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Ash on Preaching (3)

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Continuing my series of posts on Christopher Ash’s book The Priority of Preaching, we come to a quote on p.57…

This has implications for the size of churches. It places a question mark over the ambition of church leaders to see their churches grow and grow, and suggests that planting new churches or reinvigorating smaller existing churches may reap relational dividends in terms of how well those with pastoral oversight can know their people.

This quote comes in a section where pastors are encouraged to be with a specific people week by week, spending time with people. Ash’s point is not against church growth, but on a deeper level, calling readers to realize that by knowing our people and their knowledge of us, we can preach in ways that engage our people better.

This is yet another reason why I believe pastors should be moving all the time, seeking to pad their resumes or getting more money at a bigger church. Check your motives. God may call us to faithfully give His Word to a group of people for good reasons. We should do this with joy, honoring our Master. Be faithful to this calling.

Weekend Wrap Up: Jesus, Our Everything

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Enjoyed a great Lord’s Day boasting in Jesus…

In the morning, new classes started in our Adult Sunday School. My morning message from Colossians 2:11-12 pointed to how we are likened to Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. The sermon, Gospel Likeness, is now online.

The PM service went well, too. We looked at how the OT story of the Exodus (God’s deliverance of His people out of Israelite bondage) pointed to Jesus. That sermon, Jesus, Our Deliverer, is also online. One highlight from the evening was singing “All I Have Is Christ” with the people of Crestview. It was a great cap on the day. Here’s a video in which you can hear it for free:

All I Have Is Christ from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Thanks to Justin Taylor for giving links to the music as chord chart or 4 part harmony.

Mission, Vision and What Not…

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I’ve been doing some thinking lately about our church, vision, purpose, mission, etc. The graphic above represents some doodling about such ideas. Our church’s purpose statement can be found on our website:

Recognizing that all people were created for the glory of God, our purpose is to exhort people to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to encourage Christians to live passionately for God, by glorifying and enjoying Him as the goal of their lives.

While this is a great statement, it is a bit wordy. So, I’ve been thinking about how this can be put in a nutshell. Boil it down to its bare essence. What are we getting at?

glorifying God. (everyone is made for this purpose and is to live to this end)
proclaiming the Gospel. (Jesus has given us an amazing message to spread)
everywhere. (this is where we take the amazing message of the Gospel: to all people everywhere. There is no place that doesn’t need the Gospel.)

or another way…
glorifying God. (our vision)
proclaiming the Gospel. (our mission)
everywhere. (our goal)

putting it in the language of our purpose statement…
glorifying God. (…and to encourage Christians to live passionately for God, by glorifying and enjoying Him as the goal of their lives.)
proclaiming the Gospel. (…our purpose is to exhort people to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ…)
everywhere. (Recognizing that all people were created for the glory of God…)

I’m still continuing to think about these things. I do know one thing: God has given us a mission during our days here and it is spreading this message–making disciples of all nations. I realize as a pastor, I need to be stoking the flames that lead in this way. Hopefully, these ideas will be lived out and move from paper to action, not only in my life, but in the life of the church.

Ash on Preaching (2)

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I mentioned in a previous post how much I’ve enjoyed Christopher Ash’s book The Priority of Preaching and promised to post some thoughts on Chapter 2. Here’s the second installment.

On p.55, Ash writes:

The more deeply converted I am, the more appetite I will have to sit under the preached word, and the less concerned I will be to have the opportunity to participate in a dialogue, to get my word in edgeways, to make my views known and get myself heard.

If what we believe about God’s Word is true, then He is the most important speaker. He is the One we would do well to listen to. Remember the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter, James and John were talking about tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. The voice came from heaven: “This is My Beloved Son; Listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7) I know I am guilty of wanting to give my opinion to hastily on many issues. Our concern should be to hear what God has to say.

That’s why this quote from Ash stuck out to me. As I grow in grace, what should characterize me more and more is the desire to listen to Him, not my opines. Come this Lord’s Day to your local church eager to hear God speak.

Rick Auxier – Bday 4/30

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Today is the day that was my father’s birthday; he would have been 59. For those who don’t know, my father passed away on 1/28/98. While in seminary, my good friend, Brad Russell, wrote a poem to remember my father’s passing on to glory. It is loaded with excellent theology and a fitting thing to remember today. It’s entitled “To The Glory of God.”

