Sunday Shorts: A Wee Word

Mark 4:31 The kingdom of God is similar to a mustard seed, which, when sown into the ground, is one of the smallest the seeds on earth.

            Recently, I was traveling back from a church committee meeting with two other pastors. As we drove home, we talked about how a word preached at the right time to the right person can have a profound effect on the lives of others. A short phrase, sentence, or illustration could impact someone in the pew and change their lives forever. The Word of God, no matter how insignificant to other folks, never returns to Him empty.

            I remember many years ago preaching in the Scottish country church that I served. I thought my sermon was mediocre, a wee bit long-winded, and perhaps even boring. In the congregation that day was a visitor from Northern Ireland whom I had never met. Something I said clicked with him and when he went home, he gave up his successful job and business because he decided that his talents would better be used to help other people in places where war and famine occurred. Within a couple of months, he used his skills to prepare, organize, and build 250,000 temporary shelters for refugees in Africa. Almost a million people were physically saved through his work and all because some wee word of hope and challenge had been given in an unexceptional sermon. A mustard seed of faith had been planted in his heart and it blossomed into an amazing work of deliverance given by God.

            Whenever we sincerely share God’s Word in preaching or conversation, with words of comfort or challenge, the potential to change things for the better is always present. Perhaps something that you share today – an exchange of ideas, a social media post, a phone conversation, or even a text – will have a profound effect on someone else’s life. A mustard seed of faith may be included in your message and God knows that it will not return to Him empty.

Point to ponder: With whom can I share God’s Word today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your words of life have won our hearts and changed our lives. You have implanted seeds of faith within each of us. May we now sow those same seeds in the lives of others who need them, too. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

July 27 devotion - Preaching 101

2 Timothy 4:3-4          For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 

            The first part of 2 Timothy 4 deals with the art of preaching and how valuable it is to grow the faith of church people. As a preacher, I am biased about this, but I believe Paul’s cautionary advice to Timothy is as relevant now as it was way back then. Preaching is not a form of vocal entertainment or a religious TED talk presentation. Preaching is about expressing the hard stuff about our faith and how much it actually influences or interferes with our lives.

            Some people think that preaching is easy; indeed, if anyone was given the opportunity to preach a one-off sermon, they would make a wonderful presentation. However, preaching to the same people week by week, month after month, year over year, is never easy because the longer you preach in one place, a deeper insight is given which can be very challenging and really uncomfortable at times. In fact, some people hop from one church to another because the sermons begin to seriously impact their lives and meddle with their nominal commitment to a local congregation.

            Paul’s advice to Timothy was given to make the young preacher aware that church people are sometimes fickle and only embrace what they want to hear. They even go to great lengths to find preachers and teachers who will reflect their personal opinions and values, which is potentially dangerous because they can be easily led astray by a charismatic speaker or a religious charmer, who will separate them from God’s Truth and turn them away from the Gospel. Any authentic preacher knows this and so he or she will work hard to present God’s Word in Kingdom terms, not popular trends.

Questions for personal reflection

How often do I pray for the preacher at my church? When the preacher preaches something I find hard to accept, where do I look for the Truth?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You have called some people to be preachers in Your Kingdom here on Earth. This calling is never easy and has become more difficult during these post-modern, secular, and affluent times. Sustain those whose difficult duty is to maintain our faith connections through the words You give them. Bless them as they prepare their sermons for this coming Sunday. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask a question about this devotional, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is an old drawing of John’s called ‘Emmaus Bread.’ If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Emmaus.

May 05 devotion - Preaching Everywhere

Mark 16:20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (NIV)

            Preaching has always been at the heart of the Christian Church ever since it was established. The Good News of the Gospel has been constantly proclaimed in every nation and generation since the time of Christ sending out His disciples. Without preaching, Christianity would never have expanded beyond Judah and Galilee. With preaching, even people who live in the remotest areas of the world can hear and respond to Christ’s mission.

            In a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, the quality of sermons was the number #1 reason why people choose to go to church. Even after two thousand years of progress, technological advances, and sophisticated communication gadgets, preaching still draws people to Christ. I guess this is why Jesus sent out His disciples to preach in order to continue His mission on Earth. Preaching was, still is, and possibly always will be the bridge between God’s Word and Christ’s people.

            You may think that as a preacher, I am personally biased about this. To some degree that may be true, however, it places a serious burden of responsibility on me to preach the Gospel truth, even though I may not want to because some folks in the pews may not like to hear what God has given me to say. It would be only too easy to preach a message of being nice, pleasant, and courteous to one another, but the Gospel of Christ is often hard to proclaim, tough to receive, and difficult to embrace. If this wasn’t the case, Jesus would never have been crucified.

            As each Sunday approaches, I and preachers like me greatly appreciate the prayers of the people for both the preparation and presentation of the sermon. It is a unique opportunity to teach the faith, preach the truth, and help the church. It is also a solemn responsibility to present God’s Word and reveal Christ’s Way for the world, as it always has been for almost two thousand years. J

Point to ponder

How does preaching affect my faith? What is the best sermon I have heard?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, be with your preachers throughout the Earth who are busy preparing their sermons. Let Your Spirit guide their words and may Your people be inspired by all that is truly proclaimed. Bless us all through Your Holy Word. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can read the church website at www.erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s is image is one of John’s latest Pentecost drawings called ‘Spirit of ‘17’. You can view a larger version at this link: Spirit17.

