for the transition fund. Please Prayerfully consider helping.

I love being your pastor!

Pastor Patrick

God's Plan Prevails

God is sovereign and in control. I am constantly reminded of this from Proverbs 16:9, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." This means that no door will open for us, unless God opens it, and no door will close, unless God closes it. A good illustration of this is found in a true story that happened in Swan Quarter, North Carolina, in 1876.

The Methodist Episcopal Church South needed a new building. Therefore, when an individual donated a lot on Oyster Creek Road, they gratefully accepted the gift. The property was in a low-lying area, so they properly constructed the new building up on brick pilings. A few days later a terrible storm came to the area. The town flooded! The new church building was lifted from the brick pilings by the rising waters, and it started floating down the road. People witnessed as the church, still intact, moved down the center of town. At the town center, the building made a sharp right turn and continued to drift with the water until it landed in a vacant lot.

What is amazing is that 130 years later the church still stands in the same lot it landed in, and today is called the Providence Methodist Church. Even more astonishing is the fact that the lot that it landed in was the first lot that the church chose for their new building, but the landowner would not sell it. The morning after the flood, he presented the pastor with the deed. We can make our plans, but God will always determine our steps.

On Your Backside?

I watched curiously the other day as a turtle struggled to turn itself right side up. At first, I assumed the turtle could never do it, but I was wrong. The turtle spastically flailed about its head, neck and legs until it was no longer upside down. And getting right side up is a matter of life and death for the turtle.

Life can often put us on our backside also. Therefore, the real challenge as believers is to find our way back to our feet. So, how do we get back on our feet when life knocks us down?

The ballast of worship: The greatest thing we can do when life has us down is turn our eyes to Jesus. I’m reminded of Psalm 73 in which the author admitted to God that he struggled with life and stumbled on account of the wicked enjoying blessings. It wasn't until he went to worship that he was able put things into perspective. Notice what happened when he put his eyes back on the Lord, “Until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end” (Psalm 73:17).

The ballast of community: We need each other! Paul said it well, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

The ballast of hope: When David struggled with being upside down in life, he preached to himself, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence” (Psalm 42:5). Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We judge of man's wisdom by his hope.”

If life has you on your backside at this time, I encourage you to choose worship, community, and hope. Get on your feet and declare like one anonymous pastor, “I am a disciple of Christ…I will not let up, look back or slow down. My face is set; my goal is sure, my way is rough, my companions few, my God is reliable; my mission is clear…I am a disciple of Christ, I must go until he comes.”

Dealing with Distractions

Many things will come our way that will distract us from God’s plan and purpose for our lives. How do we overcome those distractions?

Nehemiah gives us some wonderful truths that, if applied, will help us overcome distractions. We can’t avoid the distractions that come our way, but we sure can have victory of them. Nehemiah’s response reveals the keys to success.

Stay focused on the mission
Nehemiah’s first distraction came in the form of a seemingly pleasant invitation, “Come, and let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono” (Nehemiah 6:2). This was an invitation from the enemy distract Nehemiah from the work of God, and hopefully bring the work to a halt.

Fortunately, Nehemiah knew that the men who made the invitation were trying to harm him (Nehemiah 6:2). He knew that the invitation would take him away from what was really important. Therefore, he responded with a statement of God’s mission for his life, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3). Nehemiah understood his mission and was committed to keep focused on his mission.

Good things distract many people in the church. Why? They have lost focus of the mission. They allow opportunities and activities draw them away from church life and serving the Lord. They become inconsistent in church life, or they become non-existent in church life.

Stay strengthened through prayer
The next distraction for Nehemiah came in the form of slander (Nehemiah 6:5-7). Nehemiah was wise enough to know that the slander was not a critical issue that needed to be addressed, but another wasteful distraction from the enemy.

We will experience many hurts while serving the Lord, and some will come from brothers and sisters in Christ. Many people allow those hurts to distract them from the work. Not Nehemiah! He found strength from the Lord through prayer, “O God, strengthen my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9). Only grace can enable us to persevere and endure hurtful distractions.