To the glory of God, his life was created,
In the providence of God, living a grace unfading,
In the love of God, husband, father, son and friend,
In the word of God, each step firmly waiting,
In the sovereignty of God, always hoping,
In the power of God, touching hearts with compassion,
In the holiness of God, always rejoicing,
In the mercy of God, each moment a vapor passing,
To the glory of God, with Him now reigning,
To the glory of God, we hope in the blood unchanging.

We now and forever worship; in Spirit and Truth
In praise of the providence
love
word
sovereignty
power
holiness
and mercy of God.
Praising God for you…
Living and living forever…
To the Glory of God!

My father was not a perfect man nor a perfect pastor (he pastored churches as long as I can remember, but before he married my mother traveled as a full time evangelist). But I can see him now in my mind’s eye, rejoicing in his Savior’s presence to God’s glory. Thanks Brad for this piece that directs me heavenward. And, I’m thankful to God for the heritage of a father who loved God’s Word, loved people and lived in a way that made the Gospel attractive.

Weekend Preview – SS, Circumcision, Rescue & Simplicity

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This Sunday, May 2, we have a lot happening.

First off, we have new adult SS classes starting. Conor Eastman will be teaching Piper’s video curriculum Let The Nations Be Glad and Ron Rhoades will be walking through the Parables of Jesus.

During the AM service, I will be preaching a sermon entitled Gospel Likeness from Colossians 2:11-12. A recent journal article (for those scholarly among my readership) was on this passage. It’s entitled “Does Baptism Replace Circumcision? An Examination of the Relationship Between Circumcision and Baptism in Colossians 2:11-12.” The thrust of this message will be how we display a Gospel Likeness to Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection.

In the PM service, we continue to walk through the Old Testament looking for sightings of the Savior. And we will be looking at how God rescuing His people out of Egypt in Exodus 3 pointed to a Savior who would come and rescue us from sin.

Finally, my Men’s Theology class will discuss “What’s God Like?” Part of the homework included reading Kevin DeYoung’s post The Simplicity of God and answering the question, “How does this affect the way you think about God?”

It looks to be a full day, then. Prepare your heart in prayer, asking God to be our strong tower that the righteous run to and are safe (Proverbs 18:10).

Ash on Preaching (1)

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You might remember that at T4G, we were given quite a stack of books.

Over last weekend, I was able to finish…
God the Peacemaker – Cole (an excellent book on the atonement I was reading when I attended T4G)
What is the Gospel? – Gilbert (Gospel 101 so to speak)
Fear Not! – Duncan (an overview and sound theology of death and afterlife)
What Does God Want of Us Anyway? – Dever (short summary of the storyline of the Bible)
Sticky Teams – Osborne (another good book I brought with me to T4G with practical tips on keeping your leadership team cohesive)

After getting through all of these, I dove into Christopher Ash’s book The Priority of Preaching. Ash trains preachers and this book is a helpful reminder for keeping the Word of God, specifically preaching, at the center of the church’s life.

For a few posts, then, I am going to interact with chapter 2 – “Preaching That Transforms The Church” because in this one chapter I found much that will help me prepare sermons for listeners. Chapter 1 was helpful is showing why preaching must be the core. Chapter 2 gets us into how this preaching can be effective.

So, with all of that intro, here’s the first quote that struck me, from the section entitled “The Stubbornness of People”:

And so I find myself slipping into what has been called the Socratic fallacy, that if I persuade them with rational argument (like Socrates), if I get my arguments clear and educate them, then education will change them. If I teach them the Bible, they’ll get it. I ought to know better, because I know my own heart. (p.52)

What I found so helpful about this is how he went on to talk about Moses (this chapter’s a sermon from Deuteronomy) and how he knew the people. He anticipated their reactions (their unbelieving fears, their pride, and their stubborn guilt). I find that often I am guilty of thinking that if I can get correct information out there that will change them. While it is important the we preach the text accurately, we must lay the ax at the root of the tree and not address surface things. We must go after the heart. The quote stood out to me because my heart is the same way. It takes more than education alone for heart change. It takes God’s Spirit causing my heart to awaken.

What I take away from this is that “preaching is more than merely educating and engaging the mind.” Preaching is holding out the word accurately so that the Spirit can take the truth and wield it for life-change in the heart of another.