“love-to” not “have-to”

Key thoughts from Day 2 of our Biblical Preaching Seminar by Nomer Bernardino.

1. The preacher needs to be convinced of his calling and the awesome importance of his task.

It is important to be clear on this.  Otherwise, what we do becomes a ‘have-to’ rather than a ‘love-to”.

2. The Preacher needs to cherish, grow and guard His own love affair with God.

The more full our souls, the more we can preach without running dry. (Haddon Robinson)

The pulpit is no place for borrowed blessings.  They must flow out of the minister’s fellowship with God in order to be fresh and exciting. (Wiersbe and Wiersbe, The Elements of Preaching)

3. The preacher needs to immerse and delight in the Word of God again and again

Psalm 1:1-2. Meditate on God’s word day and night.

Psalm 119:97.  Oh how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all day.

4. The preacher needs to have a genuine love for his flock.

5. The pastor needs to take care of his family

While it is true that God does not looks at outside appearances but the heart, the congregation does not see as God sees.  What they see is the pastor’s personality, the way he raises up his family and how his children are doing.

It’s very easy for pastors to unconsciously neglect their families, who are longing to be discipled and cared for by the pastor, while waiting, suffering silently.

Some pastors are only awakened when there’s a tragedy.  It is not accidental that Paul wrote that leaders should manage their households well.

Our families are our first line of defense and encouragement from the enemy and from the pressures of ministry.  But when neglected, they may become the pastor’s waterloo.

6. The pastor needs to take care of himself and his health.

While bodily disciplines are not as profitable as the pursuit of godliness, there are obvious advantages in taking care of our physical well-being, and more importantly, this is the will of God.

Preachers are gross violators of sabbaths.

7. The preacher needs also to learn to hear the voice of God and discern the work of God through other people.

THE 2-FOLD TASK OF A PREACHER

Listening in Pastor Nomer Bernardino’s teaching about Biblical Preaching, I gathered so much. There’s a renewed passion and fear of God in delivering His word.

He lays down 2-fold task of the messenger:

1. To present the true and exact meaning of the biblical text. We have to be able to say, “Look at what God is saying.”

2. To present God’s truth in a manner that is relevant to the contemporary listener. We have to be able to say, “This is what God is saying now, to you…”

LOVERLY

Janina’s my 10 year old daughter who loves to sing.  I just love listening to her sing.  So here goes…

WISHING CONFLICT AWAY

Thought I’ve learned this lesson many years ago, I still need to keep learning it…

Conflict doesn’t just go away when we ignore it.  Unfortunately sometimes, when left unaddressed, it even gets worse.

A couple of days ago, I had to sit down with a few people to work on a specific situation.  No biggie.  But it was snowballing and unless it was confronted, things will get out of hand.

That awesome part was that everyone had a great heart.  That’s a big plus when dealing with conflict.  Both wanted to honor God in their lives and in this particular situation and decided to resolve the issue.  It ended with the situation getting fixed.

Another lesson re-learned…  We can’t wish conflict away.  There’s no other way but to confront lovingly and truthfully in the hopes that God by the Holy Spirit will step in to soften hearts and allow us to understand the situation for what it really is.

NO ONE’S INDISPENSABLE

I missed preaching 2 consecutive weeks at our 5 and 7 pm services. The other week, I was in Cebu with my family for our vacation. Last week, for Mother’s Day, Ms. Coney Reyes shared from her heart a message for mothers, fathers and even children.

I’m glad that our church is not built on personalities. We’re not trying to build the ministry on a person but on JESUS alone!

The kingdom of God will continue to grow with or without us. So much for egotistic ministers. In fact, the funny thing is, the Kingdom of God will continue to advance INSPITE of us. Inspite of our dum decisions and mistakes, God’s grace is greater than all that… swallows up all our shortcomings and silliness.

Rememeber, it’s His name we’re lifting up, not ours, the church’s or anyone’s name at all.