Christ-Centered Preaching

Introduction

Last week we kicked off our first sermon series together as we looked at Hebrews 13 and saw 9 expectations or commands for Christ-Centered Churches. Over the next 4 weeks, we’re going to keep building on this solid foundation and see what Jesus Christ expects of His church, starting with Christ-Centered Preaching.

A sermon on preaching - everyone’s favorite, right? Remember from last week as we began this study looking at what Jesus expects of His church… we’re looking at what God’s plan is for His church. Not necessarily what our plan is or what our preference is, but what the Bible tells us. Throughout the Bible, we see the centrality of preaching whenever the people of God gather for corporate worship. We see this right from the get go in the book of Acts as Peter stood before a large crowd and proclaimed the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and called on people to repent and if you look at the end of Acts 2, we see that 3,000 people were saved! As the years went on from Acts 2, we continue to see the importance of preaching throughout the New Testament and how Jesus expects His church to teach and preach His Word. In order to be a healthy church, the Word of God must be preached faithfully. A church can have wonderful staff, programs, facilities, ministries, and an incredible congregation, just like ours, but if the Word is not preached, that church by definition cannot be considered a healthy church because God’s Word is central for His Church.

God’s Word is His plan A to create, convict, convert, and conform His people into His image! Preaching the Word matters - it shows up 150x in the Bible and God is serious about His Word being handled rightly. What is preaching? Who can preach? Why do we prioritize preaching?

This morning, we’re going to be in 2 Timothy 3-4 and we’re going to see the importance of God’s Word and God’s call for His under-shepherds, called Pastors/Elders/Overseers in the Bible, to faithfully preach the Word of God to the people of God for the glory of God. South Gate Baptist Church, here’s my promise: Jesus Christ will be preached from this pulpit every Sunday because this is what Jesus deserves and it is what He demands and it’s what we all need. Let’s read God’s Word this morning

2 Timothy 3:14–4:8 CSB

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.

God Works Through God’s Word - aren’t you thankful for that beautiful truth this morning? Let’s give Him thanks together

Christ-Centered Preaching Exposits the Scripture (16)

Whenever we gather for our worship service on Sunday morning, there are some things that we expect to happen. We expect to pray with one another. We expect to worship God through song. We expect to study from God’s Word. We expect to observe the Lord’s Supper and Baptisms during these services as well! Why do we expect these things? Because God’s Word tells us that we should do these things whenever we gather. Over the next 3 weeks, we’re dissecting these aspects of our worship service, starting today with preaching. Sadly, many churches believe that preaching isn’t a big deal. Many churches treat the preaching of the Word as a motivational message. A TED Talk. A self-help seminar. Others believe that preaching is a waste of time and boring. Biblically, though, we see that the Word of God is central when the people of God gather for worship - and this means that the preaching of the Word is of utmost importance! Consider what we see in our text this morning in verse 16, all Scripture is inspired by God.

What does this mean? It means that the Bible is literally, theo-pneustos - or God-breathed! Friends, this book is God’s Word and it is for each of us. Consider what we see in this single verse: It is profitable and useful. How is Scripture profitable and useful? We see 2 pairs of words - it is profitable for teaching and rebuking as well as correcting and training up in righteousness. Scripture is profitable for us because it is God’s Word and it helps us stay on the straight and narrow path as we teach what Scripture says and as we rebuke teachings that are not in Scripture. God’s Word also helps us live a life that glorifies Jesus. Imagine a sculptor who see’s a large slab of marble and begins to hammer away with a chisel to create a statue. This work takes time! It is exhausting! It requires precision. Eventually, though, that original slab of marble is transformed into a stunning statue. This is what God does in us through the work of His Spirit whenever we are saved. The Holy Spirit begins to work in our lives to change us into the image of Jesus and He corrects us. He chisels out things in our lives that don’t need to be there. This isn’t always fun, but it is productive and for our good! God often does this as we study from His Word and get to know Him more. This is why Christ-Centered Preaching is so important as we dive into Scripture, not society and not self-help and not emotions… Scripture.

