Sermons

6 comments so far

1. Feb 6, 2010Evan   #

   What about Sunday School teachers? We look at those positions as extensions of the pulpit. Why then wouldn’t we look at people going out and evangelizing as extensions of the pulpit as well?

   Also, in addition to showing love for our neighbor wouldn’t we have to evangelize and teaching in order to get people to coming to church with us?

   There are also some other text which show that there are separate office with different purposes. Yet at the end of the day coming together for the same purpose of Glorifying the living God. Some are preachers some are teachers and some are evangelists. Then it goes on to say that preachers should do the work of an evangelist.

   Currently I am of the stance that ministry and evangelism is the work of every Christian, ordained or not. Of coarse doing this all in attempt to bring them into the church so they may be part of the body and grow for the glory of God.
   Why do most URC churches have evangelism committees if the preacher is the only evangelist and it is our sole duty to bring unbelievers in to church?

   This is something that I struggle with tremendously, and in fact have bitterness toward the church because the lack of zeal for the lost.
   Is this my viewpoint incorrect?

2. Feb 8, 2010Rev. John Sawtelle   #

   Evan,
   I am not sure who the “we” is in your comment that “we see Sunday school positions as an extension of the pulpit.” This is far from true. Confessional Reformed theology sees the pulpit as categorically and fundamentally distinct from any other form of teaching in the church. Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 65 (as well as Q & A’s 83-84) makes it very clear that the the pulpit is not mere instruction, rather, it is a communication of Christ and his grace to the church. According to Romans 10:14-15, Christ actually speaks in the preaching the word, and that is something that no confessionally Reformed person would dare to argue is the case with respect to Sunday School instruction.

   As for your concerns about evangelism, let me see if I can clarify some things. First, Refromed theology distinguishes between “witness” and “evangelism.” “Witness” is the testimony about Christ, which every Christian is obligated to perform. That witness flows from our office as prophet, according to Q & A 32 of the catechism, it is rooted in our duty to love our neighbor, and it is based upon the command and example of scripture (Col. 4:5-6; 1Thess. 1:8). Failure of individual Christians to both pray for and actively seek to witness to lost persons is sin, and it must be rebuked and repented of like any other sin. “Evangelism” is the public proclamation of the gospel by an ordained minister. The Church Order of the URCNA, article 47 reflects this principle when it says, “The church’s missionary task is to preach the Word of God to the uncoverted. When this task is to be performed beyond the field of an organized church, it is to be carried out by ministers of the Word set apart to this labor, who are called, supported and supervised by their Consistories.” Clearly, the CO sees “evanglism” as something that is performed by an ordained minister and consists in the proclamation of the gospel. Second, you ask why URC churches have “evangelism committees” if it is the sole duty of the pastor to “evangelize?” The answer is that such committees are a means of organizing, coordinating, and encouraging the members of the church in fulfilling their call to witness to the lost. By organizing outreach events and hosting friendship Sunday events and so forth, these committees help facilitate witness and prepare the way for true evanglism to take place, as members testify about Christ to unbelievers and then invite them to church where they may sit under the preaching of the Word of God and encounter the authoritative voice of Christ in the preaching of the word. Third, I realize that sometimes, as Reformed churches, we can be slow to passionately pursue this command to witness, but don’t be overly discouraged by that. Use your own sense of passion about witness as a model to motivate others around you and pray fervently that God will raise up many to follow your example.

   Thanks for expressing your concern, and I challenge you to maintain fervency in prayer for the lost and the growth of Christ’s heavenly kingomd.

   Grace and peace,

   Pastor John

3. Feb 8, 2010Evan   #

   That is by far the the most comprehensive and rapid response I have ever seen! Quite impressive Pastor John!
   Because of the stance that the ‘church’ is for believers and that the service is distinct in authority , Reformed churches refuse to make concessions for unbelievers when present. Or, we simply do not expect to see them at all. 1 Cor. 14:20-25 talks about this same situation of the unbeliever not able to understand what people are talking about. Sometimes our reformed terms and theology go way over the top. In addition, the use of Parables by Jesus so the even the unchurched may understand.

