“Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 19:8, NIV84)

Even Paul, the last of the Apostles, understood that his task was to teach and preach about the kingdom of God. Imagine, for three months he continued to push his hearers to see things from the perspective of the kingdom of God. No other perspective matters. Not yours! Not mine! I think one of the temptations we as teachers and preachers face is that we try to make the message original. In an attempt to make the message relevant we feel we must add to it or make it different. We want to think that we have created something new. The problem with that is that is exactly what happens. We get so excited about our new thought and perspective that we don’t see that we have moved off the core message of the kingdom of God.

At the end of the day, the church is still on the planet so it can reach out to the lost and bring them safely into the kingdom of Heaven. That is done through the message of the Gospel. Our words and actions must declare the reality that we live for something more than this world. We need to stay true to the Gospel message because two very important things are at stake–truth and people’s eternal souls. We cannot get so caught up in our original thought that we violate either one of those key principles.

May we as individuals, and as a church, stay true to our calling to spread the good news about the kingdom of Heaven.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church