Understanding and preaching to the heart
June 23, 2009
hebrews 4:12 speaks of the thoughts and desires of the heart.
• there’s what we think (interpret believe and trust)
• there’s what we desire (worship want treasure)
Tim Chester helpfully points out we are always interpreting and always worshipping something. Part of our very humaness is our propensity to expalin things and treasure things … It’s hard wired into us.
There’s the problem with my heart too. What I think and what I desire, because sin is not trusting God nor desiring him above all else. It’s beliving lies and falsehood rather than his good word and worshipping created things rather than my creator.
Only the gospel can help hearts. Only the gospel gives me a true object of faith and a true object of repentance. Only the gospel satisfies my thoughts and desires, my trust and worship.
I wonder whether we have captured this well in our gospel presentatons?
It would seem that our desires, our wants, our treasures are key in getting to heart issues, and not just our thoughts, interpretations and explanations?
how can I preach to hearts in a way that hits thoughts and desires?
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized. .
1 Comment Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
1. Al bain | June 24, 2009 at 9:27 am
Shane. Thanks for this post. Our thoughts and desires are held captive (at least mine are) by that which most satisfies us. The need to be loved for example. That need drives us to do some crazy things with some crazy people in some crazy places.
When we preach it’s not just enough to assume that all our listeners know this about themselves. We are more sinful even than we realise. Our needs are rarely acknowledged. So you, as a preacher, need to uncover those secret needs, look at them, show that in and of themselves they are not wrong, and point them to Jesus who will satisfy those needs in a way that, for example. an earthly lover (incl. and wife or husband) simply cannot.
When preachers carefully admit that they too struggle with the same things as their listeners, a way to the heart is opened and a community can together learn to be captivated by Christ and have their needs sated by him