Good morning. Welcome to Church of the Advent. If you're here for the first time, this is the time in our service when we typically have a sermon.
We spend roughly a half hour looking in depth at one or more of the passages of Scripture that we have just read. But we rarely stop to ask the question in this church,
what's the point of this whole part of the worship service? I mean, just to be totally honest, it would be a lot shorter if we cut this part out.
And we could just skip straight to the creed, especially with the fact that now we live in a world where there are so many sermons online,
so much digital content out there that we can listen to anytime we want. Why the need to come and to do something like this in person on a Sunday morning?
It would be a lot more efficient if we didn't do it. And then why is it that when you go to one church and then you go to another church and you do it in another church,
the way this time is used is vastly different. You might go to one church and you hear somebody talking or teaching about the Bible.
Maybe you go to another church and you hear what sounds more like a political speech or a political rant.
You go to another church and there might be a 15-minute reflection on the size of the universe and our place in it.
What is the point of preaching? What are we supposed to be doing with this time and why does it matter?
That's kind of what we're going to be looking at this morning. We're going to have a bit of a meta sermon, a sermon about sermons.
We're going to have some preaching about preaching, which is not something that we typically do, and I think it's fine that we don't do this a lot.
It just so happens that this is what the Apostle Paul is talking about in the passage from 2 Timothy this morning.
Now, what we're going to be focusing on is primarily what happens here, the Sunday gathered worship and the sermon that happens as a part of that.
But a lot of what we're going to say could apply to many situations and contexts beyond this room.
I know there are a lot of people with a gift and ministry of preaching who don't necessarily wear collars.
And there's a lot of opportunities for this kind of thing to happen outside of Sunday, but Paul's primary emphasis is Timothy's ministry and the ministry of the elders who serve under him in Sunday worship.
And so that's what we're going to primarily be talking about.
And I think this is relevant because, as I said, a lot of people don't fully understand what preaching is or why it matters.
So that's what we're going to be looking at.
What is preaching?
Why do we need it?
And then how to receive it.
How to receive it.
Let's pray.
Our Lord and Heavenly Father, thank you for your word.
Really, it's your word that we're going to be considering this morning.
And because of that, we thank you and we praise you.
And we praise you ultimately that what we're doing here doesn't depend or hinge on us,
that we're here because you are a God who has initiated.
You're a God who speaks.
And we ask for the grace to receive your word.
And we pray this that we might glorify you in your Son's name.
Amen.
So first of all, the question, what is preaching?
What we see in this passage is that the nature of preaching, the ministry of preaching,
is shaped and determined by the nature of Scripture itself.
The nature of preaching flows out of the nature of Scripture.
The Apostle Paul writes in verse 16,
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness, that the servant of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
So what does this tell us?
Well, first and foremost, it tells us that Scripture, and by that we mean the words that we now have in the Bible.
So the Old Testament was considered Scripture, but then in one of Peter's letters,
he refers to the writings of Paul as Scripture.
And then in the first few centuries of the church, there's a gathering together of all of the written words
that constitute what the church considers to be Scripture.
So all Scripture is essentially the Word of God.
That's what this passage is saying.
So unlike anything else ever written, Scripture, graphe, is uniquely described as being God-breathed.
So in one sense, Scripture was written by human authors, dozens of authors over centuries and centuries.
But as those authors wrote, God guided and directed their writing through the power of the Holy Spirit
in such a way that they wrote His words as He intended.
So one of my favorite ways of talking about the nature of the Bible is it is just like Jesus.
It is fully human, and it is fully divine at the same time.
It reflects human authorship with personalities and cultural characteristics,
and yet it is also God's Word written as He intended.
So in a sense, we can say that God has delegated His authority to the words of Scripture,
which makes Scripture very unique.
Unlike anything else ever written, this book has the final say on what is real,
on what is true.
So we don't treat this like we do other old books.
We don't look at this and say, well, this is advice from our ancestors.
This is wisdom from the past.
These words are uniquely meant to rule the hearts and minds of God's people.
So because of that, Paul goes on to say, verse 17,
Scripture is profitable.
