The Presbyter's Page
Electronic Edition – April 2004
Section 12 - LA
District UPCI
Donald Bryan - Presbyter
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It’s Okay To Preach Repentance
Seven
Trends Pastors Should Be Watching
It’s Okay To Preach Repentance
In fact, that’s what
preaching is all about
Here are some principles on preaching for life change:
1.
All behavior is based on belief. If
somebody gets a divorce it is because they have a belief behind that: “I think I’ll be happier” or whatever.
2.
Behind every sin is a lie of unbelieving. You think you are doing what’s best for you, but you have been
deceived. The Bible tells us that Satan
deceives us.
3.
Change always starts in the mind. “Be
transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). The Bible teaches clearly that the way we
think affects the way we feel, and the way we feel affects the way we act.
4.
Change beliefs first.
Trying to
change behavior without changing beliefs is a waste of time. Say I have a boat on autopilot heading north. If I want tit to head south, I have two
options: I could wrestle the steering
wheel or (the better way) change the autopilot.
5.
I don’t change people’s minds, God’s word does. “We speak words given to us by the Spirit using the Spirit’s word
to explain spiritual truth” (I Cor. 2:13 NLT).
Both Word and Spirit elements are in preaching, and often we leave out
the Spirit element. Spiritual warfare
is tearing down mental strongholds. Our
weapons have power, pulling down every argument, every pretension.
6.
Changing the way people act is the fruit of repentance. Repentance is not behavioral change; it results in behavioral
change. Repentance happens in your
mind. That’s why John the Baptist says
to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
“I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their
repentance by their deeds” (Acts
26:20).
7.
The deepest preaching, bar none, is preaching for repentance. Many preachers are great at interpretation, good at application, but
not willing to call for repentance.
Preach repentance every Sunday.
Talk about “changing your mind” and “Paradigm shift.” But every message comes down to two words: Will you? “Will you change the way you’re
thinking?” If you are not preaching
repentance, you’re not preaching.
Every Church needs to answer the following eight strategic questions:
1.
Why
do we exist as a church? (Biblical
Purpose)
2.
How
has God worked in our past? (Ministry
Milestones)
3.
Whom
has God called us to reach? (Ministry
focus)
4.
Who
has God shaped us to be? (Core Values)
5.
Where
is God leading us in the future?
(Vision)
6.
Which
model most facilitates our vision?
(Ministry Model)
7.
How
will we accomplish our vision? (Goals)
8.
What
is our Plan for Ministry for the next five years? (Ministry Plan)
Tips to Remember:
§
People
do what people see. They forget your
words and follow your footsteps.
§
See
your people as they could be, not as they are.
§
The
attitude of your people is a reflection of your attitude.
§
Life
is not a dress rehearsal.
There’s a difference between leadership and management. Management consists primarily of three
things: analysis, problem solving and
planning. If you go to any management
course, you’ll find it revolves around those three things. But leadership consists of communicating
your Vision and Values.
If you don’t clarify the purposes as the leader, who will?
Here are a few guidelines:
Believe it or not, the bigger your vision, the
easier it is to reach. People are rarely motivated
by small visions. They will follow a
big vision easier than a little one.
Don’t worry about solving the problem before casting
the vision. A good example of visionary
leadership would be the United States President, John F. Kennedy. Regardless of what you think about his
politics, Kennedy stood up one day in the early 1960’s and said, “We will put a
man on the moon by the end of the decade.”
He was clear; he was precise; and the vision was something people could
look to. Now, here’s the interesting
thing – when he said it, the technology to put a man on the moon hadn’t even
been developed. That’s visionary
leadership!
Your God determines how big your goal is. So, how big do you think God is?
The issue is not who do you think you are, but who do you think God
is? In your dreams for ministry, don’t
limit yourself by saying, “What can I do?”
Instead ask, “What can God do?
What can God do in this place?”
Be pragmatic even as you cast a vision. We overestimate what we can do in one year, and we
underestimate what we can do in ten or twenty years. That’s very common. The
trouble with most goal setting is we set our goals too low and try to
accomplish them too soon. Instead, we
need to set big goals – huge goals – enormous goals – but plan plenty of time
in reaching those goals.
Finally, make a frank appraisal of your own gifts. The Bible teaches that there are one talent people and five talent
people and ten talent people. That
means you may be good at several things, but you’re not good at everything. How large is your vision? As a Christian leader, you need to put it
before your congregation and then keep it before them.
Seven
Trends Pastors Should Be Watching
Here’s my short list of trends to keep an eye on:
1.
The breakdown of the family. The church must learn how to
build durable marriages and train/motivate parents to be more effective.
2.
The expansion of the Internet. Communication
is easier; but information overload is a fact of life as is
depersonalization. Will it alter the
way we do church?
3.
Chinks in the armor of evolutionary theory. This should come as no surprise since evolution is the foundation for
almost every philosophical system being undermined.
4.
Rampant materialism. As our
wallets have become fatter, our souls have become leaner. Americans spend as much on chewing gum in a
year as they give to missions.
5.
Postmodern relativism. When a
majority of Christians believe there is no such thing as absolute truth, the
church is in trouble. This trend has
its roots in the rejection of the Bible as the Word of God.
6.
The rise (and fall) of tolerance. The new
definition of tolerance says that we must not only accept but also affirm the
validity of any and every opinion or belief – except orthodox, biblical
Christianity.
7.
Our failure to discern. We must see what God is
doing and join Him in it.
In spite of their negative ramifications, all of these trends represent
opportunities for the church.
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