“Ministry Expectations” is a teaching series comprising principles from the book of 1 Timothy. In discovering the expectations God had for Timothy and the church at Ephesus, we uncover the expectations He has placed upon us as well.

For what purpose had Paul instructed Timothy to abide at Ephesus? It’s true, Paul had challenged him to faithfulness, but faithfulness to what?

“As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.” 1 Timothy 1:3-4

I’m so glad that Harvest Baptist Church is a busy church. Admittedly, a danger does exist in busyness, but properly prioritized, any God-honoring church will inevitably be busy. If, however, in all of our busyness, we see the need to pare down the number of activities we conduct at our church, which activities would go and which would stay? Tough question, huh?

It is my contention that the most important ministry and exercise of any local church—one that simply cannot be shunned or shortchanged–is that of preaching and teaching the Word of God. Paul underscored this priority when, on his proverbial deathbed, he soberly challenged Timothy to “preach the Word.”

How quickly churches become entangled with activities that choke their effectiveness and trip up their progress! The church at Ephesus was in danger of just that kind of entanglement. In the place of solid, edifying preaching, teachers arose who were more concerned with their status and popularity than they were with the truth. Their man-centered approach to the truth was causing confusion among the hearers and eroding the foundations of that good assembly. Read more…

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Quite amazingly, we received no snow last night or this morning before church! It seems as if the norm lately has been a deluge of the fluffy stuff just in time to decimate our Sunday morning attendance. We enjoyed an outstanding Sunday school class (I lead the young couples class) in which Missionary Jacques Van Rooyen spoke. Jacques reminded us all that life is not pleasures, accomplishments, or possessions; it is a stewardship, a vapor, and an awesome responsibility. It was just the kind of message I like: based upon and saturated with Scripture; and appropriately illustrated.

Every three months we host a baby dedication service here at Harvest Baptist Church. This quarter we were honored to dedicate five babies to the Lord. Lord, bless them indeed and help them to know nothing but the joy of being in the center of Your will all of their lives.

I preached this morning on the topic, “He restrained them not.” Using the tragic life of Eli (1 Samuel chapters 1-4), I stressed the urgency of prioritizing the proper rearing of our children. Read more…

admin Sunday Review Preaching, sermon, Sunday Review

Side entrance to the church

Every pastor who serves in the North asks the same question: “Why does it always seem to snow on the weekend!?” This past Sunday was the third Sunday in the last eight on which a winter storm deposited its messy precipitation just before Sunday morning. Although the snow actually stopped falling about midday on Saturday, the sheer volume of snow made clean-up a daunting task before Sunday. Actually the real problem is not even cleaning up our own parking lot – an army of volunteers took care of that – but rather the painfully slow plowing efforts of the city and state trucks. Even today school was canceled due to the 27 inches of snow that accumulated over this past weekend. (That’s over 2 feet of snow with another 10 inches expected today!) But enough whining!

Now don’t get me wrong, I really do love the snow. Growing up we spent countless hours skiing, sledding, building snow forts, and pelting one another with snowballs. Although we didn’t engage in any of those activities on Sunday, we did have church. Come to think of it, I’ve never quite understood the idea of canceling services because of inclement weather. My thought is that some will be able to make it, so we’ll just have church with whoever shows up. This past Sunday, about 1/3 of our folks were able to dig out and navigate the treacherous roads and we had church!

I preached from Luke 15 about the prodigal son, but emphasized the heart of the father throughout the message. Although the father cherished the relationship with his son, he was nonetheless willing to allow him to exercise his free will. What the father’s instruction obviously initially failed to do, the unpalatable circumstances which befell the rebel caused him to consider his father’s character and humble himself. With a love that had never changed, and a forgiveness that was poised to be extended, the father readily restored the son. Hmmm. Unconditional love. Ready forgiveness. Full restoration. Ministry essentials, wouldn’t you agree?

admin Sunday Review Preaching, sermon, Sunday Review

What a wonderful jump start we have had to this brand new year! Beginning on the very first Sunday of 2010, our church has adopted the theme, “First Things First.” We’ve learned that the successful life is not so much a matter of “prioritizing our schedules” as it is of “scheduling our priorities.”

Prioritizing a schedule assumes that we already have the right duties in it, albeit sometimes in the wrong order.  Scheduling our priorities means that we figure out what Biblical essentials should be in our lives–whether they exist now or not–and then determine to put those priorities in our schedules first. First things first!

In keeping with this year’s theme, we have heard messages on the need to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” A life fraught with worry is typically one that has lost its focus on God and His righteousness. Additionally we have learned the principle of “radical simplification.” We love God by serving people. Jesus encapsulated the sum of a disciple’s responsibility in that concept! First things first! How sad that in the multiplicity of tasks performed in local churches for the Lord, that we miss sometimes the simplicity of Jesus’ teaching…

This past week our church focused on the first responsibility of a believer: baptism. Collectively we answered the question, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?” We learned that nothing should take precedence in a true believer’s life over the initial step of obedience to the Lord through baptism. To the glory of God, scores responded to the simple Bible message by getting baptized this past Sunday or scheduling a time in the immediate future to do so!

admin Sunday Review Preaching

The last few weeks have afforded me the opportunity to be in some of the prime hubs of our fundamental movement. As always, it was my great joy and privilege to be with the good people of Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College. So many dear friends work in that ministry and I count it an honor to have preached there on a number of occasions. Of course, having Nathaniel there makes the visit that much more satisfying!

Exciting! That’s the way I would describe the men’s meeting at the First Baptist Church of Hammond. Bro. Schaap is such a gracious man and host, and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to preach to the men while the women attended the Ladies Spectacular. The music was tremendous and so was the response at the invitation. I’m learning that an altar call has a whole lot less to do with the preacher than it does with the sensitivity of the congregation. I thank the Lord for a truly Spirit-filled service.

These past two days have found me at Pensacola Christian College where I had the opportunity to preach to the student body a couple of times. Obviously the facilities are overwhelmingly beautiful, but I was so pleased with the good spirit and great response among the student body. In particular, I was grateful for the incredible response to my Tuesday message on the topic of salvation. Scores flooded the aisles to trust Christ as Savior– I had the opportunity to deal with several myself. What a joy!

In the midst of these meetings, I preached for my new friend, Joel Bixler in Lenoir, NC. Bro. Joel is a graduate of Crown College who is doing an exceptional work in the Hickory area. The services were vibrant and the people possessed a genuine sweet spirit for the things of God. Bro. Bixler and I traveled on that Tuesday (a week ago) to Hickory where I preached a combined chapel service for a couple of Christian schools. Pastor Scott Hooks and Administrator Greg Weber hosted us for the meeting. The Lord blessed with several teenagers trusting Christ as Savior. PTL!

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