Category Archives: creating sermon series

Posted on

Why You Should Consider Preaching/Teaching Through Entire Books of the Bible

by

I wonder if this is the way our congregants read their Bibles?

Last week I posted my final reading of the book of Numbers and today I wanted to review why I am such a fan of preaching through books of the Bible in church.

When I am asked in class why I preach through books of the Bible in church, my first answer is:

“Because preaching through books of the Bible helps our listeners see the meaning of every preaching portion within the broader context of the book.”

But let me back up for a moment and answer the question from my experience of 30 years of preaching through books of the Bible. If I counted correctly, so far the Lord has graciously allowed me to preach through 16 complete books of the Old Testament and 17 complete books of the New Testament.

[I am praying hard that Jesus will return before I have to preach either Ezekiel or Job!]

Why preach through books of the Bible?

First, the practice of preaching through books of the Bible like the book of Numbers, for instance on display in recent posts, has increased my faith in the relevance of Scripture. I can’t tell you the number of weeks when I know what section awaits me and think: “I have no idea what I am going to do to that text so it will preach.”

Second, the practice of preaching through books of the Bible has forced me to become a better student of the Scriptures. Similar to the reaction above, some sections of some books, especially OT ones, are extremely difficult to preach. That’s because they are difficult to interpret so they function for the church. Preaching through books of the Bible in both Testaments Sunday after Sunday has made me better at doing theological interpretation like no other exercise can.

Third, the practice of preaching through books of the Bible gives me the awesome privilege of being a reading guide for our faith-family. Let me connect this to my first answer above.

One huge problem I see in topical preaching is that it teaches parishioners to read their Bible wrongly. They learn to read the Bible as if it contains isolated, contextless, fragments of meaning that are designed to be applied to life that way.

In addition to that, what an honor to attempt to help them understand what God is saying in some sections of Scripture that they would never stop and consider on their own [you know, those sections that we all speed-read to get through our daily Bible reading?].

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you guide the Bible reading of your own faith-families.

Randal

Posted on

We Will Not Worship the Gods of our Culture: Preaching Through Numbers

by

Preaching the Never-Ending Battle Against Idolatry

For those who choose to preach or teach the book of Numbers, opportunities abound for warning listeners against idolatry.

Two resources may help you define/describe idolatry:

Keller’s, Counterfeit Gods

Hafemann’s, The God of Promise and the Life of Faith

Numbers 25:1-18 describes the idolatry of God’s people. I titled this section:

“He will bring us into this land”: And We Will Not Worship the Gods of Our Culture.

The narrative is one of those, “Go and do otherwise,” stories in which Israel sets another bad example.

Following the storyline you might consider this structure:

  1. The lure into idolatry (vv. 1-3a, 6)
  2. The inevitable judgment (vv. 3b-5, 7-9, 14-18)
  3. God’s provision of our wholeness (vv. 10-13)

It’s good for us to move from ancient idolatry to more modern versions. I have often used this slide:

Not exhaustive, but a good place to begin.

Ask folks to locate the idol(s) they’re most tempted to worship.

Congregations/classes will struggle with the brutality of the judgment scene. Once again we come face to face with God’s holiness and the inevitability of judgment that stops “the plague on the people of Israel” (v. 8). The fallout is still enormous (24,000 in v. 9).

Finally, in vv. 10-13 God wants everyone to know what–better who–stopped the plague. It was a priest. And the reason:

“he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.” (v. 11)

As a result there is renewed wholeness:

“Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace…the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.”

Some who are fond of Christo-centric readings will see how Christ, the greater Phinehas, turned back God’s wrath when the spear entered His side on the cross (cf. vv. 7-8).

Our God will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you preach and teach about His jealousy which warns us away from our American idols (or the idols of your location).

Randal

Posted on

Preaching OT Curses And Blessings: Preaching Through Numbers

by

Numbers 22 makes our blessed status very clear!

If you’ve been kind enough to read some of my posts over the past year or so, you’re familiar with our trek through the book of Numbers. It was a very challenging series for me, but very rewardable.

The reason is because so much of the wilderness wanderings teach us about our own faith-journey.

My angle was: “He will bring us into this land” coming from Numbers 14:8.

It is a sure thing for our in-Christ congregants. But the journey is not easy.

For instance, in chapter 22 God’s people face the challenge of a real curse.

We allow the narrative to convey the theology: the threat of being cursed occurs in vv. 1-6 (Balak commissions Balaam: “curse this people for me…”).

How much power does the dark side over God’s children?

Verses 7-14 provide the answer and contain God’s confirmation of our being blessed. God states, “You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” And later, “…for the Lord has refused to let me go with you” (vv. 12-13). It’s a great time to follow up any OT curse theology with OT blessing theology and what that means for the Christian experience in this world.

You’ll have your work cut out for you in the last section (vv. 15-41), partly due to the volume of narrative. You’re reading how serious both sides are about their agenda. You’ll love the famous donkey scene.

Thankfully, Balaam doesn’t have the ability to curse God’s people: “Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak” (v. 39).

The Believer’s blessed status is that secure. You might want to explain that, not only from the OT, but from the NT notion of Christ becoming a curse for us (somewhere Paul stated that!).

Enjoy preaching Numbers and watch the Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

Posted on

If Ever Local Churches Needed Theologians, It’s Now!

by

That’s Thomas Aquinas by the way.

I don’t know if you sense this, but it seems like the folks entrusted to our care need theologians more than ever. The circumstances of the past several months and now leading up to the inauguration of President-Elect Biden have created a kind of perfect storm in the country and in the Church.

As I’ve read the news and listened to some pulpit plans, including some actual sermons, I was feeling tempted to become something other than a theologian for the faith-family.

The topics being discussed were relevant for the day–COVID-19, severe racial, and political tension. Most parishioners were hearing and talking about it. However, I was struggling to prepare sermons in such a way that I could say, “This is what the Lord is saying…” At least to the degree that some parishioners wanted to hear.

For instance, one sermon I heard on politics began:

“You are welcome to disagree with me.”

So much for “Thus saith the Lord.”

It was important for me to keep focused in another direction. I quickly realized I wasn’t smart enough to sort through varying opinions about all these volatile matters. I was and remain convinced that the Holy Spirit could provide insight into what our faith-family needs to hear in order to flourish spiritually during turbulent times.

First, I set out to record the way in which the elements creating the perfect storm were affecting Believers.

Second, I set out to select the best Bible pericopes to address how the church was being affected.

By the grace of God may we continue to flex our God-given theological muscles at a critical moment in our church histories so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. I am praying now for you as you communicate God’s Word this coming week.

Posted on

Has the pandemic created any new preaching series?

by

Don’t we wish!
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

This morning was my second in a relatively short, but still-being-planned, preaching series that is the result of crazy times. My wife, Michele, created this title slide for the series:

Last Sunday the pollutant was unpredictability and we anchored ourselves in the sovereignty and providence of God. So many of our plans last year were disrupted by the virus but not His.

This morning we adjusted our focus away from physical health, the talk of virtually every day’s news, and onto our relationship with God who, according to Psalm 73 is the “strength of our heart” which may indeed fail, virus or no virus.

Never in my lifetime have I seen the quality of the air we breathe so poor. While I’m tired of remembering to take a mask everywhere I go and putting one on, the mask reminds me that there are toxins in the air attacking my faith. So, before resuming our Psalms series, I thought it best to address the church with such things.

How about you? I was wondering if you have already preached or plan to preach some kind of series based upon the unique context in which we’re walking with God.

May our Lord continue to give you wisdom to navigate more-difficult-than-normal times so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. I’d love to hear from some of you, but know your lives are extra busy too!