Enough
Enough
“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The Corinthian church, on many levels, was a mess. There was rampant sin, fighting, and wrong doctrine. On top of all of that, the people were also being persecuted. What was Paul to do? His solution was to preach the gospel as simply, as boldly, as clearly, and as often as he could. The preaching of the Gospel would be the power of God to change lives and to bring the church of Corinth back to a place of true usefulness in the Kingdom of God.
As we look at our own lives, the state of our churches, and how the culture has brought changes into what our Sunday morning worship services look like, we need to come to the same solution that Paul came to. The answer is more preaching of the Gospel. More being humbled by the simple, yet powerful, truth of the Gospel. Too often our preaching is about what we perceive our needs are at the moment and less about how the Gospel transforms those needs. Too often we are looking to please consumers who come to church more than turning our eyes toward Jesus and his finished work on the cross. The more we seek to make our services like the cultures we find ourselves in, the more we become just more white noise in a noisy society. The preaching of the Gospel has always been and will always be, counter culture. Lose your life to find it. Seek first the kingdom of God. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. The Gospel is the reversal of all that is destroying our communities. When we minimize that message, we minimize the revolution that Jesus started.
As a pastor, I am encouraged by the words Paul shared at the beginning of this blog. It really is not about how talented I am or how much I can capture an audience. It is not about how strong of a leader I am. It is how much I am willing to submit to the Spirit of God and how much I am able to keep the main thing, the main thing. People may seem to respond, in the short run, to sermons that tickle their ears but it is only the Gospel that has the power to sustain them in the toughest days of their lives. Of course, simply preaching the Gospel is not enough if it is not done in the power of the Spirit of God. The Gospel is the greatest presentation of who God is and we cannot simply share facts about God. We must, in the power of the Spirit, preach Jesus. Crucified, risen, and coming again.
Organ and piano. Smoke and mirrors. Photo booths and free coffee. None of those change lives. Love is never enough. Demonstrating grace simply produces a nicer crowd. It is only the Holy Spirit empowered gospel that changes lives. Demand that your church never neglect the preaching of the Gospel.
“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The Corinthian church, on many levels, was a mess. There was rampant sin, fighting, and wrong doctrine. On top of all of that, the people were also being persecuted. What was Paul to do? His solution was to preach the gospel as simply, as boldly, as clearly, and as often as he could. The preaching of the Gospel would be the power of God to change lives and to bring the church of Corinth back to a place of true usefulness in the Kingdom of God.
As we look at our own lives, the state of our churches, and how the culture has brought changes into what our Sunday morning worship services look like, we need to come to the same solution that Paul came to. The answer is more preaching of the Gospel. More being humbled by the simple, yet powerful, truth of the Gospel. Too often our preaching is about what we perceive our needs are at the moment and less about how the Gospel transforms those needs. Too often we are looking to please consumers who come to church more than turning our eyes toward Jesus and his finished work on the cross. The more we seek to make our services like the cultures we find ourselves in, the more we become just more white noise in a noisy society. The preaching of the Gospel has always been and will always be, counter culture. Lose your life to find it. Seek first the kingdom of God. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. The Gospel is the reversal of all that is destroying our communities. When we minimize that message, we minimize the revolution that Jesus started.
As a pastor, I am encouraged by the words Paul shared at the beginning of this blog. It really is not about how talented I am or how much I can capture an audience. It is not about how strong of a leader I am. It is how much I am willing to submit to the Spirit of God and how much I am able to keep the main thing, the main thing. People may seem to respond, in the short run, to sermons that tickle their ears but it is only the Gospel that has the power to sustain them in the toughest days of their lives. Of course, simply preaching the Gospel is not enough if it is not done in the power of the Spirit of God. The Gospel is the greatest presentation of who God is and we cannot simply share facts about God. We must, in the power of the Spirit, preach Jesus. Crucified, risen, and coming again.
Organ and piano. Smoke and mirrors. Photo booths and free coffee. None of those change lives. Love is never enough. Demonstrating grace simply produces a nicer crowd. It is only the Holy Spirit empowered gospel that changes lives. Demand that your church never neglect the preaching of the Gospel.
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