The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1973

te age , he was not quite ure what n1cant . I tried to expl a in that we reach to real people , not lo name– ·s cro~ ds a nd that the Word of ,od n1u t be made meaningfu l to ur people in a practical way. "Find 1at place where truth touche Ii fe ," dvi ed Phillip Brook in hi Lect1,1res n Preac/1in8 a nd good advice it is. Jnl ess the preache r i a pa tor, un– ·ss he knows his people, he cannot ring them mes ages . He ca n onl y repa re outlines a nd preach sermons, nd then wonder why the people are ot growing. A fa ithful hepherd wi ll lead the lock into the pasture tha t it needs. 'here are sea ons to the soul , a nd , ere are easons to the mi nistry of church . The pastor is a piritua l reward: his task is to feed the ho L1 se– old " the ir porti on of mea t in due eason" (Luke J 2: 42) . He had be tter now the appe tites and needs of the amil y or else his diet may make , em sick in tead of trong ! The 1ory tower preacher who descends .vice a week with a di vi ne or acle may tt ract to himse lf a host of peopl e tho prefer to be anonymous a nd left . lone: but he will probabl y not bi nd p the broken-hearted or dry ma ny !ars. Peopl e with hones t piritua l eeds can tell when the pastor reall y ares. A sermon need not cost us very nuch : a bi t of reading , some ma in oints (preferabl y in all iterat ion ), a ew stori es ... and tha t's it! But a nessage is a costl y thing. "Preach ing hat costs noth ing accomplishes no th– ng," aid J owett , and he is right . Jut Davi d said it first: " ... Neither vii i I offer ... unto the Lord my God ,f that which doth co t me no thing" JI Samuel 24:24). U nless the Word >f God smashes through our own ives, bu r ning a nd cutting and tear– ng down and bu ildi ng up, we have lo r ight to give it to others. The man vho can .. whip out' ' a se rmo n in a ew hours on Sa turday evening, aft e r vasting a whole week of opport unity or n1e<l1tation, n1ay see what me n ca ll 'resul ts." but he will never \ee wha t JOU calls last ing fruit A rea l me\<;– tge flows out of a broken hea rt, a lcart open to C1o<l and to God'\ peopl e. The man with a me sage step into the pulpit ay ing, uMy hea rt is inditing a good ma tter : l speak o f the thing whi ch l have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer" ( P a im 45: J). A se rmo n is " put logether" like a to sed sa lad : a message is " beaten o il for the anctu rary." The ma n with a ermon speaks from authorities; the man with a message speak from authority. He ha felt the fire in his bo nes, and no th ing can silence his lips. He ha wa lked with Chri st in the way, a nd therefo re the Word i burning in hi heart . In him , the Word become fl esh. The writing of a ermon comes from lea rning; the prepa ring of a me sage comes from Jiv ing. The idea l i a combina tion of both . The man of God mu t meet the Lord on the n1ount a intop and hea r Hi vo ice and ee Hi s glory. But he mu t al o come into the va ll ey to sha re the ba ttl es a nd burden of God' peopl e. The n1a ture man is not e la ted when he hear , "Wa n' t th a t a grea t se rmon!" But he quie tl y tha nks God when he hea r on1eone ay, " Pastor, your message spoke to my hea r t today. I needed it .'' In thi day when the key word seen1 s to be "bigger,, - and we tha nk God for every increase in His vine– yard - it might be wise for some of us to add ano ther word: better. God a Ohfo 4:i314 wants numerica l increase~ but God a l– so wants sp iri tual ma turity. The one is no t the enemy o f the o ther. J f ma turity were the enemy of eva ngel– ism, God woL1l d never have used Paul . His grea t des ire was " to present every man pe rfec t f mature J in Chri st Jesus" (Colossia ns 1: 28). But an immatu re pastor wil l never develop mature peopl e. How does God mature us? Through the Word of God and praye r . Through probl ems and suffe r ing and mi understanding. Through sacri fice a nd ser vice. In fact, the very problems th at discou r age us today may be the tools God wa nts to use to make us grow in gr ace. Ma turity does no t come overn ight , unl ess you are a mushroom. Maturit y demands time– deep roots - weather ing - storms. "And he shall be like a tree planted by the ri vers of wa ter..." The process of maturi ng is a lifetime cha llenge, bccau e the sta nda rd of achievement i no t our favorite preacher bu t ' the measure of the tatu re of the ful nes of Chri t ." We live in a world th at is a giga nt ic plaype n, wi th grown-u p chi l<l ren fighting over thei r expen ive toys. The need of the hour i maturi ty, and the man of the hour i the preacher of the Word. A pa tors, we dare not be found litt le children at a time when God is looking for ma ture men who wi ll buil d Hi s church. THE CLEVELAND HEBREW MISSION , • 0. lox 11056, Clevelancl, Ohio 4411 1 Founded 1904 FUNDAMENTAl - BAPTISTIC - EVANGELISTIC Evangel izing the "kinsmen" of our Lord in Cleveland, Ohio Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil O FFICERS:- M r. George B. Du nn, Presiden t Rev . Roy lark, Vice President Rev. Gera ld V. mel~e r, 5'11peri11 te11£lent Rev. A. Pau l ·ridba ll , Asst. Supt. Mr. ar-1 Hel frick , Sec'y.-1 reas. REF R N E :- Dr. John G. Ba lvo. leveland. Ohio Dr. Paul Van Gorder, A't lanta. a. D r. Vaughn pru nger. outh Bend, Ind . Rev. Lloyd Morri , Flint , Mich . Dr. Robe rt Ketcham, hicago, Ill . Dr. Ralph toll, Lanca~ter, Pa . Dr. Melvin V. faw. Huntingt o n, W. a. Dr . Frank Torrey. Boen Raton. rl a D r. Ken neth Ma~tel ler. Haddon Ht~.. NJ . Wri te fot your Rt!E copy of ''The Trv~ter for 1,,.. 1" ou, qu 1 rte,ly IM9•tlne devoted to the work of Jewiah ~•noelllffl.