Topic Archives: Church & Ministry

One of the first, simple assignments homiletic students should be given is to assemble a team of prayer partners. Recruiting from their congregation, family members, mentors, and fellow students, the students are required to assemble a number of at least eight to ten people for their prayer team in the first week of the class. […]

I think that almost every reader of this magazine1 will recognize in these two lines the beginning of the hymn by William Cowper, ‘God moves in a mysterious way’. As far as I know that author is virtually unknown to Polish Christians. Although many Christians might not know the hymn, we know the truth that […]

The Quality of Urgency in Preaching Preaching, by definition, should be urgent in nature. By urgency we mean preaching that has, in the words of Merriam-Webster, a ‘force or impulse that impels or constrains.’ Preaching with urgency is done when the preacher not only hopes for but calls for and expects response to the Word […]

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in evangelistic preaching? First, consider the work of the Holy Spirit upon the preacher himself.1 Clearly the preacher’s private time with the Lord is vital. This includes his own personal devotional time when God speaks to him in prayer, and his own systematic reading of the word […]

They spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord who was testifying to the word of His grace (Acts 14:3). I very well remember in 1976, while working with Dr. Jim Baird at the First Presbyterian Church, Macon, Georgia, reading for the first time Arnold Dallimore’s marvellous biography on George Whitefield,1 […]

Herman Bavinck in his Reformed Dogmatics begins his exposition of the doctrine of God with these striking words: ‘Mystery is the life blood of dogmatics.’ Bavinck is not telling us that systematic theology is an impenetrable puzzle. Rather, he is saying that incomprehensible and inexplicable wonder lies at the very heart of God’s self-revelation to […]

I think you know my deep conviction that the church of Jesus must be intentional, earnest, and aggressive in going into our communities and nations with the life saving message of reconciliation to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save sinners. Indeed, we must constantly look for ways to publish the good […]

. . . his blood I will require at your hand (Ezekiel 3:18). I have been saying for a long time now that what young people of this generation need, what they have always needed, is a direct, passionate, declaration of the truth as it is in Jesus. David Murray, in citing an article by […]

The First Service in the Grace & Truth Church in Israel A few weeks after completing all the municipal requirements, we began our worship services in the new building! This was after consulting with both our architect and a lawyer. It has been a long-anticipated event for the congregants. So many times we thought we […]

We seem to be in a stalemate in church and state today. Problems are multiplying. The situation becomes more confusing year by year and we are in danger of losing heart: people are at a loss what to do. There is a great deal of activity but where is the substance? Maurice Roberts has said: […]

An extract from Al Martin’s What’s Wrong with Preaching Today?, published as a booklet by the Trust.1 Originally an address given to the Ministers’ Conference of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church at Westminster Theological Seminary in September 1967, the transcript was revised for publication by the author, who sought to retain the sermonic style. Preaching has […]

Go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel (Jeremiah 7:12). Thirty-seven year old Asahel Nettleton, the powerful Presbyterian evangelist, was exhausted. He had been preaching several times daily in […]

When your child learns to write, he is ready to begin taking sermon notes. Say, what? Let’s say that little George is 4 or 5 or 6 years old and he knows how to write his name and how to write all of his letters. Now he can get started! All you need is a […]

I have now been in the ministry for 37 years and, looking back, deplore the fact that I have made so many mistakes that could have been prevented, had I known better. On the other hand, by God’s grace alone, I have been blessed with a ministry which has been rewarded in the sense that […]

This book consists of five recent addresses given by Iain Murray the veteran preacher and co-founder of Banner of Truth. The messages cover a wide range of issues: evangelical holiness, the Bible, apostasy, controversy and the fourth commandment. Mr Murray shows in each message how important the subject is and carefully and clearly teaches using […]