Finding the Timeless Truth...Continued from page 4

It has been my experience that whenever I try to give application to a text that I do not fully grasp in its historical-grammatical setting, the sermon begins to strangely look like the sermon I preached the week before. Some sermons are like the silly cartoon race that is often shown on the jumbotron to the live crowd during commercial breaks at a professional ball game. Ill-prepared preachers have about three hobby horses that show up at every sermon, racing around the track as the congregation cheers on their favorite stripe, never knowing, but always guessing, which one will triumph that day.

Above all, pray for the discernment to see the genuine timeless truth in every passage you preach. Jesus, Peter, and Paul fished in deeper waters and dipped further into the Old Testament texts than most of us will ever even attempt. Like the Sadducees, we often err, not knowing the Scriptures or the power thereof to apply and bring hope to real life situations today. Shallow water is fine. It is often good to drink and it is a great place to play, but it is not where the Great Fishermen drop their nets. Force yourself into some offshore fishing by scheduling and publicizing some hard and obscure passages and topics in your preaching calendar. Then don’t be satisfied with just telling a nice story about some lesser-known prophet.

All Scripture is profitable, but don’t be content to polish the jewel and merely show it off, protected under the case or hidden in the back room. It is made to be handled and worn. And by all means, don’t fall off the bridge as you bring the truth to the new world. Protect yourself against this by asking several listeners, “Did you catch the timeless truth in today’s text and how are ways you would apply it?”

It will frustrate your congregation to learn of a wonderful far off truth, but not to know how to live it in their own lives. Unlike the ornate Bible I saw so many years ago, let the Scriptures in your church be accessible, devoid of the academic, mental, emotional, and spiritual locks that so sadly bind up the Word among believers. Give every member the keys to keep the Word open -- and don’t stop making copies.