It is uniquely useful and able to be used to do a number of things by the servant of God,
by primarily He has in mind ministers.
We can use the Scripture to do a number of things,
and, you know, so teaching, reproving, correcting, training people in righteousness.
And if you look down in chapter 4, verse 2,
the job of a preacher corresponds to these purposes of Scripture.
So Paul says very strongly, preach the Word.
And what does he mean by that?
Reprove.
That means to name attitudes or behaviors that are wrong,
that are outside of God's will.
Rebuke.
That means calling people to turn away from those attitudes or behaviors.
And then the word either encourage or exhort.
That means essentially to set people on a new path, set people on a new trajectory.
So Scripture is uniquely able to be used in that way,
to reprove and rebuke and encourage and exhort.
And as Jesus says to the disciples after His resurrection,
as they're journeying toward Emmaus,
all Scripture is ultimately about Him.
All Scripture ultimately points to Him.
So the goal of all the reproving and rebuking and exhorting and encouraging and training,
the goal of all of that is ultimately to drive people toward Christ.
It is to set people on a path into the arms of Christ
and into the truth of the gospel.
That's the ultimate aim of preaching.
So based on all of this,
here's one definition of preaching that I would submit to you.
Preaching is God's Word spoken through His people
in order to do His work in His people.
It is God's Word spoken through His people
in order to do His work in His people.
And by the way,
preachers are not exempt from preaching, right?
So every sermon preached
is a sermon preached just as much to the preacher
as it is to those in the congregation.
And most people who preach regularly will tell you
before the text ever makes it out,
it does a lot of work in here.
It is as though my wife has described it as the text
or the texts that are coming up kind of descend on the house.
And you sort of live and marinate
and operate within those words for days and days
and they go to work on you before they ever come out.
And so preachers are not exempt.
This is God's Word spoken through His very fallible people
in order to do His work in everyone present, right?
So there are some implications for this.
Draw out a lot.
I'll just draw out a couple so we can move on.
Here's implication number one.
Preaching is not the same thing as teaching.
A sermon is not the same thing as a TED Talk.
There's a place for both.
There's a place in the church for teaching.
We just had the adult ed hour.
That's a time for teaching, right?
When the kids downstairs right now,
they're receiving teaching of some kind.
There's a place for that.
But preaching is something distinctly different.
The word that we translate preaching,
the word caruso means heralding, to herald.
You're announcing something.
Imagine a herald coming into a town,
ringing a bell, making an announcement,
and you're calling people to something.
You're a herald.
So biblical preaching calls people
to reflect on attitudes or behaviors
that are not in line with God's will.
Biblical preaching calls people to recenter themselves
on what is true and real.
Biblical preaching shows us our need
for Jesus and the gospel.
We're heralding.
And so unlike teaching,
preaching demands a response, right?
It demands a response.
So preaching is not the same thing as teaching.
Second implication,
the job of a preacher
is not to share their personal opinions,
but to explain and apply God's word
to the lives of people,
what we call expository preaching,
explaining and applying God's word
to people's lives,
exposing the truth of the text.
And this is extremely important to bear in mind
because a lot of churches these days,
the sermon is more or less
the personal reflections of the speaker.
Or when something major happens in the news,
a major current event,
you know, a war breaks out
or someone gets killed,
there can be this expectation
that we should be able to come to church on a Sunday
and the preacher is going to use that time
to share their reflections on that event,
to address that event
and give a commentary on that event.
And those expectations make sense
because we live in a culture
where the world is full of pundits
and thought leaders
whose entire job is to offer opinions
about various things.
And some of you, that is your job.
You are a professional opinion giver
and you speak or write or go on the news
and you answer questions
about things that are happening in the world.
So there can be an expectation,
why does that happen in church as well?
Now, of course, there is a time
and a place for churches to talk about
and engage major current events
happening in the world.
There are all kinds of opportunities
to have classes and panel discussions
and forums and weekend symposia
that cover a whole variety of topics.
But that is not the purpose of preaching.
That's not how the pulpit is meant to be used.
Sermons should be based on God's Word.
In other words, you should be able to see
how the main points of the message
come from the Bible.
