PREACHING MISSION
“For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
When a member of the congregation comes up to the pastor during the mid-week service and says, “Pastor, remember that message last Sunday¾ that guest speaker preached just like you.” The funny thing was that the guest had a different accent, different delivery, a different speaking style, yet, he sounded just like the pastor because it was the same truth, the same Word of God, and the same Holy Spirit ministering unto the hearers. What a tremendous blessing.
In coming alongside the settled pastor, or ministering unto a congregation that is currently without a pastor, our preaching can come in the form of local evangelism, special revival meetings, or just coming in one Sunday or Mid-week service and preaching Christ, and Him crucified.
Local Evangelism…
Whether it is open-air preaching on a street corner or the old-fashioned way of knocking on doors in the neighborhood in order to share the gospel and invite the occupants to church, evangelism should be bathed in prayer. If invited for local evangelism, the evangelism team from the church and I would take as much time praying, and actually, even more time praying, than given to the actual evangelism and preaching the gospel.
One of the ways I like to evangelize is, when I approach someone with the gospel, I would ask them, “Excuse me, in the church that you attend, do they preach…”
[and I would ask that person, or those persons something like this]
…that if you do not forsake all for Jesus Christ, you cannot be His disciple?” (Luke 14:33)
…that if Jesus is not everything to you, then He means nothing to you and you may not be saved?” (Philippians 3:7-8).
…that if you love the world or the things in the world, that the love of God is not in you?” (1 John 2:15).
…that mankind is so totally depraved and desperately wicked that God had to become man to suffer His own holy wrath to reconcile fallen man to Himself?” (Isaiah 53:4, 5, 10).
Occasionally they’ll answer yes and I would move on... yet, as I begin to move on, half of those that said yes ask where I was from.
A little more often than that people will say that they don’t attend church. This often opens the door of opportunity to express the truths of the gospel.
Other times people will answer no; that is, that the church they attend doesn’t preach that (because I only lead with one question).
Special Revival Meetings…
Special Revival Meetings may take the form of how revival evangelists came to minister within a city, town, or village during the days of the revivals during America’s First or Second Great Awakenings. An evangelist or revival preacher would come into town and preach a series of messages throughout a period of time, whether days, weeks, or months. Local evangelism would also take place when these meetings are set up.
It would actually be better to label these meetings Repentance and Gospel Meetings because Biblically, only God brings revival and He brings revival as He wills and pleases. It is up to God’s people to repent of sin, to pray with importunity for revival, and be prepared for revival if, by God’s grace, it should come.
CLICK HERE to view some of the sermon titles and subject topics proposed for such meetings.
Sunday or Mid-Week Preaching…
This doesn’t need much of an explanation. The sermons preached for a singular visit would be similar to those found under “Special Revival Meetings”; nevertheless, the Cross of Christ or the crucifixion of the Son of God is typically the central message brought to a congregation if I only have one service where I have the opportunity to preach.
I’d like to relate this with regard to my preaching, however:
Once I heard a young preacher open his message to a group of Native American youth with words that built up their self-esteem and worth as human beings. He told them that they were valuable and beautiful creations of God. He told them that they didn't deserve the evil things that they had gone through in life: the abuse, the pain, the sorrow, and the suffering. After that eight to ten minute introduction, he then proceeded to tell them that God had a great and wonderful plan for their lives because Jesus Christ died upon the Cross for their sins.
I was stunned to hear such preaching! The young preacher just told them that they were good, great, and wonderful. What sins could they possibly receive forgiveness for? If these young people believed the young preacher, they would be convinced in their minds that they were already right with God apart from the saving grace of Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice upon Calvary's tree.
In an effort to get the attention of these young Native Americans, this inexperienced preacher, with very sincere intentions I have no doubt, conveyed what he believed to be the gospel. Sadly, he contradicted the Word of God in telling unsaved sinners that they were alright with God. Scripture tells us,
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:6-8).
It says that the carnal mind is enmity against God. In other words, if these kids were unsaved (and I suspect that most of them were, if not all of them), then their carnality, their sinful fleshly thinking, is hostile toward God; that every thought and imagination of their minds is outright hatred toward God. These unsaved souls were spiritually dead; yet, they were told that they have peace with God.
Since 2002 I have had the blessed pleasure to minister to both the Aleut people and Yup'ik people of Alaska. Sadly, many of the young people growing up in these two cultures have been subjected to mental, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. This is not because their cultures are evil. It’s because all of humanity is evil. Because we fail to recognize our own total depravity as sinners saved by God’s sovereign grace, we end up adding spiritual abuse to the list of mistreatment these souls have already gone through by preaching another gospel that defies the truth of God’s Word. Now some folks may be wondering, “Well, how do you preach to these kind of kids, Brother Jon?” I'm so glad you asked that because I so want to tell you. On several occasions I have preached an introduction (or have interjected within the sermon) words similar to, and on some occasions exactly like, this:
“Look, I know many of you have grown up in bitterness. Many of you have been abused emotionally. You may have felt that no one loves you. You may have been told, ‘I love you,’ but they were just empty words. Or perhaps you’ve never had anyone at all tell you that they love you. Many of you have been abused mentally. You have been told that you’re no good and you’ll never amount to anything. You’ve been cursed and yelled at and cussed out. You’ve been teased, ridiculed, and made fun of. Many of you have been abused physically. You’ve been beaten senselessly, and sometimes violently. You've been abused sexually. You’ve been touched inappropriately. Many of you have been raped or sodomized... AND YET, God tells us in His holy Word, the Bible, why these things have happened.
“It is written, ‘For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’ As descendents of Adam, every one of us is fallen and evil, and we live among all the other wicked descendents of Adam.
“There is only one Man who has ever lived a perfectly righteous life; there is only one Jew who has ever kept the entire Law of Moses; there is only one Prophet who was ever truly holy; there is only one Son who has ever wholly obeyed His Father’s will in all things: that is the God-Man, Jesus, the Messiah from Nazareth.”
That is a sample of the truth that I've preached in Scammon Bay, and pray that we have an opportunity to preach such Biblical truths to your youth fellowship or congregation.
