God's message to you

[Jesus] told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations (Luke 24:46-47).

When you go to church or watch a worship service on television, what kind of message do you expect to hear? For many Americans, the message they receive is a self-help message. The cleric talks about how the listeners can change their lives, reach their goals, feel empowered; advice is given on how to set priorities, how to budget time, how to manage conflict and reduce stress. Other clergy emphasize the love of God--how He accepts everyone just as they are, how tolerant He is of our personal weaknesses.

The problem with these two kinds of messages is that they are both incomplete. I have heard self-help sermons that never speak about Jesus as the power for living a new life; these lectures sound more like 12 step programs than sermons. I have also heard messages that speak about God’s love, but avoid talking about sin and the need for God’s forgiveness, or submission to His holy will; these messages often sound as if they want to use universal love to excuse sinful behavior.

This is not the way that Jesus or the apostles preached. The pattern laid out by Jesus was this: repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name. Christian preaching contains three things. First, it issues us a wake-up call. The Christian message of salvation constantly reminds us that we are sinners—that we anger God by what we do and by what we fail to do each day. That is the preaching of repentance. Second, Christian sermons are always to announce to us that God is willing to give us another chance to start living life right—that He will forget our past mistakes, if we genuinely want to abandon our old sinful ways and instead live a life that is pleasing to God. That is the preaching of forgiveness of sins. Finally, Christian preaching always focuses on Jesus, the Son of God who suffered for our sins. Without Jesus, there is no offer of forgiveness; without Jesus, there is no strength to help us in rejecting what is evil and embracing what is holy. This is why all preaching must be done in His Name. When a religious message fails to show us our sin, introduce us to our Savior, and offer us forgiveness, that message fails to bring us the Good News that God wants us to hear.