That's one of the reasons we print the Scripture
being preached on in the bulletin
so that even if you left your Bible at home,
you can see, is this connected
to what this Scripture actually says?
Caveats.
Yes, sermons will pull in quotes or illustrations
or references from other sources.
We see the Apostle Paul doing that very thing in his letters.
And sermons may very well address
and speak into current events or issues
if the Scripture happens to apply to those things.
But the point is the main points,
the main theme of the sermon
should come clearly from the Bible,
not from the opinions or thoughts of the preacher.
And there are a couple of reasons
why this is extremely important.
First and foremost, the main reason this matters
is because if you cannot see
how a sermon comes from the Bible,
then ultimately, if you sit under that kind of teaching
week in and week out, your faith will end up
resting on the opinions of a human being
rather than on the Word of God.
And Paul doesn't say,
my opinions are profitable for proof and rebuke.
And he says, God's Word is
because God has breathed His Spirit
into these words alone, right?
So that's the first thing.
Secondly, second reason why it matters
that the sermon comes from the Bible
and not from the opinions of the preacher?
I think I can speak for all preachers here,
at least all the ones I know personally.
To be totally honest,
most of our personal opinions are not worth sharing.
They're not worth sharing.
I have a ton of opinions.
If you want to take me out and buy me a beer
and ask me my take on this or that,
it might take a couple of beers,
but I'll get there and we can talk about it, okay?
But most of my opinions are not worth sharing
because we simply do not have time in a given week
to do the kind of deep dive research necessary
to develop deep, nuanced, thoughtful, prayerful opinions
about all the issues out there.
Now, some of you do.
Some of you have research assistants.
Some of you are experts in your field.
That is simply not our vocation.
I have lots of opinions,
but some of them, maybe a decent number,
are pretty under-informed,
and they're subject to my biases,
and frankly, some of them are half-baked.
So they're not really worth that much.
And even if I did have a well-developed approach
to this or that cultural issue
that I really wanted to talk about,
a 30-minute time slot on a Sunday
is not nearly enough time
to give most of the big issues a fair treatment.
So you're gonna need to give me a lot more time.
So based on all of this,
I believe that what the Apostle Paul is saying
in 2 Timothy about the nature of preaching
means that any preacher
who uses this time on a Sunday morning
to share their personal opinions
rather than to teach and apply God's Word
is committing malpractice.
That's simply not what preaching is meant to be.
So preaching is God's Word
spoken through His people
in order to do His work in His people.
Now, why does preaching matter so much?
And if we read this text,
we see very clearly it does matter a great deal.
Listen to the strength of Paul's words
in his exhortation to Timothy.
Listen to this.
Imagine somebody saying this to you.
I charge you in the presence of God
and of Christ Jesus
who is to judge the living and the dead
and by His appearing and His kingdom
preach the Word.
I don't think you can find a stronger exhortation.
There are a lot of things that are important.
We need to be caring for the poor.
We need to be seeking justice and mercy.
We need to be, right,
there are lots of needs
that the church is commanded to address in the world.
But I don't think you will ever find an exhortation
this strong in the New Testament.
Right?
I charge you in the presence of Christ
who is right here watching you, right?
Christ is my witness, right?
Who's going to judge the living and the dead?
Preach the Word.
It's a very strong exhortation.
There's an urgency to it.
There's an intensity to it.
It's as though He's saying,
your main job, Timothy,
your main priority,
if you do nothing else,
preach the Word.
Now, why?
Here's the reason.
Verse 3.
For the time is coming
when people will not endure sound teaching
but will have itching ears
or having itching ears.
They will accumulate for themselves
teachers to suit their own passions
and will turn away from listening to the truth
and wander off into myths.
So here's the diagnosis of the human condition
that is very important for understanding
why preaching matters so much.
Where does it begin?
Where does the problem begin?
If you break down what Paul's actually saying,
the issue starts within us.
It starts with our passions.
The problem is that there are passions inside people.
And by that he means,
the word is epithumia,
the things that we over-desire.
In other words,
things that we desire, love,
and crave more than Jesus.
