I'm not going to lie, when someone criticizes my preaching (especially the sermon topic), my flesh gets all riled up. So that particular morning, I chose not to engage the conversation. I simply said, "okay," and moved on.
You see, at Grace Pointe, we study through books of the Bible during our Sunday morning, evening and Wednesday night sermons. On Sunday mornings, we study Luke. On Sunday evenings, we study 1 John. On Wednesday evenings, we study Revelation. What I preach about is determined by the text that comes up next in the book we are studying. So, it should come as no surprise that an overwhelming majority of the sermons preached at Grace Pointe Missionary Baptist Church are centered around the Gospel, for the Gospel is the central message of the Bible. Furthermore, we need to be more committed to preaching the Word of God (the Gospel, as recorded and taught in scripture) because the general public has no concept of the Gospel and God's plan of salvation. (If you don't believe me, go out and knock 10 doors of complete strangers in your neighborhood, ask how to be saved, and record the answers.)
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul said, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
Typically, we use these verses to define the Gospel. That Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The Gospel had already been foretold by the Old Testament scriptures, and those Old Testament scriptures are what Paul referred to when he preached the Gospel.
Acts 17:2-3 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.Not only did Paul preach the Gospel when he was evangelizing, it was his central message. 1 Corinthians 1:23 says "We preach Christ crucified."
While the Bible does address issues like being a good husband, father, or a wife and mother, or being a good child, or a good employer/employee, the overwhelming majority of the Bible conveys the message of the Gospel and how God uses the obedience of His people for His honor and glory. Furthermore, the Bible also conveys how God rewards those who are faithful. To abandon the message of the Gospel for a series of "how to be the best ______ you can be" sermons is to turn away from the message of God's word and relegate the Holy Scriptures to a bargain bin self help book like thousands of man-made philosophies lining the shelves of bookstores everywhere.
"But what about the meat of the Word, shouldn't we get beyond salvation to the meat?" You ask.
First of all, scripture does not get any deeper than Jesus Christ (Thank you Roger Copeland for pointing that out.) Secondly, a deeper study of the Bible will always lead to a deeper understanding of the Gospel. The book of Hebrews admonished Hebrew believers for being stuck on the milk of the word... not that they didn't know a lot of scripture, but that they didn't have a thorough understanding of God's grace to the point that they would leave their old religion of sacrifices and rituals behind. Perhaps the reason we have generations of baby Christians who never mature is that we (a) never move beyond the "Here's how to be saved, Admit, Believe and Confess" sermons, and (b) if we do, we preach on some obscure theological point that will not help a person walk with God. The deeper the believer understands the Gospel, the more mature the believer will be in his faith, the more meat the believer can handle, and the stronger that believer's faith will be.
Therefore, as long as God blesses me with a preaching ministry, I plan to continue to preach through books of the Bible, thus preaching the whole counsel of God, and also placing emphasis on what God placed emphasis in His word.
