Archive for the 'Pastors' Category
Guest Post | Preaching Sanctification by Nick Floyd
Today, RonnieFloyd.com welcomes guest writer, Dr. Nick Floyd. Dr. Floyd is a Teaching Pastor at Cross Church.
When I was a kid, I always enjoyed going to the playground and playing on the seesaw. If you’re not familiar with this childhood joy, a seesaw is essentially a flat board with a handle on each side connected to something that makes it go up and down. You get on one end while your friend gets on the other. Up and down, up and down, and so on. Now all ten-year-old boys have done the same thing at some point. You wait until your friend is up in the air, you jump off, and your friend slams to the ground in pain. What happened? The seesaw got out of balance and it caused a crash.
All of us have an intense desire for our preaching to take root in our congregation’s heart and produce change in their lives. In other words, we want our people to be actively walking toward and through sanctification. In every sermon, there are two basic components that keep us balanced in preaching sanctification. These two are guided by an overall understanding of sanctification. Sanctification is closing the gap between your identity and your behavior. When our behavior lines up with our identity, we look more and more like Jesus. In many churches, the sermons usually lean to one end, resulting in a spiritual crash for people in pursuit of becoming more like Jesus.
We need look no further than Paul’s word to the Ephesian church. It is a beautiful picture of both components as he is pushing these Ephesian believers toward Christlikeness. In the first three chapters, Paul speaks in deep, rich theological language that powerfully exhibits the identity of the believer. In the last three chapters, he deals very specifically with matters of their behavior and what it practically looks like to follow Jesus. Paul preaching both topics gave a healthy perspective of what sanctification looks like.
Many times we have a tendency to only give the identity side of following Jesus. Pastors are usually people who have been to seminary, studied the Bible, and understand the absolute importance of embracing your identity in Christ. So, we preach the identity of the believer. The danger in only preaching on our identity is that it could easily produce a big head but a cold heart. We may be able to learn a lot in a sermon on Sunday but how is this affecting Monday?
The danger in only preaching on behavior is that we easily slide into a moralistic gospel. This gospel believes if I can continue to improve myself, then God will continue to love me. This type of preaching doesn’t produce cold hearts, but usually tired hearts. Preaching behavior without identity is a hopeless endeavor that leaves the people of God exhausted.
What we need is both. Preaching sanctification biblically means that we lift high the identity of the believer and the change that Christ has produced. Preaching sanctification also means that we lift high the call of Jesus to deny ourselves and follow Him in every aspect of our behavior. When both are preached faithfully from the Scriptures, we exude that we are serving Christ from our identity, not for our identity. We clearly proclaim that because Jesus has changed the very core of who I am, I begin to follow Him in every area of my life. Preaching both produces the people of God with a clear path towards Christlikeness. May our goal be to produce a congregation full of hot hearts ready to follow Jesus regardless of the cost!
Dr. Nick Floyd
Teaching Pastor, Cross Church
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Why Every Church Should Have a Special Focus on Evangelism
We are living in an unprecedented time in America and our world today. ISIS and Boko Haram are running rampant. Unborn children are slaughtered in their mothers’ wombs. We are told a person’s gender is fluid, not something created by a holy God. Religious freedom is being challenged daily. What is the answer, and what do we do about it?
In our world of 7.28 billion people, an estimated 3 billion people are regarded as unreached and unengaged with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This means that to our knowledge, the gospel has never been known to these people. Here at home, of the 322 million Americans, it is believed that three of four do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.[1]
America and the world are acting just like they are supposed to: spiritually lost and in deep need of Jesus Christ.
God is Working
We know that regardless of the situation of our world today, God is working. We also know that God is committed to redeeming the world. It is incumbent upon us to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, beginning in our own town or city, region, state, and nation.
Many Christians and churches believe we are in great need of the next Great Spiritual Awakening in our nation and world. However, many churches do not make evangelism a priority. Or they focus so heavily on special mission trips both foreign and domestic, the local mission field of their own town or city, region, and state is neglected. Jesus challenged and commanded us to share the Gospel with everyone, not only in foreign countries, but as we go about our daily lives. Sadly, this is not a priority for many Christians.
Consider What Could Happen
What would happen if our churches spent an entire month or more focused on evangelism? Take a moment to consider what could happen not only in your church, but in your town or city, region, state, and even the world, if our churches and people spent a month focused on evangelism. Not just hearing from our pastors in the pulpit, but also in our small groups, learning to put feet to their faith.
This is not something that can be done by just the pastors in our churches. Certainly, our pastors must lead from the pulpit but also with their daily actions. Our people must be engaged in learning how to share their faith, equipped, and be challenged to do so not only on special mission trips, but as they go about their daily lives right in our own town or city, region, and state.
One way to engage in a church-wide emphasis is to build on resources already in place. Bible Studies for Life has an evangelism focus for small groups ready for us to utilize this fall. We can take these thirteen weeks of material for small groups and expand it to the entire church with the sermon outlines also available. We do not have to do it alone.
Whatever you do, do not neglect the lost and dying world we live in. Make it a priority of your church and your people to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
[1] https://blog.ronniefloyd.com/9951/southern-baptist-convention/why-we-are-where-we-are-in-america-and-the-world/
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.