If Scripture is inspired by God, what do we need whenever we gather for worship? We need God’s Word! Not man’s agenda. Many churches settle for unBiblical sermons that do not exposit or open up the Scriptures. We call this eisegesis - or inserting your own opinions into the Bible. We don’t want this! Christ-Centered Churches demand Christ-Centered Preaching that exposits the Scriptures or extracts the text and applies what the text says. Within these types of Biblical sermons, there are largely 2 types: Those who pick a topic and allow Scripture to support their topic, and those who preach a text and allow the text to speak. Topical Preaching and Expository Preaching. Topical messages aren’t always bad! Every Easter you typically hear a topical message on what? The Resurrection! It is good to have topical messages on rich Biblical doctrines like salvation and God’s grace. But we have to be careful here… as a pastor, it would be easy to pick my favorite topics and preach on those. But that’s dangerous because I may like those topics but you may not. It’s also dangerous because outside events often dictate what topic we talk about. See, we don’t gather to just talk about news or events… we gather to hear from God’s Word

The preaching that best exposits or opens up Scripture is Christ-Centered Expository Preaching. Preaching that allows the text to speak. Preaching that points the Church to Jesus Christ, because all of Scripture is about Jesus. Do you know what was considered Scripture whenever Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16? The Old Testament. There was no New Testament at this point. What does he say under inspiration of the Holy Spirit? The Old Testament is inspired by God and profitable… we believe this is true, and we know that it is true because we read this in the New Testament after the Resurrection

Luke 24:27 CSB

27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.

How awesome is that? Jesus explained to these 2 Emmaus disciples that the Old Testament was all about Him. If Jesus said it’s all about Him, I’m going to take Him at His Word and every Sunday, we’re going to find a road that leads us to Jesus!

Topical preaching may give you a fish, expository preaching teaches you how to fish as it helps us see how to rightly interpret the Bible in its context and seek to faithfully apply it in our lives - as we do this over and over, I pray that our hunger for the Word increased exponentially!

Christ-Centered Preaching Encourages the Saint (17)

Not only does Christ-Centered Preaching Exposit the Scriptures and help us better understand what God is saying in His Word, but it also encourages us! We live in a world full of discouragement. People say things that drag us down. People do things that break our hearts. It’s easy to be discouraged on Monday-Saturday because we live in a culture of death where sin is celebrated. It’s easy to think of a million reasons not to come to church in the first place - we’re busy, we have other opportunities, we want to rest. But week in and week out, what do we choose to do? We choose to gather - not always because it’s easy, but because we are needy.

What happens whenever we gather as a body of believers and study Scripture together? That encourages us as we see how great Jesus is and how greatly He has changed each of our lives for the better. God’s Word nourishes our soul - it literally feeds us. We all know someone who likes to play a dangerous game with their car called the “how close can I get to the E sign” game. I never knew such a person existed, until about 8 years ago when I started dating a beautiful red head whose car rarely got above a quarter tank of gas! What did we always have to do because the car was almost always out of gas? Go by the gas station and fill the tank up. What happens in our lives each week? Monday is a grind… and that tank goes down. Tuesday is tough… and the tank goes down some more. Wednesday drains us… and the tank is running on fumes. So what do we do in the middle of the week? It is great to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ in the middle of the week for a little fuel to help us get through the rest of the week! Eventually Sunday comes around and that’s like stopping at Buccees because we get out of the car for a few hours, we fill up with some much needed gas, we get some snacks, and we have a good time. This corporate gathering should be a time that encourages believers - I pray that is encourages you whenever we sing, pray, and study Scripture together!

Look at what Scripture does in verse 17 - the Word is profitable and equips believers for good works. Some people go to churches where all they hear is “do.” Here are 5 tips to be a better husband. Here are 5 strategies to be a better boss. Do this, do that, do it this way. There are times in the Bible where we find those commands, but please here this crystal clear this morning: The Gospel is not defined by “DO” it is defined by “DONE.” We don’t need more “do” messages, because those lead to despair as we realize that we all fall short of the mark. How does Christ-Centered Preaching encourage us? Because we look upon the finished work of Jesus on the cross and remember what He said with His last breath: IT IS FINISHED… meaning the work is done. Paid In Full! Inside of God’s Word, we find encouragement and answers to our greatest problems

Ephesians 2:8–10 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

How are we saved? By grace through faith and not through our works. Why are we saved? In order to do good works. Works do not save us, but as those who are saved, we are saved to serve. And we are equipped to work for God as we study and apply the Word of God

Christ-Centered Preaching Exalts the Savior (1-2)

What is the purpose of the church? Some answer this question by saying that the purpose of the church is to provide entertainment. Others say that the purpose is to help meet needs. Others say that church is kind of like a social club to belong to. Sadly, some believe that church is nothing more than an outdated and irrelevant gathering.

We know otherwise, though, as the purpose of the body of Christ is to glorify God above all else.

1 Corinthians 10:31 CSB

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

So, how is Christ glorified? Whenever He is exalted and praised by His people.

