“Light from Above”

June 1, 2012

It was spring semester of my first year of graduate studies. A friend had called and offered me a summer job of preaching at a country congregation in his absence. I had spoken on occasions at churches since high school, but had never before had the weekly responsibility of delivering a sermon and teaching a class. I agreed to the offer, and then the dreams began. Nightmares. Recurring nightmares.

What was the dream? In the nightmare, I was standing before a group of people with nothing to say. Suddenly having the responsibility of speaking regularly, it was a dream that left me with a cold sweat and wondering if I was doing the right thing.

Some of that fear went with me into full-time work. Saturday nights for a long time were tense. It didn’t matter that an outline was written and in my desk. The tension was there. Sundays and Wednesdays have a way of being relentless. No sooner are you finished with one and another one looms ahead with its deadline.

Over the years though, I have discovered something. The nightmare is true. I don’t have anything to say. I certainly don’t have anything worth saying three or four times a week. Yet, I am convinced that God does have plenty of things to say to us from His Word. The task of the preacher is to let the congregation hear the Word of God through the things he says. The task is to let scripture speak clearly.

On a trip to West Virginia, I had the chance to visit Alexander Campbell’s home. Campbell was an outstanding 19th century Restoration Movement leader. I stood inside the study that he had built away from his house. It’s a small hexagonal shaped building with a later addition that added some space and a fireplace. Originally, the only windows in the study were in a small cupola on the top. Campbell considered it a metaphor for his work, “light comes from above.”

God is the source of revelation and wisdom. The preacher in his study is attempting to clearly understand God’s message, so that it can be shared with others. God is the one with something to say—a message worth our time and attention.

“Light from above” – what a wonderful motto!

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)

Source of the photo: www.therestorationmovement.com/lightfromabove.htm

Leave a Comment » | preaching, Restoration Movement, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Russell Holden

Not Bound

November 12, 2010

Timothy was a traveling companion and fellow worker with the Apostle Paul. He receives two personal letters from Paul that are a part of the New Testament. The two letters address him as he does the work of evangelist in the city of Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3, 2 Timothy 4:5).

Paul breaks out into good news and writes:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! (2 Timothy 2:8–9, ESV)

In one sense it may seem odd to say to a preacher of the gospel: remember Jesus Christ. Isn’t he going to anyway? Yet, the two thoughts that follow it make the statement much more understandable. Remember Jesus even when there is suffering attached. Remember Jesus because the word of God is not bound.

I need that last reminder. The sharing of the good news can at times be discouraging. Paul is reminding all of us that the power is in the message not the messenger. Paul may be bound and in prison, but the word of God isn’t.

Other passages remind us of the same great truth.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8, ESV)

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. ” (Isaiah 55:10–11, ESV)

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:6–7, ESV)

I need reminding that the power is not in the messenger but in the message. It is the gospel that is the power of God for salvation. The word of God when presented will have its effect. It will not return to God void. The word of God is not bound.

Leave a Comment » | Bible, preaching | Permalink
Posted by Russell Holden