Preaching the Word - Mark 1:38

Mark 1:38       Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”(NIV)

            I would love to have heard Jesus preaching in any of the synagogues that He visited during His lifetime. What we have in the Gospels is only the tip of a whole mountain of messages that Christ must have preached to His people all over Galilee. We know that He always attended worship each week, so in the preceding days, Jesus must have prepared what He was going to say. I would also have liked to watch Him do that and pick up a few new methods of how to fully prepare a sermon. He didn’t have the books or devices that I have to help me research the scriptures for a Sunday message, but I’m certain that His illustrations and interpretations of God’s Word must have been amazing and life-changing for His listeners.

            The purpose of preaching is to help people understand the salvation history of God. It’s not about being entertained or charmed by the charisma of the preacher; it’s about being confronted with God’s Word and becoming connected to God’s Spirit. This makes preaching a controversial form of communication instead of it being a comfortable expression of faith. I know many preachers who, like myself, often struggle with the Bible passages that are preached on Sundays. They don’t want to offend anyone or disappoint someone, but in the end, preachers need to preach what God places in their hearts.

            I think this is also why some of Christ’s major conflicts took place in the synagogues where He preached. His message was both traditional and radical, authoritative and demanding. Perhaps if I had been in one of those synagogues where Jesus preached, I may have been offended, too. I know this much, He certainly would have challenged me, as He still does today.

Point to ponder

Have I ever heard a sermon that changed my life?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, Your Word is always alive and relevant, as well as challenging and resourceful. Open our hearts and minds to receiving, embracing, and applying the messages that You give to us through preaching today. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Today’s image is one of John’s iconic drawings of Jesus called ‘Christ Icon.’ If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Icon.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can read the church website at this link: www.erinpresbyterian.org.

Preaching devotion - Paul the Preacher - 2 Corinthians 4:5

2 Corinthians 4:5       For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

            I like the candid writings of the Apostle Paul. He always tells it like it is, even though his words may rankle our 21^st century understanding of living our faith. He lived the latter part of his life as a devoted servant of Christ and ended up in prison for his faith. His mission was to spread the Gospel, plant churches, and confront evil in the world. He was arrested for being a religious radical and executed for daring to appeal to Caesar. I think if he was alive today, he would still end up being incarcerated or assassinated. Paul practiced what he preached and died for what he believed.

            He must have been a great preacher, whose reputation spread across the small church communities in the Mediterranean region. He could have lived a charmed life and set himself up as a powerful orator, who would have been greatly esteemed and widely supported. However, Paul knew that his ministry of preaching was not about himself; it was all about Christ. He did not preach or teach to win personal favors. He preached to convince people of their sinful ways and essential need of Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Preaching was not a vehicle to pander to what folks wanted to hear; it was a channel of God’s Word, Work, and Way. To Paul, it was a method of leading people back to God’s favor and blessing through the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of Christ.

            These days, preaching does not have the affect or influence that it once had. In any given week, preachers have about 20 minutes to impact church folks, which is not a lot of time compared to the hours we spend watching sports, viewing our TV programs, or catching up with our favorite celebrities. And it’s virtually nothing compared to the time we daily spend texting, tweeting, or face-booking. And yet, as Paul correctly wrote thousands of years ago, preaching is all about Jesus Christ being our Lord and how we should serve Him with our lives. In other words, preaching is about preparing us for Eternity, instead of pandering to triviality or popularity.

Questions for personal reflection

What did the pastor preach about last Sunday? Is that message still affecting me today?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You personally chose Paul as the most important preacher of the Gospel and teacher of Your Way. His words still ring true today, but we sometimes push back against them. Help us to re-read his writings to give us a better understanding of how to live our lives in service to You and God’s Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions or make a comment about today’s message, John will be delighted to receive your email. Send him your comments to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is John’s current bulletin cover design and is based on Psalm 150. If you would like to view a larger version online, please click on the link: Psalm 150.

Church devotion: Three Important Things - Matthew 4:23

Matthew 4:23           Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

            Teaching, preaching, and healing – those were the three main strands of Christ’s ministry among His people. He taught them the Word of God in new and authoritative ways. He preached the Word of God by challenging their ideas and confronting their sins. And He practiced the Word of God by healing the people of their illnesses, anxieties, and distresses.

            Teaching, preaching, and healing – these should be the three major strands of Christ’s Church throughout the world. People still need to be taught the Word of God, otherwise they make up their own set of beliefs to suit themselves. Folks need to be preached to, and at, in order to shake up their choices and life styles. And people still need to be healed because there is brokenness, suffering, and despair all over this planet.

            If we are truly taught the Word of God, we can become Christ’s followers. If we are fully receptive to the preaching of God’s Word, we will make good and honest choices. And if we allow ourselves to be healed of the past, as well as cured of our present woes and anxieties, we will discover a newer, brighter, and more blessed future with Jesus.

            Teaching, preaching, and healing – the continuous and effective ministries of Christ which we can still experience today, in any part of this planet, in any place where the Spirit of the Lord can be personally known – which is everywhere and by everyone.

Questions for personal reflection

What part of Christ’s teaching means the most to me? How has preaching increased my faith as a Christian? When and where has Jesus healed me?

Prayer:          Lord Jesus, thank You for being the True Teacher, Preacher, and Healer of the world. Help us to rely upon Your words and ways each day. Grant us the grace to receive, retain, and apply God’s Word through Your teaching, preaching, and healing in our lives. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions or make comments about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Lectionary art images. It’s based on a verse from Psalm 67. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: Psalm 67.