Stay faithful to the word
Nehemiah’s third distraction comes in the form of spiritual seduction (6:10). The enemy wanted to seduce Nehemiah to disobey the word of God. Nehemiah overcame the seduction because of his faithfulness to the word of God. He not only knew the word, he obeyed it.

Don’t let the enemy distract you from what is important! Only what is done for Christ will last!

Giving to God's Work! 2 Kings 4:42-44

The economy is affecting everyone, and that includes the church. Many churches and ministries find themselves falling short of their targeted budgets. It is important that God's people understand the reason for giving to the Lord.

There is a funny story of a pastor who said to his people, after they voted on a rather large budget, “I don't know where they will get the money for the budget.” After the service, the people came to him somewhat relieved. They said, “Pastor, we are sure glad you don't know where the money is coming from for the budget. For a moment we thought that you were going to ask us for it.”

The good news about giving is that God is the one who provides. The bad news (just kidding) is that he provides through his people. Therefore, it is important that we remind ourselves what giving to the Lord is all about. 2 Kings 4:42-44 will reveal some truths for giving. First, notice that the inspiration for giving is worship.

The inspiration for giving is worship (42a)

“Now a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack.” (2 Kings 4:42a)

What the man brought to the man of God was an offering to the Lord. Throughout the scriptures God is constantly telling his people that giving is an act of worship. It is about giving God the preeminent place in our lives and that includes in our financial and material blessings. When we give to the Lord, we should do so out of love and adoration for the one who gave us everything. Second, notice that the vision for giving is people.

The vision for giving is people (42b-43)

Elisha the man of God gives direction for the offering. He says in the last part of verse 42, “Give them to the people that they may eat.” Again he says in verse 43, “Give them to the people that they may eat.” People are the vision for giving.

When God blesses his people, he expects his people to be a conduit of his blessings. That is, he wants to bless others through his people. When we give to the Lord, our focus should be blessing others. It must be people. I always tell people working on budgets for the church that we are stewards of people before we are stewards of finances. Finances of the church are for reaching people. Third, notice that the foundation for giving is faith.

The foundation for giving is faith (43-44)

“His attendant said, "What, will I set this before a hundred men?" But he said, "Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, 'They shall eat and have some left over.' " [44] So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.”

There will always be those who don’t see things through faith. This is the case for Elisha’s servant. He could only see that the vision for the people was bigger that the budget. Fortunately, the man of God saw things through faith.

Notice his faith, “They shall eat and have some leftover.” What was the source of his faith? It was the promise of God. Notice verse 44, “So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.”

Faith is the only way to please God. Faith trust God to reward those who seek him.

During these hard economic times, the church should rise to the occasion. What would the unbelieving world think if they saw that the most joyful time of God’s people worshiping together was the time of offering? They might believe the truth that we proclaim!

Are You Teachable?

Are you in a holding pattern with God? Are you are in God’s waiting room? Did it ever occur to you that God wants to teach you while you wait? I have learned from my own experiences that being teachable enables me to be an effective change agent for God. The key is being teachable.

If you are not teachable, it usually results in trying to change people and conditions in the wrong way. An Anglican Bishop wrote these words on his deathbed and had them engraved into his tombstone:

“When I was young and free, my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too, seemed immovable. As I grew in my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realized: If I had only changed my self first, then by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have even changed my world.”

If you want to make a difference with the people around you, then you must allow God to make a difference in you. You must be teachable if God is going to use you to influence others.

One of the great examples in scripture of a teachable person was Joseph. He didn’t allow his hardships in life get him down. He had a dream from God and he learned to wait for God to bring that dream to fruition. God used the waiting period to draw Joseph closer to him and to build up his faith.

Don’t be surprised if God puts you in a holding pattern. He is probably trying to teach you some valuable lessons that will truly bring about change in the future. Let God work a change in you so that he can make a difference around you!