A number of years ago, a group of Americans went to England and while they were there they wanted to go to church. They decided to go to listen to Joseph Parker preach. Parker was wellknown in his day as being a phenomenal preacher and, sure enough, the group left the church that Sunday morning and one of them exclaimed, “I must say, Joseph Parker is a great preacher!” The group agreed, and even believed that he was the greatest preacher they had ever heard before. They debated what to do next as they were preparing to travel back to America, but one of them really wanted to go to another service that night at another church called the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear another preacher named Charles Spurgeon… The group made their way to service that night and afterwards they left the church saying, “I must say, Jesus Christ is a great Savior!” Do you see the difference? Why do we remember the name Charles Spurgeon and not, as much, Joseph Parker? Nothing against the man who was a gifted preacher, but when Spurgeon preached, it was so Christ-Centered that the takeaway was not that the preacher was great… but that the Savior was great. This is what Christ-Centered Preaching does! This is what we need! We need the Savior to be exalted whenever we gather as we seek to give Him praise for WHO He is and WHAT He has done!

Timothy is not charged to preach his own ideas about life or current events or to tun the pulpit into his own personal platform. He is called to Preach The Word! This preaching exalts the Savior as the Word is proclaimed. Whenever we gather to study the Word together at South Gate Baptist Church, we stand on God’s Word… and this means that we stand out from a godless world.

Christ-Centered Preaching Edifies the Sheep (3-4)

One of the things that Christ-Centered Preaching does is it helps us distinguish between the real and the counterfeit. The greatest threat to many folks who go to church is not the difference between right and obviously wrong, but the difference between right and almost right. Again, so many in our world want to make things gray. The “follow your heart” messages of living out your truth dominate our world. But the Bible is almost always black and white - right and wrong. The problem for many 2000 years ago is that they desired to leave solid teaching aside in order to be told what they wanted to be told. Don’t we see this in our world today?

Christ-Centered Preaching doesn’t tickle ears or entertain goats, but it does nourish souls and edify sheep! This is what we need today, tomorrow, and the years to come as well. We don’t need more messages that tell us of how to unlock our “best life now” or more messages about how its always God’s will to heal from men who always seem to be wearing glasses… What do we need? Paul instructs Timothy to Preach the Word that is inspired by God because that Word helps the believer differentiate between right and almost right.

Christ-Centered Preaching Evangelizes the Sinner (5-8)

Some say that church is supposed to be for the lost and that everything that we do must be done in order to accommodate the lost person. Fundamentally, we see that the gathering of the saints is to first glorify God and we know that without faith it is impossible to please God. Our gatherings are structured to please God and help encourage and disciple those who know Christ to grow in their walk with Him as they understand His Word better. But as we gather, every single week, the Gospel will be present. Notice what Paul tells Timothy - fulfill your ministry by exercising self control, enduring hardship, and doing the work of an evangelist. Meaning to do the work of a pastor and we know that this work includes the preaching of the Word and calling on those who do not yet know Christ to repent of sin and trust in Jesus for salvation. In other words, in every sermon, the Gospel must be present because we all need the Gospel. Those who are saved need the Gospel to remind themselves of their past and what Christ has done in their lives! Those who are lost need the Gospel to show them that they are lost in sin and in need of Jesus to save and change them from the inside out!

Back in the 1700s, there was a pastor named Charles Simeon who was called to pastor Holy Trinity Church at the ripe old age of 24. He arrived to the church with much excitement, and the congregation was excited as well… until they heard him preach. Are you ready for the complaint lobbied against him by several in the church? His sermons were too Gospel centered. It’s never a good time to complain, but if you’re going to, please tell me that my sermons are too Gospel Centered! Our community, just like Simeon’s community 250 years ago, is in desperate need of the Gospel. Not more platitudes. Not more motivation. Not more programs. Not more emotion. More Christians who speak the truth in love as Ephesians 4:15 tells us to do. Christ-Centered Preaching, pointing people to Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, is the preaching that most honors Christ and most effectively impacts lives.

1 Corinthians 1:23–24 CSB

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,

There might not always be a harvest, but whenever Christ is preached, seeds are planted and watered, and God says that His Word never returns to Him void. This is what we expect as a church in the days to come as we fight the fight - we live our lives to hear 6 incredible words: Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant.

Christ-Centered Preaching is Biblical Preaching

We’ve seen that there are different models out there - some people preach topics while others preach texts, some preach long while others preach short, some preach loud while others preach soft. At South Gate Baptist Church, we preach the text of Scripture and the text of Scripture always points us to Jesus Christ.

Preaching is the Interpretation, Communication, and Application of a Biblical text in a sermon that represents the spirit of the original text and exposes it for all to hear! Scripture is rich and there is so much of it! My prayer for us in the days to come is that we would feast on the meat and potatoes of God’s Word week after week and that we’d make our way verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book through much of the Bible together and that, as we do this, our appetite changes. See, when you’re fed steak and potatoes, a Hershey’s kiss just doesn’t cut it.

