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Preaching is Almost an Alien Activity

Preaching is almost an alien activity. We get up, frail humans holding the perfect Word of God, trusting God to do something that we could never do. We who are so often so foolish embrace the foolishness of preaching and we stand back in awe of what God does by His Spirit, through His Word, in the hearts of humans. He alone changes hearts and lives. And it really is all in His hands. The nature of faith and the nature of unbelief lie in the heart of God.

We build a relationship with those we are privileged to preach to. It's God speaking through human personality. It's God using a sinful human instrument to communicate His perfect timeless truth. I seek to preach the Word accurately and engagingly. I'm happiest to read a lot of verses from the Bible in the public reading of Scripture before I preach. And I want my sermons full of Scripture. Because it means there's less of my words and more of His. God can use both but only His Word changes hearts.

I am humbled to preach God’s Word. It is an awe-inspiring privilege and responsibility. I tremble at the Word of God. I know that not everyone who hears the words I preach believes the message that I believe. But many do. Some will believe, some will reject the message, some will repent later on, some will keep walking. Those who resist fight against God. They reject Him and grow colder, harder hearts. The preacher is also privileged to preach to warm hearts that are receptive to the message. And it is all a joy, because God is in it.

Stephen preached to a crowd that all disagreed with him and killed him for it. But there was a young man there named Saul, who approved of his death, that God grabbed a hold of down the road and used to change the course of history.

2 Timothy 2:14-19; 3:10-17; 4:1-5.