There are these passions,
these epithumias inside us
where we desire and love
and trust and hope in things
more than Jesus.
It's the most important thing.
And Jesus is decentered
and something else becomes the center of our life.
There are these passions
and that makes our ears itch.
We get itching ears.
We want those passions to be reinforced
and justified and inflamed.
And so then people get itching ears
and so then people gravitate to teachers
who scratch that itch.
I love hearing that person talk
because it justifies
and gives validity to my passions.
It makes me feel like I'm right.
It makes me feel like I've got it.
It makes me feel like I'm on the side of good.
It makes me feel like I'm living my life
in the right direction.
I like that teaching.
So we accumulate teachers
who scratch that itch.
And then ultimately, Paul says,
the result of that is that truth
is replaced with myth.
What are myths?
Myths.
Things that,
it's us saying,
I would rather pretend
that I live in this kind of world
than to accept the fact
that I live in this kind of world.
It's things we would prefer to believe
rather than things that we believe
because they're actually true.
Myths.
So here are the implications of this.
I mean, Paul is essentially saying,
why is preaching so necessary?
Why is biblical preaching so urgent?
Maybe Timothy's highest priority?
Because without sound biblical preaching,
the passions win.
The passions will take over.
And there's nothing to challenge them.
And I think this has only become
more and more true in our day.
I mean, these days,
if you think about the world
that we live in,
digital media, social media, right,
online content,
makes it easier than ever
to accumulate teachers
to suit our passions.
It is effortless
to curate our social feeds,
to curate the podcasts
and content that we consume,
to curate our news sources,
to curate our friend groups,
to really, if we want to,
avoid anything
that would really challenge
our worldview.
And we can make it so that
that itch is constantly being scratched
by the content that we consume
on a weekly basis.
We're just constantly feeling good
about our choices,
feeling good about our worldview,
feeling like there are other people
that were right
and the other people are wrong.
It can just constantly reaffirm
how we think.
And, friends,
that's just the beginning.
Right?
It's gotten to the point
where we don't even actually
have to actively curate
any of that anymore
because the algorithm
does it for us.
Right?
So the path of least resistance,
if you do nothing,
is to have it curated for you
because every day
we're being fed things
that inflame our passions
because people have learned
that if you can inflame
people's passions,
they'll click
and they'll like
and they'll respond
and they'll engage
and you can sell that for money.
This has had a major impact
on the church.
I think one day
we're going to look back
and the history books
are going to talk about
the radical impact
of everything I just said
on the church.
A few years ago,
Mike Graham published
a landmark article
called The Six-Way Fracturing
of Evangelicalism.
And, essentially,
he says,
and you should go read it
if you haven't read it,
but many Christians
used to assume,
and this is primarily
you think about
evangelical Christians,
used to assume
that their unity
was mainly theological
or missional.
The original meaning
of evangelical
was a theological definition.
A historian named Bebbington
actually defined
what evangelicals care about,
like personal conversion
and the authority of Scripture
and all of that.
So, originally,
that's what it meant,
but now,
political and cultural alignment
has become far more important
than theological unity.
And as a result of that,
the church has become
deeply divided.
I know couples
who have gotten divorced.
I know families
that have been torn apart
and no longer speak
to each other.
I know churches
that have split
and fragmented apart,
not over theological disagreements.
People who all believe
the gospel,
they all believe in Scripture,
they all believe in Jesus,
they all believe
in the resurrection.
They've split over
a divergence of political views
and ethical priorities
and cultural issues
and philosophy of ministry.
Right?
In the last few years,
things have gotten
to the point
where brothers and sisters
in Christ
who share the same faith,
who believe in the same Christ,
who share the same baptism,
cannot even relate
to one another
because there's this cultural chasm
that has opened up
between us.
So, you're talking to somebody
who is a Christian,
who believes everything
that you believe theologically,
and it feels like
you're talking to somebody
from a different dimension,
from a different planet
because their view
is so radically different
than yours
on all of these other issues.
Let me ask you a question.
This is,
I don't want to see
any hands here.
I just want to know
just your honest reflection.
We have a section
in our church worship.
It's coming up
called The Prayers of the People.
