Preach the Word!

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Monday morning, the 17th of July 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. We go to 1 Thessalonians 2 and I'm reading from verse 8:

"So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God."

And then Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2:

"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching".

We must keep telling people what Jesus means to us - that's all that preaching is! We need to keep it simple; the gospel was never meant to be difficult. The parables of Jesus in the Bible are so simple that my little grandchildren understand them. I'm talking about the Sower at the Seed, the Vine and the Vinedresser, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son... Educators complicate, and communicators simplify. We must meet people where they are. When you speak to farmers about Jesus, make sure you speak to them about farming. When you talk to miners about Jesus, make sure you've got some good stories to tell them about mining. 

When you're speaking to a group of sportsmen, make sure that they can identify with you when you tell them stories about great sportspeople. And on that point, just the other night, I watched a lovely programme by Bernhard Langer, the German professional golfer, world champion at one stage. He's got a simple message, and he loves the Lord. My brother was a golf professional, and he told me that whenever Bernhard Langer came to a competition tournament, the first thing he'd do was find a conference room and put a big sign up on the door which said: "Bible study here every day". He is a man who loves Jesus, and he has a way of reaching out to golfers. He would tell golfing stories and then he would preach a simple message of the gospel. I've never played golf in my life, I don't have the patience, unfortunately. But I learnt many golfing stories from my family and I know you have to keep your head down when you hit that ball. You have to go slowly on the back swing and don't forget to follow through. Jesus said that unless one is born again he can never see the kingdom of God, John 3:3. John 3:16, for God so loved the world... Tell people your story and they will come to Christ. 

Jesus bless you and goodbye.