By Chris Philbeck
Recently, while reading a blog post on preaching, I came across a quote attributed to an executive who worked for Black + Decker. He said, “We’re not in the drill making business. We’re in the hole making business. People don’t come to us because they want a drill. They come to us because they need a hole.” In simple terms, “People come to us for a solution.”
Having grown up in church my entire life and having spent the last 45 years leading three different churches, I know this is true. Many people come to church out of a deep love and devotion to God and because they take seriously the instruction to “not give up meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). They understand Paul’s teaching on the God-ordained roles of prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher; as well as spiritual gifts, the body of Christ, and the believers’ responsibility and commitment to one another. I love these people!
But for another group of people, their needs bring them to church. And while that’s always been true, you can make the case that this is even more true in today’s modern and complicated world. This is a critical understanding when it comes to preaching.
There are many ways to connect with someone during a church service. We use music, personal stories, and video. I’ll never forget a video our church used once to promote a new marriage resource. Couples were taken to a large warehouse, told to stand back-to-back, and then given instructions like, “Take a step forward for every dinner you didn’t eat together this past week,” or “If there were nights you didn’t go to bed at the same time this week ,take four steps forward.” After a series of questions and corresponding instructions, the couples were told to turn around. Each couple discovered they were on completely different sides of the warehouse. I was moved to the point of tears by the way the video exposed the distance in these marriages. But regardless of how effective we might be in creating emotional responses, it’s the preaching of God’s Word that helps people make the kind of deep and meaningful connection with God that leads to life change.
Here are two ways to make sure this remains your goal from week-to-week.
First, make preaching that creates a deep connection with God your first priority. In his book, Deep Preaching: Creating Sermons that Go Beyond the Superficial, J Ken Edwards reminds us of the old saying, “We make our priorities and then our priorities make us.” He goes on to say, “The priority you place on your preaching will determine, more than any other factor, how deep you preach.” And don’t get distracted by word deep, making it more than what it is. Paul gives us simple guidelines for deep preaching in Colossians 1:28. “So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ” (New Living Translation).
Second, preach to real needs. We’ve heard a lot about preaching to “felt” needs. But often felt needs are just worldly problems. Preaching in a way that creates a deep connection with God exposes worldly problems and provides a biblical view of God that shows us how he works in the world and what he wants to do in our lives.
Thinking back to the video I mentioned, if there is one consistent area in the local church where people need solutions, it’s in the area of marriage. I discovered this early in my preaching ministry. Fast-forward and nothing has changed. So, make preaching about marriage a priority. To use Paul’s words in Colossians 1:28, preach about marriage by teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. Based on Genesis 2:18-25, you can preach these three truths to repair, strengthen, and build marriages. First, view your spouse as your soul mate–literally. In Genesis 2:18-20 we see that Adam was alone in creation without a “suitable helper.” God solved that problem by creating Eve, and when he presented her to Adam, he responded with, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (2:23). Adam was saying, “I found the one!” This is how you need to view your spouse—as the partner God created for you, your soul mate. Second, Make your spouse your highest earthly priority. Genesis 2:24 gives us this instruction about marriage: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Most couples don’t have a problem with this in the beginning. But over time, children, work, etc. get in the way and it’s easy for your spouse to slip down the priority list. But you can’t let that happen. Third, love your spouse with an unqualified love. Genesis 2:25 describes the beginning of marriage like this: “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” This verse pictures the need for transparency, acceptance, and when necessary, forgiveness in marriage.
This is a simple framework for biblical preaching on marriage. Space doesn’t allow for much detail, but beginning with clear biblical truths like this and with thorough explanation, illustration, and application, you can speak from God’s perspective to the needs of people’s lives in a way that creates a deep connection with God. In this case, the will of God, when it comes to marriage.
Someone said, “Want to hear God speak? Read your Bible. Want to hear God speak audibly? Read your Bible out loud!” I would add, “Want to hear God speak out loud? Preach with all the wisdom God has given us!”
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