- Preach the gospel
Preaching the gospel is what this site is all about, it is the driving force behind any quest for “how to preach”. The gospel preaching that comes from seeking and telling the inspired Word of God, by prayer, and by the inspiration of the Holy spirit of God is the only valid form of Gospel Preaching that you would want to preach.
- Use the Lectionary.
I belong to a union church that uses the common Australian lectionary readings, and we follow these Sunday by Sunday, and over a period of three years the principal portions of the Bible are effectively covered. I was suspicious of this ‘formalised’ system at first, but I have come to see that God works within that system to illuminate His Word and to meet needs as they occur. It never fails to awe me that I can see retrospectively, that the Word that came out of those readings was entirely appropriate for that day and in that place.
- Seek His Spirit.
Given the subject, or rather the Gospel passage, we next need to put His spin on it. We are not here to gallop forth on our own hobby horses, nor are we here to relate secondhand experience from others (Sermons out of a book, or worse, off the net!). What we are here for is to share the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit of God. By prayerful contemplation, we are to discern what God intends to say on this very day, and we need to contemplate that, and to digest it ourselves, so we can share it out on Sunday morning.
- A Revelation From God
Paul explained to the Corinthians in Chapter 15 Verse 26 26 This is what I mean, my friends. When you meet for worship, one person has a hymn, another a teaching, another a revelation from God, another a message in strange tongues, and still another the explanation of what is said. Everything must be of help to the church. that when we meet together we each bring something to share. It is the duty and the privelege of the preacher to bring “a revelation from God”. I take this very seriously, and I invite you to share this conviction, thus being totally sure that what you are bringing, is indeed the inspired Word of God. This word, based on the scriptures, enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit, becomes truly the Gospel Preaching we aspire to.
Which Version of the Bible?
Sunday, January 10th, 2010Some will argue that the original King James Bible version is more accurate, and some will argue that the King James Bible language is so out of date as to be almost impossible to understand. Americans tend to stick to the ASV(American Standard Version) which names God as “Jehovah”, rather than the slightly confusing “Lord”, so prolific in other translations. It contains some archaic word forms, but is still much easier to understand than the old KJV.
I tend to use the online Bible today because it is so easy to copy and paste anything I want to refer to later on. Having the Bible online is so good when it comes to searching for some text you can’t quite remember where to find. I used to have a disk with a lot of different translations and versions, but it took up a bit of space, and didn’t always work properly. Today there are many sites offering the Bible “online”, and it is faster to click their icon on my desktop, and start right in browsing.
Bible study with the World Wide Web is so easy when you can use any Bible commentary you fancy, attend Bible school, and do any Bible studies, take any Bible lessons you want – all on line, and all FREE!
However, to get back to the original question: “Which Version of the Bible should I use?” Here is the answer. It is quite irrelevant which version you use, provided you allow the Holy Spirit of God to illumine the Word as you read. Our God is perfectly able to make you understand what He means, regardless of your reading ability, or what version you use. As the Word says in 2 Timothy 3:16; “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…..” If you take that on board, then it follows that however you may be sampling His Word, IT WILL WORK!
So this it what you do…. “then grab your Bible [any Bible], and head for your quiet place and just ‘wait on Him‘; and His Truth will be revealed to you. By all means buy a Bible version or Bible translation that you are comfortable with, but don’t worry about whether it is ‘accurate’ or not – the only thing for you to be concerned about is your own understanding of what you are reading therein. If you are being ‘helped’ by the Holy Spirit of God as you read, your understanding will be perfect!
Tags: Bible commentary, Bible online, Bible school, Bible studies, Bible translation, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit of God, King James Bible, KJV, the Bible
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