The Prince of Preaching on ... Well Preaching of Course

At IX Marks Liam quoted a few times from Spurgeon which made me realise that I haven't read any Spurgeon for a sometime. Why I would neglect something that is soooooo beneficial to the heart, soul and head is beyond me. Just a few pages in on his Soul winning book and I find this gem of a quote:

We do not go out snow-balling on Sunday's, we go fire-balling, we ought to hurl grenades into the enemy's ranks.
What earnestness our theme deserves! We have to tell of an earnest Saviour, an earnest heaven, and an earnest hell. How earnest we ought to be when we remember that in our work we have to deal with souls that are immortal, with sin that is eternal in its effects, with pardon that is infinite, and with terrors and joys that are to last for ever and ever! A man who is not in earnest when he has such a theme as this- can he posses a heart at all? p.55 of The Soul Winner by Spurgeon. This edition published by Christian Focus, Tain.

As a preacher I need to pray my sermons white hot that God can use them for His infinite purposes.

Shalom
Stephen <><

Top Marks for IX Marks

I was looking forward to T4G this year but we don't have the money this time, however it was a real honor to attend the IX Marks conference at Charlotte Chapel Edinburgh. Charlotte Chapel has a great history as an Evangelical Baptist Church where the Bible is taken seriously, Jesus is honoured and the gospel preached. How fitting then that it should be the host venue for IX Marks in Scotland.

I won't go into the details of what was said as they are available here Charlotte Chapel. However let me share briefly about the first session on Saturday morning, Liam Garvie (who looked about 12) walked us through the gospel, the gospel has 4 essential elements. 1. Who God is we cannot present God as redeemer until we present His attributes. 2 Man as sinner-our greatest need is salvation from sin. 3 Christ's sacrificial death on our behalf where he atones for our sin. 4. a Response.

Whilst I recognise there are weaknesses in some areas of Evangelism surely we get the gospel right? At lunch my friend Dan and I went out to get lunch and bumped into some Christians that he knows we chatted about the conference and then headed back. Three people ran up to us and asked excitedly what we were talking about, and I said we were talking about the gospel? Are you gospel people? "Yes, we are in town to evangelise, we are telling people that Jesus is coming"
It was nice to meet them and it is true that Jesus is coming but that is not the gospel. Dan and I hope that in sharing with them we got to show them the way more accurately. We had a great day and were greatly encouraged.

Shalom

Stephen <><