Students, as you go from SGBC to college or as you move to other areas, I pray that whenever you are trying to find a church home and you begin to hear story after story of shallow, emotional, entertainment devoid of Scripture, that you leave saying that you miss the Word. We need the Word.

This is why we gather Sunday after Sunday - not for a show. Not for comedy hour. Not for entertainment. But for the Word of God to be exposed - hence, Expository Preaching. A church doesn’t gather to hear its pastor, it gathers to hear its Savior who uses pastors as mouthpieces when those pastors preach the Word as Paul exhorts his pupil, Timothy in our text to do. Can I be honest with you? Eventually we’ll throw Wednesdays nights into our church calendar and I’ll be preparing 2 messages a week, I’m not creative enough to stand before you and give you my own ideas and thoughts and opinions and wise sayings 2x a week. I’m just not that creative and I’m not that good! But do you know what free’s a pastor up? To preach what the Bible says, the way the Bible says it. This puts guardrails up for the pastor while he prepares. He can’t just say whatever he wants - which is what some sure seem to try and do each week - he has to say what the text says… this means that you have to study hard. But as you study the Word, you realize that you’re not the chef in charge of creating the meal… you’re just the waiter who delivers the meal. At South Gate Baptist Church, each of you must expect nothing less of your pastor than for him to preach the Word to you week after week, regardless of how difficult the text might be. We believe that where the Bible speaks, God speaks. That means that when the Bible says that marriage is between one man, one woman, for life… we preach that because God says it is true. This means that when the Bible says that all human life is sacred from the womb to the tomb, we preach that because God says it is true as we are all equally made in His image. This means that when the Bible says that there are different roles and responsibilities for men and women, we preach that because God says it is true and God doesn’t make mistakes - He does all things well for His glory and our ultimate good!

As a church, we believe in this book. Our statement of faith says this about the Bible, “It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy… All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.” There is lots of room for differences of opinion in church life. You can think the best book of the Bible is John and I can say that it’s Hebrews. You can think the best song we sing in church is In Christ Alone and someone else can say that the best song is Build My Life. You can think that church potlucks are the best thing in the world, and someone else can think that they are gross (though we might question how you can still be called a Baptist!). You can have different styles, preferences, contexts, and views on lots of things… but not when it comes to the centrality of Scripture. There are many molehills that can trip people up and cause division in the church when it shouldn’t - like the color of the carpet. That’s a molehill, it isn’t a mountain! But the truthfulness of Scripture? Salvation being by grace through faith in Christ? Jesus being fully God and fully man? These are mountains that we must stand on and not give an inch.

A healthy church is a church that stands on the Word and in the days to come at South Gate Baptist Church, this is what we will gather to do each Sunday morning as we sit under the preaching of the Word and we know this Word is living and active, it is inspired, it changes lives, it is relevant, it is timely, it is true. Regardless of where we find ourselves as we study Scripture, we will point to Jesus because the Bible is all about Jesus. As Alistair Begg once shared, “We find Christ in all the Scriptures. In the Old Testament He is predicted, in the Gospels He is revealed, in Acts He is preached, in the epistles He is explained, and in Revelation He is expected.” It’s all about Jesus, because Jesus is all that we truly need!

If you are here this morning and are a member of South Gate Baptist Church, we must be a Word-Centered Church as the Word leads us and and nourishes us and guides us. At South Gate, we let the Word do the Work because we know that God’s Word is the only hope for us and for other in this fallen, sinful world. We must stand on and abide in the Word of God as a congregation. Maybe you’re here and you’re a visitor or you’ve come a few times but you haven’t joined South Gate but you know Christ as Savior - friends, life is hard and we desperately need community as we seek to glorify God in a godless world. I invite you to join us in this endeavor at South Gate Baptist Church as we unashamedly and unwaveringly and unapologetically stand on Scripture. Maybe you’re here today and you’re not yet a follower of Jesus Christ… I’m so thankful that you’re here. Here’s what I can say with full confidence in Scripture - your greatest need is Jesus. If you’re here searching for hope, purpose, stability, or joy, stop searching and come home to Jesus who who promises to give you rest. See, hope, purpose, stability, joy, and salvation are not found in place but they are found in a person whose name is Jesus! Turn from your sin, trust alone in Christ for salvation, be transformed by His Word. Whether you need to respond in faith to Jesus for salvation or simply ask Him to give you the courage to stand boldly on His Word in this crazy world, respond faithfully to Jesus this morning.