On Fire

Your work, brethren, is to set your church on fire somehow. 
“The Soul Winner” – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The preacher is to serve as the ultimate communicator.  The preacher is to bring forth a message that brings the Gospel to life.  Get the point: it is not a message that comes directly from the Gospels but a message that sheds light on the Gospel (the Good News of God as noted in the Word). 

In the words of C.H. Spurgeon presented in The Soul Winner, the preacher’s goal is to set the church on fire with spiritual fire by his convicting, not convincing, and by his ways as well as by his words.  Spurgeon urged his fellow brethren to stick to the text, the Scriptures, and to be impressive, instructive and interesting.

• Impressive people draw other people.  They captivate others with wonderment and awe.  Don’t pride yourself on being impressive.  Be impressive with how you present the Word.  So, let others see how you are able to craft sermons and Bible lessons in such a way that they leave with you having made an impression upon them by the way you presented the Word.
• Interesting people keep other people’s attention.  Spurgeon cuts it straight when he says that you can’t expect people to become saved when you have put them to sleep.  Be impressive and interesting.  What are the “hot button” issues of life for young and old, man and woman, rich and poor, and any others? Let your presentation of the Gospel touch the varied situations and circumstances of this earthly life to get people interested in hearing more about Jesus, not simply hearing more from you.
• Instructive people keep others coming back. Leave people with something learned that can be applied.  Preaching on eternal life doesn’t bear fruit until people are willing to live their lives in the newness of salvation and the freedom of submission to the lordship of the Savior.  Teach them the way.  Offer them what they can use again and again.  Teach them the truth, and then  let the truth set them free.

Let these words work their way into your development of messages and lessons, even Bible discussions, for both now and the future.