Many evangelicals need to reflect more deeply on the question: "what is a sermon?"
If a sermon is just "giving advice from a stage" then it's not clear why only an elder should do it.
So much of the Christian life can be boiled down to two simple truths.
1. You are no longer your own. You belong to Christ.
2. You are no longer 𝘰𝘯 your own. He gave you the church.
Believers - at your workplace:
1. Don't complain
2. Watch your words
3. Encourage others
4. Pray for your team
5. Walk away from gossip
6. Work like it's worship
7. Do everything with excellence
Honor Christ in all you do.
“A healthy church therefore has leaders who are trustworthy, but it also has members who are willing to trust.”
@JonathanLeeman encouraging attendees of #9MARKSMBTS to consider how trust fuels the work of the church.
Ben Sasse:
"[I]n my handful of weeks before [my] diagnosis and seven weeks since, one of the things that's come clear to me that I tell my kids a lot is, man, I wish I'd taken the Lord's Day more seriously more of my life because it's a really good antidote to all those idolatries.”
@BenSasse
https://t.co/yqwS5DEaaj
I often think about this. There’s a reason why timeless songs and hymns are the ones people go to at the end. Even the truths and melodies in some kids songs I have found for my daughter have been more memorable than some modern worship songs. Simple truths to simple melodies = songs to fight the fight and comfort the weary.
One of the key personal pastoral lessons I've been forced to reckon with in my first six years of ordained work:
Not only is our person justified by faith, not works; also our ministry is justified by faith, not works.
In many Reformed churches, preaching is understood as the pinnacle of the worship service and the main measure of a pastor’s effectiveness. There are many able preachers who can faithfully handle the Word, but there are few truly great preachers, the ones who have that unique mix of training, opportunity, gifting, and unction.
But here's good news: The strength or health of the local church does not depend upon the existence of a few extraordinary pulpiteers. As Theodore Cuyler wrote, one in ten may become a very great preacher, but the other nine can still become great pastors.
What God’s people most need are not celebrities in the pulpit but shepherds among the flock: men who know their people, pray for them, visit them, and walk with them through joys and sorrows. Reformed churches rightly value preaching, but we must not despise the quieter work of pastoral care. A church with an ordinary preacher and a great pastor is far better off than a church with a great preacher and an apathetic shepherd.
Every pastor should strive to maximize his gifting and preach as well as he can, but he should always remember that his church's greatest need is not his greatness in the pulpit, but his faithfulness among the congregation. Read more here: https://t.co/HyVHLDoHE4
“I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. . . . Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ.”
-Charles H. Spurgeon