And in The Prayers of the People,
we take time
and sometimes we invite people
to pray aloud
for the needs of the world.
So, this is the time.
This is the opportunity
for the church
to bring anything
and everything
that's happening in the world
that's on our heart
to the Lord.
Here's my question,
two-part question.
Number one,
have you ever
felt inclined
to pray for a certain issue
or current event
and inclined to pray aloud for that?
And it might be something
that you're praying for at home,
but you hesitate
or even don't pray
because you're afraid
that if you pray
for that issue
or if you pray
for that side of the issue
or if you pray
in a way
where you use certain words
that are coded left
or coded right,
that other people
will pick up on that
and make assumptions
about your politics
and judge you?
Have you ever worried
about praying for something
because it will out you
and so you haven't prayed?
Have you ever heard
somebody else pray
for a certain issue
and made assumptions
about them
and judged them
or thought to yourself,
I'll never be friends
with that person
because they care
about this other side
of the issue
and not my side?
To the extent
that that is true,
that should be a warning sign
that something
is deeply wrong.
It should be a wake-up call.
As a pastor,
I'm deeply, deeply,
deeply concerned
about the spiritual health
of our congregation
in a culture like this.
And I think
to try to pull
the wool over our eyes
and pretend like
it's not going to impact us
is naive.
I was with a group
of pastors
actually a week ago
in Montana.
We were fishing together.
It was wonderful.
These are pastors
from two or three
different denominations
and not all Anglican.
But it was interesting
one night
we were sitting
around the fire
we're talking
we realized
that over the last few years
and I'm talking
like since COVID
last three or four years
we've seen all
in our churches.
These are people
from all around the country
different denominations
we've all seen
the same thing
in our churches.
Just in the last few years
we have all seen
a dramatic shift.
A dramatic shift.
Here's what we've seen.
Here's what we agreed
on.
More and more people
choose their church home
not based on the theology
but along cultural
and political lines.
That's what we're seeing.
We're also seeing this.
People are much more likely
to leave their church
if there is any indication
that the church
is not aligned with them
on these political
social
cultural issues.
People will leave churches
they've been a part of
for a decade
over a word
misspoken
in a prayer
or a sermon.
Third thing we've seen
and we've all experienced this.
Third thing we've recognized
is that whenever there is
a major current event
that happens
we find ourselves
caught in a predicament
when we think about
what does Sunday worship
look like.
I'm just going to be
this is me
being totally honest
being totally transparent
culture we live in
this is not a personal
indictment of anybody
in this room
this is a conversation
that we had
as pastors
in another context
but we've all seen this
that whenever there's
a major current event
we know
we've had to come to accept
just in the last few years
I didn't see this
for about 15 years
only in the last few years
whatever we do
or don't do
whether we choose
to address that issue
or not
whatever words we choose
however we go about it
we know that we're
going to lose people
and we also know
that we're probably
going to gain people
because there is
this sorting
that is constantly
happening
are these people
like me or not
are these my people
or not
and we see this
everywhere
so what I'm saying
is that Mike Graham's
six way fracturing
article
really predicted
something that I have
started to see
come true
and I think many
pastors have
started to see
come true
here's the major
prediction of his
article is this
that people
moving forward
are no longer
going to be willing
to tolerate
being in church
alongside people
who hold
meaningfully different
social or political
opinions
I would say
that's really
started to come true
so churches
themselves
are becoming
echo chambers
so what's the point
