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Using A Bible Timeline Chart When Preaching The Bible

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Written by Neil J Baulch

Wednesday, 16 April 2008

by NeilJBaulch

A very active retired pastor of 40 years gave me quite a caning with this Scripture 1 Tim 1.4 "nor to be taken up with with myths and never ending genealogies.. ". After I had been preaching about the death burial and resurrection of Jesus had simply made some interesting observations.

He listened, as I asked them if I had said anything that was of heresy, and he said. "No". He just would not accept it when I suggested that this Scripture was referring to the false teachings of Gnosticism and was in no way speaking of honest enquiry into Scripture.

This was a pastor who had laboured in the gospel of 40 years and yet he did not understand about Gnosticism and the problems that Paul spoke of in this passage. A congregation is not going to have much hope of understanding these things if the Pastor does not.

If the many pastors persist in preaching, lightweight and shallow messages to the congregation, the results will always be a people, who do understand their Bible very well. Pastors preach again and again 'moral essays' and 'warming affirmations', for this is what good Christians do, if they truly 'love' each other.

It seems that, so long as we are positive and 'nice' to all, it really doesn't matter if Christians are falling between the cracks because of a lack of knowledge.

The reality is, the more 'relevant' Christians become, to the world, the less relevant we all are in actuality, to the world. :(

There is far more to the Kingdom than 'feel good' messages and favorite topics. Teachers preach on a text from Song of Solomon as well as a piece about a man of courage from 2 Samuel; topical sermon from Luke followed by the a firm belief in god of Jeremiah or the integrity of Lot.

After preaching portions from here and from there, through the Bible we need then to put it all together in a clear, understandable way for our congregation.

We seem to have a constant flow of new books and ideas, with dangerous Liberal leanings. We are repeating history, but if we were to teach the basics of Church history, we would be more equipped to avoid repeating that history.

Let's equip the Church in understanding God, His Great Plan and the Bible by sewing each piece together into a seamless beautiful tapestry.

This is not some gruelling, unachievable task, all it needs is study with prayer.

John 17:17 Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. (NAB)

About the Author:

Need a straightforward although comprehensive Bible timeline? Check out our webpage and find a great teaching chart and personal Bible study home resource.

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