4 things about this gospel that Paul is teaching:
- People change all the time, so we need to be on our toes and change.
- Know our people.
- Start where people really are rather than where we think they are. Otherwise you'll distort the gospel of grace.
Gary's admission:
I found it difficult at times to preach the gospels and the crucifixion. Why? I realised that it was an expose on my own sin. I found that what I liked to do was to take difficult things and make them clear. So I felt good about myself for helping people understand difficult things. The cross was too easy...
'older' Christian generally just means older, in our normal sense.
Preaching to 'older' blokes means encouraging them to keep going.
A danger of a high view of preaching is that this is the only place where teaching happens. And yet Paul encourages the older women to teach the younger. Make sure that we're encouraging this as it's vital. Truth is best taught in close relationship.
Can't stop working at connecting with people, because people are always changing.
Self-questions
- Is my Bible teaching's application specific enough?
- Do I understand the culture well enough?
- Do I know what people are going through at the moment?
- Do I understand the challenges of individual stages of life well enough?
- Do I care enough to find out?
- Is my speaking health-promoting or damaging at the moment?
Why is zeal now an insult? The element of a gospel life that is scary to the outsider is the zeal for good works.
We MUST preach the gospel of grace because it produces Godliness and passion. Preaching legalism does NOT produce lasting change. Legalism and guilt-tripping people does NOT produce lasting change.
Past grace -> respond with gratitude.
Future grace -> respond in faith, living for him.
Look forward to the grace that is to come. Keep going because Jesus is coming.
Get on with a gospel-speaking, straight-talking, hard-working ministry, despite all the rubbish that will come. All of ministry is the gospel, its power, not ours, and God working through it.