of this whole
diatribe here
now maybe more
than any time
in history
there is an urgent
need for biblical
preaching
because biblical
preaching refuses
to indulge
our passions
because biblical
preaching
refuses to suit
itself
to the views
of the tribe
to the views
of the base
because the aim
of biblical
preaching
is always
to disrupt
everybody
in that room
because the aim
of biblical
preaching
is not to
suit passions
it's to
transform
passions
it's to
recapture
people
who have been
led away
from Christ
believing that
other things
are more
important
and if you
can't associate
with a Christian
brother or sister
because of their
political views
I'm talking
about you
and the aim
of biblical
preaching
is to call
people back
to Christ
and the unity
that comes
through Christ
alone
so for many
Christians
I think
this is just
I don't
I believe
that for many
Christians
going to church
and hearing
a biblical
sermon
aimed at
transforming
your passions
may for many
people be the
only time
in your week
where you are
exposed to
anything
that meaningfully
challenges
your worldview
assumptions
and that's
why you need
it
and in a
church like
Church of the
Advent
where we are
committed to
remaining
and being
politically
purple
that means
everyone is
probably going
to get offended
at some point
if we're doing
it well
and I'm not
saying we
always do it
well
frankly
we're not
concerned
about your
politics
we welcome
people from
the left
and the right
we know
that there
are very
important
significant
meaningful
issues
that we
disagree
over
and we
want to
work
through
those
things
together
but we're
not really
concerned
about your
politics
it's not
part of our
membership
covenant
right when
you join
the church
we are
deeply
concerned
about the
extent
to which
your
politics
may
have
replaced
Christ
at the
center
of your
life
and
to the
extent
that we
sense
that that
is the
case
we're
going to
come out
swinging
every
Sunday
morning
so we're
going to
try to
preach
in a way
that seeks
to turn
hearts
away from
whatever
stranglehold
the culture
has on them
and back
to Christ
it doesn't
mean the
issues don't
matter
it just
means they
matter a
little less
than you
think they
did
so why
do we
need
preaching
so urgently
because without
it the
passions take
over
now lastly
I want to
spend a little
bit of time
I don't have
much time
left
but I want
to spend
a little
time talking
about how
to receive
preaching
now that's
an odd
thing to
say
receive
preaching
you know
well
that's an
odd way
to put
it
but we
don't
listen
to sermons
like we
would
listen
to
TED
talks
as we
said
a sermon
has to
be
received
in the
same way
that the
Eucharist
has to
be
received
there's a
parallel
there
right
there's a
recognition
that you
need it
there's a
recognition
there's a
hunger
in you
for it
and there's
a willingness
to open
yourself up
to receive
it just
as you
would
receive
the bread
and the
wine
as we
said before
preaching
is God's
word spoken
through God's
people to
do God's
work in
his people
it has
to be
received
I love
the way
Pastor
John
Ames
puts it
in the
novel
Gilead
he describes
a sermon
as one
side of a
passionate
conversation
between
three
parties
you know
there's
the
preacher
who
yields
the
thought
there's
the
congregation
who
hears
and
responds
to the
thought
and then
there's
God
himself
and that
conversation
is always
happening
so a sermon
has to be
heard that
way
the goal
friends
is not
to
listen to
or
only
listen
to
the
preacher
because
your
true aim
here
should be
to hear
the voice
of the
Lord
so
first
before
the
sermon
even
starts
the
first
thing
that
you
can
do
to
prepare
before
you even
come to
church
maybe that
morning
pray
and ask
the
Lord
to speak
to you
through
the
teaching
and
preaching
of
God's
word
God
would you
speak
to me
through
the
sermon
this
morning
maybe
it
comes
through
the
preacher
maybe
friends
it
comes
in
spite
of
the
preacher
as
we
become
more
and
more
mature
as
Christians
I
think
the
abilities
of
preachers
should
matter
less
and
less
God
is
not
thwarted
by a
D
plus
sermon
any
more
than
he
has
helped
by an
A
plus
sermon
God
can
speak
!
because
God
is
!