   A side note..When Jesus was talking to the Pharisees about not coming for the righteous, but for the unrighteous. I think He would use that argument for us a lot of the time. He totally knows that the Pharisees were unrighteous, but they were not who He came for. It seems sometimes that arrogance overflows rather than love for our neighbor. Which is why I think we should quit listening to Rush Limbaugh. Listening to that stuff all day, turns your heart hard for those we are demanded to Love.
   Love I am certain is not just a feeling, but a tangible doing for their good. I am also sure that we cannot sit around waiting to crank out some feelings of love for our neighbors and enemies. The best way in Which we are to show love for our neighbor is to share with them the greatest gift we have, Jesus Christ.

   What are your thoughts about the other sermons on this site concerning evangelism. Before your explanation of terms of ‘evangelism’ and ‘witnessing’ they did not seem on the same page, and basically contradictory.

   Bendiga en Dios! Y Gracias para su tiempo. Gloria en Dios Harmano! Many Blessings,
   I now hold a much larger respect for the office of Preacher than I already did.

4. Feb 9, 2010Rev. John Sawtelle   #

   Evan,
   You are almost there. Reformed churches don’t make “concessions” for either believers or non-believers, since worship is for God. As Dr. Bergsma, my beloved homiletics professor at Westminster Seminary, used to remind all the first year preaching students, God is the “audience” in worship, not the people. Since God is the audience we dare only do in worship what He commands. To make “concessions” either to believers or non-believers, is to worship man and his feelings, desires, thoughts, and preferences, and though it may draw a crowd, it won’t draw a single person to Jesus and it won’t be a means of true spiritual blessing to anyone. It turns out though, that when we do things as God commands, we have the assurance that His blessing will be upon the worship and that unbelievers will be confronted with His awesome authority. I think that is much closer to what Paul is saying in 1Corinthians 14.

   As for loving your neighbor, it seems to me that the best way to love them, is simply to love them. J.I.Packer once said that it’s nothing less than hit and run evangelism to chuck strangers under the chin with gospel verses and walk away as if nothing happened. Rather, Packer argues, and I think correctly so, that we should get to know our neighbors and earn their trust before we try to start witnessing to them. It turns out then, that the bridge to witness and evangelism is showing concern for your neighbors and treating them as you would like to be treated. If more Christians simply did that, they would find many opportunities for witness.

   Thanks for tuning in to URC learning.

   Pastor John

5. Feb 9, 2010Evan   #

   Do you know of any good books that discuss this topic of Worship/Evangelism/Outreach that would be good for an Evangelism committee?

   Legionnaire ministries has a few, they recommend a book entitled ‘Jesus the Evangelist’.

   Where there is no service, or preacher is it possible for a person to have salvation and glorify God? Or is this one of those situations where I may not exactly like the answer. Sort of like when I was told for the first time God does not love Everybody

   Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.
   I imagine you get a lot of arguments on here.

6. Feb 10, 2010Rev. John Sawtelle   #

   Evan,
   I cannot really think of any books that I think put it all together from a confessionally Reformed perspective. My advice is to spend time as a committee searching the Three Forms of Unity in order to develop a perspective on evangelism and worship that is confessionally sound. For instance, to develop a more thorough grasp upon the relationship between worship and evangelism, think deeply upon the connection between Lord’s Day 35 (worship) and Q & A 65,83-84. In order to develop a thoroughly Reformed view on evangelism think about Canons 1:3-4, 2:5,3:17, and 5:14. Ask the question, “what is a self-consciously, confessional view of the relationship between preaching and evangelism?” Having thought about that, then think about what activities an evangelism committee can do in order to help promote evangelism through worship. It will no doubt be obvious to you all that you need to develop outreach activities that help members testify about Christ and provide opportunities to bring unbelievers under the sound of the preached word. Your other option here is to set up public evangelism events where your pastor can preach to a crowd of unbelievers. These kind of events take a lot of careful planning, but they can be useful for evangelistic purposes.

   As far as your other question about whether someone can be saved who does not hear the preached word, I would simply say that God is free to work outside of ordinary means. God is able to do what he pleases, and we can be confident that not one single elect person will ever fail to receive salvation in Jesus. Though that is the case, we are obligated to approach the commission to evangelize and to make disciples from what is revealed in God’s word.

   I hope all this helps and may God richly bless you and your church as you seek to promote his kingdom.

   Pastor John