Scripture and Preaching

I'm presently teaching through the book of James each Sunday to our church community at Crosspoint here in Charlotte. This is really the first series we've done where we've actually walked through the entire book a passage at a time. For the first 19 months, we've primarily done topical messages or themes that have dealt with specific issues relevant to the audience we are reaching. I've heard from many church planters that they've resisted preaching through an entire book of the Bible because it's either too systematic and long or it's either not very relevant to where people are today. In other words, to preach through a passage as it comes up each week may force a subject upon you that's not really relevant to the context you find yourself in. Well, I have to say that this series for our church has been the most eye opening and relevant thing we've done. Our people who've never ever read the Bible didn't know that the Bible is so relevant or that it even dealt with some of the issues they've been hearing. You see, I believe that we can preach whatever text comes up in a given week and then make the necessary jump from "that world" to "our world" and connect the scripture to everyday life. That's the job of a good communicator. To bring the story of God from thousands of years ago and help our people find themselves in the story and continue to live out what was first given to a people in a different context and a different day and make it ours today. I will admit it's not always easy, but the study and preparation is well worth it when you find the newest Christ follower saying they never knew the Bible said what it says. So I say, "preach the word in season and out of season!"