The Equipping Ministry, Student Workbook, SW15

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T H E E Q U I P P I N G M I N I S T R Y

even sometimes wholly non-religious ones, its intimate connection to the Gospel of Christ and evangelistic activity, its focus on those who have never heard of the Good News of Christ , and its concentration on public address, whether to those who are saved or lost. • Jesus and the apostles preached extensively through their entire ministries. Some of the key features of their preaching involved Jesus’ clear and compelling proclamation of the Kingdom of God come in his person , in fulfillment of the OT Messianic hope. The apostles extended this preaching ministry, proclaiming the risen and ascended Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, and the Gospel as God’s call to repentance and faith to both Jew and Gentile, in his name. • The Church built on the foundation of preaching of Jesus and the apostles, and extended its meaning through their own theological perspectives down through history. These enriched themes included viewing preaching as the manifestation of the Incarnate Word from the written Word through the spoken word, preaching as the clear declaration of divine truth , preaching as the retelling of the biblical story , and preaching as a spoken word that builds bridges between the hearer and Scripture. • Effective preaching has challenges associated with it. Some of major difficulties in the preaching ministry include satanic interference in the communication of the Word to the lost, the moral and spiritual weakness of the preachers themselves, the tendency to “major on the minors” in selecting issues to address in preaching, and the ever-present need to rediscover God’s power as the key to effective preaching.

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I. The Definition of the Preaching Ministry

Video Segment 1 Outline

The terms in the NT which are translated into “preaching,” “preach,” etc. (i.e., kerysso , katangello , evangelidzo , etc.) contain an element of announcing a message to an audience, to proclaim a message publicly.

Preaching is the communication of truth through personality. ~ Phillips Brooks

A. A preacher is a herald : the NT preacher proclaims God’s message regarding Messiah Jesus and his Kingdom. (The verb used most often in the NT is kerusso , [61 times] and means “to announce as a herald or messenger.”)