The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
July 3, 2005
In
This Issue:
Repeating
Myself (Again)
by
Steve Klein
We
Believe and Therefore Speak
by
Bill Hall
Repeating Myself (Again)
Like a lot of other preachers that I know, occasionally I'll say the same thing more than once. Sometimes I use different words to repeat the same message, but often the words are the same. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times that I can be redundant. You might hear me repeat myself. Did I say that already?
There are some good reasons for this:
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I forget that I already told you. We might as well be up front about it. Sometimes preachers repeat themselves because they forget what they've said. We are, after all, only human. Becoming aware of this inadequacy is probably a healthy thing. The preacher who realizes that he sometimes forgets his own words might be a lot more patient with church members who occasionally forget them.
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You forget that I already told you. Even the apostles, who were taught by the Master Teacher Himself, could not remember everything He said without some extra help. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to them to bring to their remembrance everything He had said to them (John 14:26). In Jude 5, Jude wrote, "I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe." Jude is repeating something people once knew, but may have forgotten. They needed to remember it so that they would realize that God will punish even the saved if they fall away. By remembering something old, they were learning something new.
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For the sake of emphasis. Seven times in Matthew 23 Jesus said "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" The phrase "Praise the Lord!" is found 3 times in each of the following Psalms: 146, 147, 148. Many other Bible passages repeat the same words over and over for the sake of emphasis. An important point needs to be repeated as many times as is necessary to ensure that everyone gets the full impact of it.
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For safety. How many times does a teenage driver need to be told "don't speed" or "buckle up" or "be careful"? They may get tired of hearing the same thing all the time, but continually hearing these warnings may help keep them safe. That's the point Paul is making in Philippians 3:1 when he says, "For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe." In 2 Peter 1:12, the apostle Peter says, "For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth." The "reason" Peter was going to constantly remind people of things they knew is given in verse 11, "So an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The way to heaven is much easier to travel when we're being reminded where to walk each step of the way.
So, I figure that repeating myself while preaching and teaching isn't all that bad. The worst that can happen is that I'll bore people with things they have already heard a thousand times. But a lot of good things can happen. Perhaps they'll remember something important that they've forgotten, or they'll learn something new by remembering something old, or they'll become more certain in their knowledge, more secure in their relationship with the Heavenly Father, and more sure of their hope of heaven.
-- Steve Klein
The preaching of the apostles proceeded from hearts full of conviction. They had observed the miracles of Jesus; they had heard His teaching; three of them had been with Him in the mount, and had heard those words spoken from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him"; they had seen His composure as He was arrested in the garden; they had carefully examined evidences of His resurrection, and had talked with Him, eaten with Him, felt of Him; they had watched as He ascended until a cloud received Him out of their sight. They believed! And so full were they of faith that their faith overflowed in words. They could not hold back that message which burned in their hearts.
They preached it everywhere: in the synagogues and in the temple; in the streets and from house to house; in governors' mansions and in prisons; in market places and from Mars Hill; on ships and in chariots; in upper rooms and on riverbanks.
They preached it to the rich and to the poor; to worshipers of God and to worshipers of idols; to the humble and to the proud; to the lowly and to the mighty; to the educated and to the uneducated; to the good and to the bad; to the moral and to the immoral.
They preached it to drunkards, to adulterers, to homosexuals, to idolaters, to sorcerers, to kings, to government officials, to army officers, to jailers, to ship captains, to beggars. They preached it, and preached it, and preached it!
Because they preached it, they were imprisoned, beaten, scourged, stoned, mocked, ridiculed, threatened; they were victims of lies, deceit, conspiracy, uproars, mob violence, shipwreck, ambush; they lived in poverty, often hungering, and with "no certain dwelling place"; but nothing could stop them from preaching as long as they had breath. They believed, and their faith forced them to preach regardless of the consequences. They believed, and therefore spoke (II Corinthians 4:13).
What did they preach? They preached that message revealed to them by the Holy Spirit, God's divine message (I Corinthians 2:6-13). They had no time for opinions, human philosophies, or politics; nor was their faith centered upon such things. The message that burned in their hearts was a message concerning Christ and salvation through Him. They believed in Christ, in the efficacy of His blood, and in the power of His gospel. They believed, and therefore they spoke that message, and that message only.
Faith! In that one word may lie the most important element of effective evangelism. When we come to believe as did those apostles; when we become so full of faith that we can hardly restrain ourselves; when the message of salvation burns within us as it did in them, we will be teaching others and we will be doing so effectively. Until then, our words may contain an unmistakable emptiness that will render them powerless in changing the hearts of men.
-- Bill Hall