Keep your. head

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

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

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