If I’m crazy or irrelevant for preaching about future challenges to the faith, then so is Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Ezra, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, John Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Jude, and even Jesus. They all warned of future challenges and called the people of God to ready themselves to persevere. I would venture to say that those men are good company and good examples to pattern one’s sermon material.
I have to admit, evangelists and itinerant preachers have it much easier in preaching. Pastors, can I get an AMEN? While pastoring, I had to have a different sermon each week and often more than one. At times three different sermons, and at that traditional pace of three sermons a week—that’s over one-hundred and fifty messages a year.
Now that I’m doing the itinerant thing, the most I have to have is five different sermons when I preach a revival. But often I’m preaching the same message over and over again. Now I say this all tongue and check, it’s true pastors have a difficult task of continuing to preach new messages, but I don’t think we should ever view it as having “to have” a sermon. Each time we preach should be a message or teaching that the Holy Spirit has led us to share with our congregation.
But it’s a good thing that I only have to have a message or two because there is one thing I am overwhelmingly burdened to share—believers need to prepare to stand firm for challenges to their faith now and especially those in the future.
Yes, challenges in the future.
Future challenges that are both normative that we could face any day, as well as, those that are prophetic and will one day befall us. But often the response I hear towards preaching on being spiritually prepared for future challenges, is “That’s not the type of thing we talk about our church.” Or “We focus on messages that are relevant to everyone’s life and prophecy doesn’t really fit that.” And “We make sure we have practical messages that the congregation can apply to their life.”
Listen, I’m glad churches have strategies and know the demographics of their congregation. I also know all too well that preaching on prophecy and end-times stuff has been greatly abused–the stigmatism is understandable. I’m also glad messages are intended to be relevant and practical, but as I wrote about in my previous post American Christians aren’t prepared to remain faithful.
Relevancy is not set by the culture or what we are doing tomorrow, rather the reality presented in Scripture shows what is relevant. And leaders of God’s people in history and the Biblical writers have felt that future challenges are relevant and important to their people. So, what has led us to change that precedent?
Moses warned of the challenges the Israelites would face in the land.
The prophets warned of the looming consequences if Israel did not return.
Jesus warned the disciples they would be hated and persecuted.
Paul called the believers in Ephesus to put on the armor of God for the pending attacks of the devil.
Peter called the believers scattered in the diaspora to be alert because challenges were prowling in the shadows.
John relayed the words of Jesus given on the Isle of Patmos, that the believers in the seven churches of Asia needed to be overcomers and hold on until the end.
It’s relevant for eternity and it’s relevant for our souls to hear messages about what lies ahead, even if that keeps us from hearing a relevant message of how to deal with our anger at work that next week.
Even before I became overwhelmed with the message to stand firm, I learned the
Find out what Jake believes we need to be prepared to face, and more encouragement to hold on.
hard way that pastors need to not only equip church members for today, but also prepare them for the future. In my time as a youth pastor, I focused on challenging students to live for Christ that week in their high school and how to date in a God-glorifying manner. Helpful stuff, but they were only in high school for four years, while they’re going to be adulting for the rest of their lives. I should have been preparing them to follow Christ for the long haul.
Believer please look past what you practically need right now and utilize the Word to prepare yourself for future trials. Pastor, small group leader, or Bible Study teacher, yes, your people need a practical application, but that application also needs to extend to future challenges. It’s not wrong to warn about the future, the Bible does.
So, preach about future challenges and prepare for them. And if you’d like to invite me to help in the process, please do.
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Executive Director of Stand Firm and lead pastor of Epic Church NWA in Springdale, AR and multiple award-winning author, Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Former regular contributor to the Baptist Press and WND News with popular conservative voices such as Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Greg Laurie, Ben Schapiro, Joel Richardson, and others. He now is a weekly contributor for Israel, Islam, and the End Times and Armageddon News. He has authored books such as the, award-winning Spiritual Prepper from WND Books. Award-winning devotional books, Invincibleand For Uncertain Times, he authored the ground-breaking children’s book, Jesus and His White Horse from CrossLink Publishing. He is also a regular guest on national and international radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his weekly live streaming program Talking Stand Firm and weekly podcast Stand Firm Parents.