and
so
we're
not
here
looking
to
be
entertained
and
as
we
get
better
at
discerning
the
voice
of
God
as
Christians
I
think
we
get
better
at
discerning
his
voice
coming
to
us
through
the
preached
word
so
that's
the
first
thing
pray
and
ask
God
to
speak
to
you
through
the
preaching
of
his
word
number
two
prepare
your
heart
to
hear
from
the
Lord
and
respond
that
means
having
a
Martin
Luther
famously
said
or
infamously
said
always
preach
in such
a way
that if
the
people
listening
do not
come to
hate
their
sin
they
will
instead
hate
you
that
can
definitely
be
misapplied
but I
think
the point
is this
it's not
about
being
intentionally
harsh
or
intentionally
divisive
or
abrasive
it's
about
being
faithful
to
what
is
true
even
when
it
cuts
and
good
preaching
should
confront
the
heart
it
should
strip
away
self
righteousness
it
should
pierce
through
hypocrisy
it
should
drive
people
into
the
arms
of
Christ
so
if
you
do
find
yourself
in
a
church
one
Sunday
morning
and
you
do
get
offended
before
you
write
an
email
or
leave
the
church
simply
pause
and
ask
where
is
the
offense
coming
from
is it
coming
from
the
preacher
or
is it
coming
from
the
Lord
is God
trying
to do
something
is God
trying to
challenge
or disrupt
something
is God
giving me
a nudge
that I
need to
listen
to
and
number
three
as often
as you
can
receive
preaching
in the
context
of
worship
in a
local
church
now
why
does
that
matter
there's
nothing
wrong
with
listening
to
sermons
online
I
listen
to
tons
of
sermons
online
all
the
time
I
have
a
steady
diet
of
content
that
I'm
constantly
consuming
and I
think
it's
great
but
there's
no
substitute
for a
steady
diet
of
preaching
in a
local
church
worship
gathering
number
one
because
good
preaching
is going
to be
contextualized
to that
specific
audience
right
scripture
is going
to apply
to one
congregation
in ways
that it
might not
apply
to another
congregation
so
all
good
faithful
preaching
is
contextualized
to you
if you're
a part
of that
community
number
two
because
the
sermon
is
one
part
of
a
greater
whole
and
we
see
that
when
we
look
at
the
flow
of
the
liturgy
it's
not
just
a
few
songs
and
a
sermon
and
that's
intentional
the
sermon
is
meant
to
stir
up
things
in
us
that
we
then
have
an
opportunity
as
we
move
forward
in
the
community
to
confess
and
we
confess
that
to
the
Lord
silently
or
aloud
and
then
we
hear
God's
grace
and
pardon
spoken
into
our
lives
a
reaffirmation
that
the
gospel
that
was
preached
in
the
sermon
God
willing
is
true
for
us
right
and
then
all
of
that
readies
us
to
come
and
receive
Christ
in
the
bread
and
wine
as
we
received
him
through
the
preaching
of
the
word
the
climax
of
the
service
is
not
the
sermon
the
sermon
is
meant
to
prepare
us
on
our
journey
to
the
table
so
as
often
as
you
can
experience
preaching
in the
context
of
Eucharistic
worship
it's
part
of
a
greater
whole
so
I'm
going to
bring
all
this
to
a
close
at
Advent
we
are
deeply
committed
to
biblical
expository
preaching
and
teaching
and
that
is
only
going
to
be
more
true
in
the
years
to
come
we
are
also
committed
to
this
being
a
place
where
people
are
welcomed
and
where
they
are
encouraged
but
also
where
they
are
challenged
to
grow
in
their
faith
if
you
went
to
a
physical
trainer
and
you
said
I'm
eating
junk
food
and
I
never
exercise
and
they
said
great
job
keep
it
up
or
if
you
went
to
a
doctor
and
you
said
I've
got
blood
coming
out
of
multiple
places
in
my
body
and
discoloration
and
I'm
losing
consciousness
periodically
and
they
said
well
you
sound
like
the
picture
of
health
to
me
right
that's
malpractice
it's
not
going
to
be
that
kind
of
church
you're
going
to
be
challenged
you
might
be
offended
because
our
ultimate
aim
is
to
see
you
grow
in
let's
pray
Lord
we
thank
you
and
praise
you
and
even
as
we
say
the
purpose
of
this
we
pray
that
the
purpose
of
this
would
be
true
that
we
would
now
be
further
prepared
to
pray
to
you
to
confess
our
sin
to
you
and
to
come
and
receive
you
through
the
bread
and
wine
Lord
we
pray
that
your
sacrifice
for
us
that
set
us
free
and
gave
us
new
life
we
pray
that
new
life
would
be
something
we
taste
and
experience
here
and
now
Lord
as
we
continue
our
worship
and
we
pray
this
in
Jesus
holy
name
amen