Jun 19th 09
Posted by Adam in Preaching, Sermon
I’m sitting down about to do some intense preparation for preaching Sunday, and the weight of the task before me has just hit me in a new way. I want to share this prayer with you.
Lord, you wrote this word. You know what it means. You spoke and everything happened. I believe you want to speak on Sunday.
I place myself under the authority of your word. Your words are true food, and we are hungry. Your words are true drink and we are thirsty. Your words are life and we want to live. Your words are holy and we want to be like you. Your words show us Jesus and want most to see Jesus.
As I prepare, illuminate your word to my heart and my mind. As I read, speak. As I think, speak. As I am silent, speak. As I study, speak. As I speak, speak.
When I open my mouth, Jesus, be central in all I say; be the hero of the story, be the theme of the day, be the life-giver, the sin-taker, the means to life and life itself.
Speak, Lord. Use this foolish man to do something great so that all may know on that day that it was not I but you in me.
Mar 1st 09
Posted by Adam in Preaching, Reflections
Today I had the pleasure of preaching at CentrePoint Church, and by all measurable accounts, it went well. That’s a good thing.
After church, I had a lot of people come up and encourage me on how the message went, and how God touched them through it. That’s also a good thing.
However, after some of these compliments, my heart began to feel very proud, as though I had done something greater than what God had done.
May we expositors and preachers of God’s precious word never come to enjoy the praise of men more than the smile of our King. For to do so would be idolatry of another name, and the beginning of the ugliest kind of pride…the religious kind. The praise of men can be very encouraging, and very insidious. Let us appropriate it well.
Feb 2nd 09
Posted by Adam in Church Planting, Preaching
I have a bone to pick…
Church-Planter has replaced Worship-Leader as the sexiest ministry job. Come on, you know it’s true.
Why has this happened? Well, I have a few ideas, but I’ll not go into those. Suffice it to say that I doubt that its because recent interest the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul has taken a large leap.
Please allow me to cut through your glossy-eyed ideas of the dreamworld that some of you wanna-be church-planters might be living in. You know, the dream where you have the cool communication skills of Rob Bell, the rants of Mark Driscoll, the theological prowess of John Piper, and a church bigger than Joel Osteen’s in half the time it took him. You know. That dream.
Allow me to share with you from my brief experience in church-planting.
- Church-Planting is freaking hard. You are living in some sort of la-la-land if you think its not. If you sit out in your current church on Sunday mornings listening to you pastor and thinking, “I could do that better,” you’re probably not ready. Understand that man’s journey and some of the pain he’s walked through first, please.
- Church-Planting is freaking expensive. You not only will have the joy of paying for your own living costs (which will be pretty high, probably) but you’ll have the added excitement of raising the $150-$250k that guys like Ed Stetzer say you need to show up with, just to play the game.
- Church-Planting is freaking painful. When you plant, you will find yourself in a relationally challenging place. Your relationship with your wife, your kids, and your friends will all change because all of a sudden, you’re bearing the weight of a vision. Not to mention that you’ll probably be moving away from your family and friends, which is also very easy, let me tell you. People are sinful, and working with them will be very, very painful.
- Church-Planting brings out your junk for all to see. Guess what, when you lead, all your issues get magnified. Your sin starts to affect not just you, but your church. Yay.
- Additionally, you’re going to have to find new friends, meet new people, lead people to Jesus, hunt for venues, raise insane amounts of cash, argue with neat-nicks and the occasional weirdo, pray, fast, pack, move, unpack, etc, etc, etc.
So why do it?
The only, only reason you should church plant… because Jesus told you to.
Please, if you’re a minister who’s having wanderlust, if you’re a pastor who wants to be more, if you’re a seminary student who has listened to too many podcasts, if you just want the church that you’ve always wanted, don’t plant.
Not unless Jesus has told you to. Every other reason? Idolatry. Damnable. Horrible. Unworthy. Unchristian. Prideful. Idolatry.
There’s one more thing to add to my list. Church-Planting is, if you’re called to it, freaking awesome, because its what Jesus wants you to do, and when you do it, you’re obeying the one who’s dreams for you actually matter. And trust me, they’re better than yours.
Aug 17th 08
Posted by Adam in Preaching, Theology
Scene: Gospel Class
Topic: Creation and the fall of man
I spent an hour preaching and teaching on how beautifully God made everything and how horribly broken we have made it. I must have split that about 20/80. That is, about 80% of the time was on our sinful, totally depraved, fallen natures.
I pulled it all out. I felt like I was channeling Jonny Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
In the midst of my teaching on God’s terrible anger at sin, His wrath, and His righteous judgment… you know what happened?
Grace.
Pure, heavenly, unadulterated grace. Miracle of miracles. Heaven broke through a hard, stony heart and a young man repented and believed.
When asked why they don’t preach about Hell, blood, wrath, and sin, most preachers say something like, most people have a hard time relating to that kind of stuff. We want to help people with something more relevant. Hmm. Well, let me help you with something.
If it’s real, it’s relevant. It certainly was relevant to that young man.
If all that stuff about our fallen nature is actually real, and we really can’t even take a step toward God, and we really are utterly broken, and even our very best works are like filthy rags before God… if that’s real, that matters… a lot. More, I would say, than a month long series on the 7 D’s of Financial Success, or the 12 F’s of Victory, or the 423 Q’s of… well, you get the idea.
If we are really lost, then Christ, well all of a sudden he looks very, very good. If we’re that jacked up, the free gift of grace begins to look rather appealing…even, glorious?
So what are we preaching? What are you preaching?
