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Do the work of an evangelist.
II Timothy 4:2
Teaching and preaching the Word of God should be a priority in our Sunday morning worship service. The importance of it can be seen in the New Testament and especially the church age. When Christ died on the cross and the veil was torn from top to bottom, the apostle and disciples were blessed with signs and miracles to confirm their preaching and teaching, Mark 16:17-18. When God used His power to attend the preaching of the Word, the early church was strengthened. The Lord fulfilled what He said to the woman at the well in John 4:21.
Even before Jesus met the woman at the well, He had been preaching the "good news" in places like Nazareth where He grew up. Luke 4:18 says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor." In Mark 1:15 it says, "Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God."
In Mark 1:38 Jesus said, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also." In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gave His disciples this command, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." How? By preaching and "teaching them to observe all things that I command you."
When Paul reasoned with Felix in Acts 24:24-25, he was sharing his faith in Christ, or the gospel. Then in Acts 26:19-23, he shares the gospel with King Agrippa. In Acts 28:31, it says that Paul was "preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence."
John R. W. Stott has this to say about preaching the good news. "The gospel is not fundamentally an invitation to men to do anything. It is a declaration of what God has done in Christ on the cross for their salvation." God not only confronts men through the proclamation of the gospel, He actually saves men as well. Unless God opens the hearts and minds of sinners, the preaching of the cross will be like foolishness to them, I Corinthians 1:18.
In Titus 1:5-9, Paul tells Titus that he left him in Crete so that he could set things in order and appoint elders (bishops) in every city. Those elders were to be people who knew the Word, lived the Word, and could teach the Word.
John MacArthur says, "The basic task of the church is to teach sound doctrine. That is the task of the church. Not to recite to you tear-jerking illustrations. Not to try and play on your emotions. Not to provide programs and entertainment, but to teach sound doctrine.
This is still our task as a church today. In I Corinthians 2:2 Paul said, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." In this modern-day, we don't need more emotionalism, altar calls, legalism, or funny stories. We need to get back to the three basic elements of the early church. The preaching (heralding) of the gospel message in the early church was the primary ingredient that caused growth. Contact the author at thoughtsonword@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.
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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published four books, Common Thoughts on The Word in 2016, Eye of a Needle in 2017, Common Thoughts on The Word II in 2019 and A Bridge Between in 2023. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children's book.