Jump Start # 1720

Acts 8:25 “So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the Gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.”

I came across something interesting recently. We have just added a new addition on to the church building where I attend. The deacons have been shifting classes around and moving things around and tossing a bunch of clutter that has gathered over the years. Like home, things pile up over time and it’s good to go through things and pass them on to others or get rid of things no longer needed. They found an old pulpit. We have a few other older pulpits that are used in classrooms. One was used for over 50 years in an earlier building. It was the main pulpit that was preached from in the auditorium. I had not seen the pulpit that the deacons found the other day. It’s old. It needs a lot of TLC. Our in-house historian remembers seeing it in the basement of the last church building. This congregation is over 100 years old. It started in someone’s front room. Within a year it had moved to a frame church building on Silver Street. The church worshipped there for three decades. A large Bedford stone building was built in 1950 and the church met there until 2003, when it built a larger facility on a different street. We are thinking that the old pulpit that the deacons dug out of the clutter might have been the original pulpit used at the frame meeting house nearly 100 years ago. That old pulpit currently is in my office. I hope to restore it and keep it as part of our history and legacy.

I look at that old pulpit and wonder what men stood behind that and poured their hearts out as they taught the word of God. I wonder about the prayers offered from that pulpit during both WW I and WW II. There are families with us now that are connected to those early days. That’s the best legacy. Not an old piece of furniture, but living faith that is making a difference in this generation.

Our verse today, about Peter and John, reveals that on their return trip home to Jerusalem, they preached. They preached in the village of the Samaritans. They preached Jesus.

Every week our preachers pour hours into their lessons. They study to be accurate. They find the best way to say what needs to be said. They look up words. They read passages after passages. They write notes and read from books. They craft a sermon that they hope will make a difference. Does it?

Have you ever thought, ‘Why do we have a sermon every week?’ Or, ‘What good do these sermons do?’ Long ago, the common thought was for every minute you were in the pulpit you needed to spend an hour in study. That meant a 30 minute sermon would equate to 30 hours of study. That might have worked well for the old timers, long ago, but for most of us, there just isn’t enough time to do that. There are classes to study and teach. There are people to visit. There are questions to be answered. There are things to be written. Many of us are preaching two sermons a week.

What good does a sermon do?

First, it can build hope and answer questions. We live in times where people need real proof. A sermon can do that.

Second, a sermon can encourage and strengthen. We need reminders of what we are doing and why we do it this way.

Third, a sermon can convict the heart and lead to salvation. It becomes a bridge to Jesus. This is exactly what happened in the first sermon in Acts. Peter preached. The audience was convicted. Souls were saved. The sermon was the means that changed their lives. It was Jesus who saved, not the sermon. It was the Gospel that built their lives, not the sermon, but the sermon brought it to the front. The sermon showed them and taught them. The sermon was the avenue whereby these things could happen.

Fourth, a sermon can build courage to face the world. Through a sermon tools can be given that we use to teach others. We see faith through the Scriptures.

Fifth, a sermon can change us for the better. Sitting in the audience, listening to a man preach about the character of Christ, or being a man of God, or being a leader at home, will make the one with an honest and good heart to look within. Right there in the pew, that man may decide to do better. He may realize that he has too much of self in him. That sermon can change his life.

Most of us can remember a sermon that really made a difference in our lives. That sermon became a defining moment for us. It brought us to a decision and from that we moved closer to the Lord. Each week, sermons are preached by God’s servants to help us. They are presented to change us. They are presented to deepen our knowledge and commitment to Christ. God’s word is powerful. God’s word can change the most stubborn person. It can turn an old grump into a generous and kind person. It can drive worry and fear out of a person. It can give a shy person the courage to invite a co-worker to services. It can lead a discouraged person to tie a knot in his faith and hold on a bit more.

Sermons are powerful. The modern churches today have moved past sermons. They are into shows and entertainment. They have given up on doctrine. Whatever one believes is fine with them. It’s a show now, for the moderns. God hasn’t given up on preaching. It was His choice to spread the word. Through preaching God has warned, taught, and built faith in His people. Early in the morning, Jeremiah tells us, God was sending out the prophets to preach. The instructions of Jesus were to go into all the world and preach. The preached word—not feelings, not a dramatic presentation, was the manner God chose to reveal His will. Preaching is never out. Preaching will never die. Preaching is important.

We need more preachers. We need more churches to show men just how to preach effectively. We need more churches who are interested in preaching. This week I am with a church out West. I am preaching. I am preaching both in the mornings and at night. It’s the greatest thing I can do for these folks.

I like old pulpits. They have a history and a story. They are a legacy of good that was done. They remind us of the preached word. They remind us of faithful servants. They remind us that God wants us.

Roger