Thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Our occasional newsletter called Man of God is primarily for young men who are interested in becoming preachers.  Making this decision is a very critical one involving not only a lifetime but also eternity as well.  There are great ways to serve God besides being a preacher, but opportunities to help people go to heaven really abound for those who preach.  Our main goal in life is to go to heaven and to help other people come with us.  Preachers have many ways to work with people to help them spiritually—through the pulpit, through counseling, through one-on-one Bible studies, through working with the elders and others to make the congregation stronger.

So, if you have talents that would allow you to preach and a dedication to helping people go to heaven, give a good look at spending your life as a preacher.  There will be times of stress, times when you share in the grief of others, and times when you will feel you have been treated unfairly. But overall, there will be times of great joy and times when you have the satisfaction of knowing you have helped someone on their road to heaven.

One other factor to think …

Read More...

One of the standard approaches to preparing a sermon is to do an expository lesson.  As the word indicates, this is a sermon that “exposes” a passage to the minds of the audience.  A good way to think about an expository sermon is to look at it in two steps: (1) find a “paragraph” of a few verses that develop a theme, (2) then ask what the passage teaches about that theme.  A simple example of this might be Jesus’s statement in Matthew 7:13-14 where the theme is people walking on two roads.  Questions that naturally arise from this passage are:  (1) Which gate will you enter? (2) Which road will you walk?  (3) Which destiny will you reach?  The application of the lesson, of course, is that to reach heaven, one must enter the narrow gate and walk the straight road.

For another example, one might look at Matthew 5:14-16 where Jesus teaches that his disciples are to be “the light of the world.”  He teaches that we must shine in the darkness, that we shine by our good deeds, and that we shine to glorify God.  These points might be developed though questions:  (1) What does Christ ask …

Read More...

Just for fun and to test your Bible knowledge, answer the following questions about Bible geography.

1. The Tower of Babel was located in which of the following locations:
a. In Egypt
b. Near the present site of Jerusalem
c. South of Babylon and near the Euphrates River
d. Near the present city of Damascus.

2. When Jesus stopped at the well near Sychar and visited with the woman at the well, in what general area was he located?
a. Near the Sea of Galilee
b. Near the Mediterranean Sea
c. On the east side of the Jordan River
d. About half-way between Jerusalem and Nazareth

3. The City of Ephesus where Paul preached was in:
a. Italy
b. Asia Minor
c. Greece
d. Syria

4. When Peter preached to Cornelius, he was in
a. Antioch
b. Jerusalem
c. Caesarea
d. Capernaum

5. When Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom, he was going to a place nearest to which body of water?
a. The Dead Sea
b. The Sea of Galilee
c. The Agean Sea
d. The Mediterranean Sea

Read More...

by Stafford North

If you are considering whether to be a preacher, you may wonder how preachers spend their time.  Do preachers just come to their office at 8 in the morning, take a coffee break at 10, take an hour off for lunch, and then go home at 5 in the afternoon?  That question would bring a smile to anyone who has preached for very long.  Preachers have a full and varied schedule.  Let us imagine a week in the life of a preacher just to give some idea of how his week might go.

On Monday morning, the preacher arrives at his office about 8 a.m.  He spends the first half-hour reviewing what happened on the previous Sunday.  How did his sermons go?  How might they have been better?  What kind of response did he get?  Was there someone who made a comment with whom he needs to follow up?  Did someone respond to the invitation who now needs more attention?

After this the preacher spends another half-an-hour in prayer and Bible reading just for his personal spiritual life.  Then he maps out his time for the week to be sure he gives attention to the most important …

Read More...

There are several camps over the summer for young men who want to preach. Some are connected with a university or a school for preachers while others are set up by churches.  We are glad to share information about some of these camps and would encourage those interested in attending one of these to make early contact. Usually the program is four or five days in length and concludes with the students actually delivering a sermon.  Attending one of these camps could be a very good experience for someone who is interested in knowing more about preaching and about preparing himself for this work.

May 26 – May 31, 2013
Greymere Church of Christ
Middle Tennessee Future Ministers Camp
Columbia, TN
Contact:  Kirk Brothers at 931-388-4796
Email: kbrothers@fhu.edu

June 2 – June 9, 2013
Karns Church of Christ
Southeast Leadership Camp
Knoxville, TN
Contact:  Justin Morton at 865-691-7411
Email: karns@karnscoc.org

July 16 - 21, 2013
Washington Ave Church of Christ
Future Minister’s Camp
…

Read More...