THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”[i]
Preaching the Word matters in the life and work of the pastor, because God has chosen to use this method to tear down Satan's kingdom. No wonder preaching Christ was to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.[ii] Like the Jews and Greeks, many have devalued this tool because they don’t understand that preaching is a Spirit-filled tool in the battle for human hearts.
1Q14: Passionate Biblical Preaching - Available on your Tablet
Today we can argue about the style of preaching, whether a polished art form or more teaching style; but the real question is ‘are we taking seriously the power of God-used proclamation’? At first blush preaching doesn’t seem like a terribly effective method of getting the Word to people--at least not in this day and time. But if we look deeper we see why God uses men and women to preach His Word. When the Word is preached, significant kingdom growth and spiritual vitality occurs; and as a result God's kingdom business flourishes.
In this quarter's edition of CALLED, we have chosen to focus on the preaching of the Word, and on the preachers themselves. We are particularly excited about our video
documentary that allows you to walk side by side with Pastor Randy Roberts, senior pastor at the Loma Linda University Church, as he prepares a sermon.
Also, in this edition, homiletics professors and pastors share their knowledge of and passion for preaching. Doug Jacobs shares why we should preach sermons for older adults, Mervyn Warren takes a New Look at Biblical Preaching, Roger Hernandez gives a view from the pew reality check on preaching, Jud Lake gives a theology of Adventist preaching, Nik Satlemajer emphasizes that Application is the Often Forgotten Part of the Sermon, Steve Chavez asks the question ‘Is Society Changing What We hear on Sabbath Mornings?’ and CALLED concludes with a five part tutorial on preaching.
So in the words of Paul, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”[iii]
CALLED is best viewed on the iPad format and the courtesy app entitled 'NAD Ministerial' is available for download from the App store. Click this link to subscribe on an Apple powered device, or this link for a Google Play device.
A pdf version of CALLED is available for those who don't have tablets. NOTE: This interactive pdf is only interactive if you download it and open it in Acrobat. Right-click and "Save As" to download.
