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The ONE Way to Improve Your Teaching and Writing

Sometimes referred to as the “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon was famed for preaching at his church in London to crowds of more than six thousand people. With more than twenty-five hundred of his sermons published, this famous preacher has more books in print than any other pastor in history.

In one account from Spurgeon’s life, a young pastor approached the famed preacher and asked if he’d listen to him teach and provide feedback of his presentation.

Spurgeon agreed.

The young pastor preached a passionate sermon. He waited in excited expectation for Spurgeon’s response.

Spurgeon observed that while the sermon was well-delivered and well-prepared, it was poor.

The young pastor pressed Spurgeon to know why.

“Because there was no Christ in it,” Spurgeon replied.

“Well, Christ was not in the text, we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text,” the young pastor protested.

“Don’t you know, young man, that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?”

“Yes,” the young pastor answered.

“Ah!” Spurgeon said. “And so from every text in Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. Dear Brother, when you get to a text, say, ‘Now, what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, running along the road toward the great metropolis—Christ.”

Though every passage in the Bible is not explicitly about Christ, Scripture is constantly grounding us in the story of redemption and salvation that God has put in motion since the beginning of time, which finds its fulfillment in Jesus. [Tweet this]

The ONE Way to Improve Your Teaching and Writing

Our purpose in reading God’s Word isn’t to collect historical facts or to become a Bible trivia ninja, but to know and encounter God.

God is waiting to meet you in the Bible! [Tweet this]

The ONE Way to Improve Your Teaching and Writing

Sometimes as we read the Bible, we’ll receive a word of encouragement and hope; sometimes we’ll be faced with a word of confrontation. A passage may expose our pride or selfishness or personal idols and call us to repent that we can walk in greater holiness and freedom.

But it’s hard to read the Bible for very long and remain the same.*

God's Living Word BIble Study

*Adapted from God’s Living Word: Relevant, Alive, and Active on sale this week only for $5 (regularly $9.99—a savings of 50%).

Click here to grab a copy for yourself and a friend during our Spring Sale where you can save 40% on books and Bible studies.

***

The ONE Way to Improve Your Teaching and Writing

This week I’m giving away THREE copies of my friend, Jennifer Dukes Lee’s new book, Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need from Approval and Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes.

Jennifer Dukes Lee is an award-winning news journalist. She blogs at www.JenniferDukesLee.com. Connect with her on Twitter @dukeslee and on Facebook.

Jennifer’s message is one for all of us—We all want someone to think we’re sensational. We desire to be recognized, to be valued, to be respected. To be loved.

Yet this natural yearning too often turns into an idol of one of God’s most precious gifts: love itself.

In Love Idol, Jennifer gently invites us to make peace with our imperfections and to stop working overtime for a love that is already ours.

To win ONE of THREE copies of Love Idol, enter a comment on the original post at MargaretFeinberg.com. Winners will be selected and announced on next Wednesday.

Congratulations to the winners: Ava Sophie, Kristine Drumm, Tami

What verse has been particularly meaningful to you as you’ve read during the #LentChallenge?

*Original Photo Source

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