Thursday, July 06, 2006

A good sermon

The sermon that I remember most from Sheffield, other than John Henry's, is one by a visiting preacher, entitled "the Little Enemy of the Church." He spoke about the tongue. He told us what the scripture had to say about the tongue, how it was a dangerous thing, how it cut like a sword and cut people apart. He told us that if we controlled the tongue then we could control the heart. And he revealed to us how very often we aren't controlling our tongues when we think that we are. As I remember, most everyone felt called out on it, yet we had the grace to be thankful for the man. As Doug Wilson said, the job of the preacher is not to talk about the sinfulness of the world, but of the sinfulness of the flock. This is how he cares for them, by attacking their enemies and whatever is attacking them, which is their own sins.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Pastors should focus on the sinfulness of the flock and not the sinfulness of the world? Whaa?

I thought we Christians were supposed to get together to celebrate our piety and thank God that we are "not like the other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers...". Are we just supposed to stand around beating our breasts, lamenting our sins, and crying for mercy? What would be the good in that?

But wait, this sounds so familiar. I'm sure there is a story about this in the Bible that will confirm what I am saying.

-Andrew