Daily Thought for Wednesday, April 27th

April 27, 2011

Preaching Isn’t for Just A Few

& The Sermon Must be More Than Words

“He preaches well that lives well.”

- Cervantes (from Don Quixote)

Today’s Thought:

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” – Albert Schweitzer

Today’s Question

Have you ever stopped to consider that, “Example moves the world more than doctrine?” – Henry Miller 

And did you know, “Example has more followers than reason?” – Christian Bowee

Today’s Spiritual Thought:

“Nothing is so infectious as example.”

- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

“And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” – The Bible (Romans 10:15)

“A good example is the best sermon.” – Unknown

I would like to dispel a commonly accepted misconception that prevails among many in the church today: Preaching is not a duty or obligation restricted to and relegated to pastors only.   Rather it is the responsibility of any person who professes to be a child of God to preach the gospel.

Preaching is one of the duties of a pastor and an important one, but more sermons are lived out in day-to-day lives than will ever be delivered from all the pulpits in the world.

We like to call the orations delivered by pastors on Sunday morning sermons, but truth be told real sermons are more accurately described as the lives we live as Christians.

Sermons are more effective if we do them, rather than if we say them.

A message delivered from a pulpit is just a speech, it is how those words are applied, enacted and carried out in the things we do that make a difference in our world.

 Each of us is a walking sermon, whether a good one or a bad one for the cause of Christ and His kingdom.

People will be more influenced and affected by what we do and how we live out our faith, than they will ever be by messages delivered by clergy.  That does not diminish the necessity of preaching and teaching by God’s called to equip and empower the saints to be ready to go out and be living sermons.  God calls pastors or shepherds to equip the sheep so that they can go out amongst other sheep and share and to witness to the goats so they can become sheep too.

Remember we are all to be ministers of the gospel, even if we aren’t all pastors.

“He that has but one word of God before him and out of that word cannot make a sermon can never be a preacher.” – Martin Luther

We all have something of God’s word before us, even if it is but the knowledge that Jesus saved us and is living in our hearts.  With that go out and preach to your world.

Today’s Verses:

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 10:7

What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

                        Matthew 10:27

And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

                        Acts 5:42

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

                        Mark 16:15

Today’s Prayer:

Father, may the sermon of my life be good, acceptable and pleasing in your sight and may it be effective in changing lives and turning hearts towards you.