Message for THE LORD S DAY EVENING, June 26, 2011 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Why We Still Need Preaching I Corinthians 1:18-21 Please turn with me to tonight s scripture text in I Corinthians chapter one. READ: I Corinthians 1:18-21 P R A Y E R ************************************************ I N T R O D U C T I O N There is a very disturbing trend going on in many Churches today that I believe is setting the stage for the coming great apostasy and that is a de-emphasis on the PREACHING OF GOD S WORD. Many Churches have either replaced preaching altogether or pushed it to the back burner in their worship services in favor of religious entertainment like DRAMA or COMEDY skits religious DVDS and even Spiritual Dance. I think this brings up some very important questions: - Is preaching old-fashioned and outdated? - Is preaching really necessary? - Does preaching really make a difference in anyone s life? I have come to realize that while PEOPLE may not always see the IMPORTANCE of preaching...preaching is important to GOD! Verse 21 of our text says, For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him,god was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (I Corinthians 1: 21 )
There are OTHER SCRIPTURES that reveal how important PREACHING is to GOD. The last part of ROMANS 10: 15 says, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! In MARK 16: 15, we find Mark s account of the Great Commission, and in that account, we learn that PREACHING was the METHOD God chose to get the GOOD NEWS of SALVATION to the WORLD. He said to them, Go into all the world and PREACH the good news to all creation. For the remainder of the message, I want to share with you FOUR REASONS why PREACHING is important to GOD, and why it should be important to you and me as well. Reason #1: Preaching Is Important Because It CALLS Men to SALVATION ROMANS 10: 14, 15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. 1. Let me ask you something. How many of you accepted Christ because of a Christian song you heard someone sing? How many of you accepted Christ because of a Gospel Concert you attended? How many of you accepted Christ because you saw a Christian movie or DVD?
2. Well let me ask you something else? How many of you accepted Jesus Christ because you heard the word of God preached and came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit? 3. As foolish as PREACHING may seem to us at times, isn t it interesting that everyone of us came to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior through the Preaching of The Gospel. Remember what the Apostle Paul said in ROMANS 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 4. There may be a lot of factors that contribute to someone accepting Christ, but the one absolutely essential ingredient is hearing the word of God proclaimed. PREACHING IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT CALLS MEN TO SALVATION. Reason #2: Preaching Is Important Because It CONNECTS Men With GOD II TIMOTHY 3: 16,17 All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 1. I want you to pay particular attention to that word USEFUL in verse 16... All scripture is God-breathed and is USEFUL... 2. All week long, THE WORLD competes for our ATTENTION. *We think about THE NEWS. *We think about THE WEATHER. *We think about SPORTS. *We think about OUR JOB. *We think about OUR FAMILY. *We think about OUR RESPONSIBILITIES...and OUR SCHEDULES...and...OUR APPOINTMENTS. 3. Isn t it refreshing to come to this quiet place twice each week, and at least for an hour or so, stop thinking about all those things...and think about the things of GOD?
4. There is something about HEARING THE WORD of GOD proclaimed that RE-CONNECTS us with OUR CREATOR. PREACHING points us to the One Who is bigger than any problem we are facing. PREACHING reminds us that there is One who LOVES US and CARES FOR US and WATCHES OVER US no matter what s going on in our life. PREACHING reminds us that GOD is FAITHFUL to us even when it seems the whole world has turned its back on us! 5. Any time you take the time to come to God s House to hear His Word proclaimed...is NEVER WASTED TIME! PREACHING IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT CALLS MEN TO SALVATION! PREACHING IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT CONNECTS MEN WITH GOD! Reason #3: Preaching Is Important Because It CONVICTS Men of SIN II TIMOTHY 4:1, 2 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. 1. I am reminded of that scripture in ISAIAH 53: 6 where Isaiah writes: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; JEREMIAH 14: 10 This is what the Lord says about this people: They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. 2. If none of us ever strayed...if none of us ever wandered away from God...if none of us ever slipped back into sin...we might not need preaching.
But the TRUTH is...we are all prone to wander and one of the purposes of PREACHING is to CONVICT us of our sins and CALL US BACK TO GOD. When God s Word is PREACHED...His Word has a way of penetrating to the MOST SECRET PLACES of our BEING. HEBREWS 4: 12, 13 For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of hiim to whom we must give an account. 3. By hearing the Word of God preached each week, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins and prods us to live lives of holiness. Preaching important because.. Preaching CALLS Men to SALVATION. Preaching CONNECTS Men With GOD. Preaching CONVICTS Men of SIN. And fourthly. REASON #4: Preaching Is Important Because It CULTIVATES Men s Hearts For Spiritual GROWTH
JOHN 15: 3-8 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. No branch can bear fruit by iteself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you. This is to my Father s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 1. One of the wonderful benefits of hearing God s Word preached once or twice a week is that it KEEPS OUR HEARTS CULTIVATED FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH. Remember Jesus Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13? The Seed that fell on the HARD SOIL, THE THORNY SOIL and THE ROCKY SOIL either didn t take root...or...grew only for a short time. Only that seed that fell on the FERTILE, CULTIVATED SOIL grew and produced 30, 60 or 100 fold. ILLUSTRATION: When a FARMER runs a CULTIVATOR down a bean field or corn field...those CULTIVATORS are accomplishing a two-fold purpose: (1) They are breaking up the hardened ground around the plant so it might continue to grow. (2) They are uprooting any weeds that might threaten to choke the life out of the plant. 2. Every time you and I hear the WORD OF GOD proclaimed it does the same thing a CULTIVATOR does, except in a spiritual sense.
(a) It breaks up any hardness in our heart that might keep us from being receptive to the truth. (b) And it uproots the weeds of worldliness that may threaten to choke the spiritual life out of us. 3. When you hear the WORD OF GOD preached at least once a week, you are growing. You may not be able to detect your own growth...but you are growing. THE PREACHING of GOD S WORD plants gospel seeds in your heart that GOD will use to produce SPIRITUAL FRUIT in you. Preaching CALLS Men to SALVATION. Preaching CONNECTS Men With GOD. Preaching CONVICTS Men of SIN. Preaching CULTIVATES Men s Hearts For Spiritual GROWTH. CONCLUSION Every Lord s day in thousands of pulpits all across the world, Bibles are being opened and sermons are being preached
from every book of the Bible on every subject imaginable. Some preachers are dynamic others are dull. Some sermons hold people s attention while others put people to sleep. What if any effect is all that preaching having on those who hear it? Are God s people more forgiving more loving..more caring..more committed and more holy? Are God s people less worldly.less materialistic.. less sinful..and less worrisome? These things we may not know for sure. But this one thing we do know for certain: God has promised that His word would not return to Him empty or void. Isaiah 55:11. That means every time God s word is preached or taught God s purpose will be fulfilled in the life of someone who hears it. There may be times when you get absolutely NOTHING out of the message. But just because you may not get anything out it doesn t mean the person seated next to you isn t getting anything out of it. Every time God s word is preached. -Someone is being strengthened. -Someone is being encouraged. -Someone is being challenged. -Someone is being convicted of sin. -Someone is being comforted. -Someone s heart is being changed. Charles Haddon Spurgeon will always be remembered as the prince of preachers. One Sunday Bro. Spurgeon felt he had done such a poor job delivering a sermon he was so ashamed of himself he fell to
his knees on the way home and prayed, Lord God, You can do something with nothing. Bless that poor sermon I just delivered. In the months that followed, forty one people accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And every one of them said it was that sermon that Spurgeon thought he had delivered so poorly that had a lifechanging impact on them. Just as God promised, His word will never return to Him empty. And that is why we still need preaching today!