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Discussion Forum : Articles and Sermons : Faith In God's Power Alone by Jim Cymbala

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drifter
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Joined: 2005/6/6
Posts: 1025
Campbell River, B.C.

 Faith In God's Power Alone by Jim Cymbala

Jim Cymbala
August 11, 2018

Every believer is probably familiar with the important role that preaching and good teaching play in extending Christ’s kingdom and helping us mature. But over the last few years, I have begun to wonder if our understanding of preaching is defined more by our life experience than by the Bible.

In most churches, a minister stands before the congregation and shares a passage of Scripture, usually in a sequential, logical manner that breaks down the meaning of the passage for everyone to understand. If the message is Scripture based and the speaker’s communication skills are of a high caliber, one would usually define that as a “fine sermon.” The same can be applied to us when we share the Word one-on-one with a friend or coworker. The recommended advice is to use your head, be as persuasive as you can, and try to bring the person to a belief in Jesus.

While all that is good, what are we going to make of the apostle Paul’s description of his method of preaching? Reminding the Corinthian church of his eighteen-month ministry there, he said: “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthian 2:1-5, emphasis added).

What? A speaker not depending on wise and persuasive words? Isn’t that what most of us aim for when we share with others? But that was never part of Paul’s strategy as a preacher of the gospel. He boasted in the Spirit’s power resting on him. Why? In order that the Christians in Corinth might have their faith “in God’s power” and not in “human wisdom.”


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Nigel Holland

 2018/8/11 14:22Profile
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 Re: Faith In God's Power Alone by Jim Cymbala

I have often thought the same thing. I wonder what Paul’s preaching ministry “looked” like.


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Todd

 2018/8/11 16:02Profile
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Joined: 2005/6/6
Posts: 1025
Campbell River, B.C.

 Re:

There's 2 kinds of preaching/evangelism I've seen.

One is where you have someone trying to convince people they're sinners with only head knowledge and carefully crafted arguments. It nearly always fails. People seem to think if they have the right words or method it will produce results.

The other kind is where someone has the power of the Holy Spirit. What he says might be very similar to the person without the power of the Holy Spirit, but his words have weight and authority. You know this man has been praying and communing with Jesus. People are convicted because their inner man is reached, as only the Holy Spirit can do.


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Nigel Holland

 2018/8/11 17:11Profile
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Joined: 2012/2/8
Posts: 6650
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 Re:

Of course that is very true and I have experienced same. You can tell when someone has anointing.

But we know Paul was a capable speaker- he addressed the Greek philosophers on Mars hill and we know he made capable logical arguments in his defense before Festus and Agrippa.

So I am just curious what his ministry to the Corinthians looked like.
———-
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
——————
I wonder what he means by “demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”


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Todd

 2018/8/11 19:53Profile





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