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

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. To understand the breadth and depth of the preaching ministry in the NT is to understand it in terms of the call to preach, the character of the preacher, and the content of the preaching ministry. The most important element in all of the preaching ministry is the authenticity of the divine call to proclaim the message of God. This divine call is based on God’s sovereign choice, and involves a divine unction and compulsion to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom as a life shaping vision from the Lord. Examples of the divine call are abundant in Scripture, none so dramatic perhaps as the Apostle Paul’s selection as Christ’s chosen instrument to carry his name to the nations.

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