To Teach

2 Peter 3:¹⁸ “…you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (emphasis added).

The first reason why we exist is, We Exist To Celebrate God’s Presence [Worship]. The second reason is, We Exist To Communicate God’s Message [Evangelism]. The third reason is, We Exist To Educate God’s People and it is called Discipleship. Discipleship is teaching believers to grow spiritually… Hebrews 6:¹ “…let us move …forward to maturity…” (NIV). When we experience God’s presence, we celebrate God’s presence, then we reach people, and then we teach people. We experience His presence in worship, we reach people by communicating, then we teach people by educating and that is big.

Ephesians 4:^11-13 “…these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” God is saying everybody in church is a minister. The ministers are not the Pastors, rather the function of Pastors is to prepare God’s people for the work of the ministry. So, the work of the ministry is to be done by church members and not the Pastors. Who are the ministers? The people are the ministers.

The Pastors are the administrators, their job is to prepare the people and they do that by helping people to read, study, memorize, and practicalize God’s Word. There is no other way, you have to memorize the Bible. It has to be a part of you. Then you practicalize God’s Word. Teaching is so unbelievably important. The Pastors are the administrators, their job is to facilitate ministry, and the people are the ministers. Whenever I get to preach, I have three main goals and I keep these goals in my mind. The first objective is To Be Practical. I want folks to walk out knowing what to do. I do not just want to say be a great father, and not show people how. I do not want to say Jesus died so that you can live and be healed, and people are wondering how? I try to be practical; I try to bring the Word to what people can do immediately. Forgive! How do you forgive someone that has done something heinous and destructive to you? We go practical. We will get into the other two tomorrow.

Prayer: Father, as I experience Your presence in worship, empower me to reach people by communicating, and to teach people by educating and practicing, in Jesus Name. Amen!