FEP 22 '88 B EN N ER UBi^ J MARCH, APRIL, MAY 1988 KlaTarene Umversny ILL IM W AGAZINE■■■ llHHI THE SACRIFICIAL SHEPHERD..........................11 THE PARABLE TO END DESPAIR.....................21 WESLEYAN MILESTONES.................................32 EASTER: RELIVING THE MYSTERY................. 37 COMPETENCY IN MINISTRY............................54 SUITABLE FOR FRAMING If we are well satisfied with our civili­ zation, our culture, our institutions, it would not be unreasonable to say that Jesus is our great enemy. He is the alien, the fleeting ghost moving in and out among the shadows of the private mind, and of the collective mind. A wanderer. Where can He find a place in which He can be at home? He chal­ lenges the very grounds of the com­ u mon assumptions upon which we live, day after day. He was no radical social reformer) nor was He a radical political reformer. But He was a religious man who, out of His inner experience of God, spoke judgment upon the estab­ IA lished order. — Howard Thurman, The Growing Edge ONDAY ORNING EVOTIONS FOR INISTERS by Reuben Welch For Monday, March 7, 1988 selves. There is still labor to be done. It might be good for us to let our weight down on both of these realities. FRUITFUL LABOR They will be with us till Jesus comes or till we go. For us who share the divine calling, life in the flesh means labor. The word that saves us from drudgery or despair is f it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful the word fruitful. It isn’t work itself that robs us of vitality labor for me” (Phil. 1:22, RSV). and energy, it is the sense of futility or ineffectiveness in If we are not going “to depart” and “be our labor. What kept Paul going, even in the prison com­ with Christ” (v. 23), the life we live is in the flesh. That is pound, was the confidence that the preaching of Christ especially clear on Monday, when our bodies and emo­ and his labor in Christ would be fruitful. tions are drained and our psychic energy is down. I think we need today a renewal of confidence in The trouble is, labor doesn’t end. In one sense there is Christ’s promise to us that our work will bear fruit that a line between Sunday and Monday, but in another will remain (John 15:16). The labor is ours, the fruit is sense there is no line at all. Whatever Sunday was— His. We can know, along with Paul, that in spite of our good, bad, or indifferent— runs over into Monday. And Monday feelings, our labor is “not in vain” in the Lord (1 then there is Tuesday. And another Sunday is coming. Cor 15:58). We are in the flesh; we are still our weak, human For Monday, March 14,1988 OUR DESIRE FOR DEPARTURE y desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Con­ vinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again” (Phil. 1:23-26, RSV). There are Mondays when it would be “far better” just to depart! The same people, the same problems, the same situation— these are enough to make leaving a joy; except for the terrible process of moving. In Paul’s case, departure from prison was not exactly Reuben Welch an option. Given his health and his circumstances, de­ parture to be with Christ was, in fact, a real and viable one— except for the Philippians. “To remain . is more necessary on your account” (v. 24). (Continued on page 4) IN THIS ISSUE EXPOSITORY PREACHING 8 REDIGGING THE WELLS OF BIBLICAL PREACHING...........................................................Jerry Harvill 11 THE SACRIFICIAL SHEPHERD.................................................................................................Roger Hahn 14 FROM EXEGESIS TO SERMON: A Preacher’s Study of Ephesians 1:15-23.............Alex Ft. G. Deasley 18 GOD’S AMBASSADORS: Preparing to Preach from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6...................... D. L. Huffman 21 THE PARABLE TO END DESPAIR: Preaching from the Parable of the Sower.............Morris A. Weigelt 25 THE HOMILETICAL PROCESS......................................................................................... Daniel L. Burnett 28 AN EXEGETICAL METHOD ILLUSTRATED.............................................................. Alvin S. Lawhead FEATURE ARTICLES HOLINESS HERITAGE 32 Significant Wesleyan Milestones.................................................................................... Herbert McGonigle EASTER 37 Easter: Reliving the Mystery..............................................................................................Robert E. Webber PENTECOST SUNDAY 39 Memories and Fellowship.............................................................................................. Harvey J. S. Blaney WESLEYANA 42 Preparing the Way of the Lord..................................................................................................Joe Seaborn FINANCE 44 The Preretirement Years: A Time for Financial Planning................................................ Paul D. Fitzgerald THE MINISTER’S MATE 46 Ever So Humble............................................................................................................. Nina Graves Beegle CHURCH MUSIC 48 Corporate Music for Corporate Worship...........................................................................Terry L. Baldridge EVANGELISM 50 Fishers of Men— and Empty Nets.................................................................................C. William Ellwanger CHURCH ADMINISTRATION 51 Those Immobile Members.......................................................................................... G. Roger Schoenhals 52 Pros and Cons of Buying a Church Computer.......................................... ........................Rick Upchurch 52 Principles for a Successful Building Program............................................................. Marcus J. Clements THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 54 Competency in Ministry.........................................................................................................Chevis F. Horne 56 The Preacher at the Battlefront............. .................................................................................... Ray Lassell REGULAR FEATURES Suitable for Framing......................... Inside Front Cover Sermon Illustrations................................................... 61 Monday Morning Devotions........................................ 1 Sermon Outlines......................................................... 62 Editorial......................................................................... 7 Preacher’s Exchange..................................................63 Christian Calendar......................................................43 Ark Rocker...................................................................64 Today’s Books for Today’s Preacher.........................59 THE PREACHER’S MAGAZINE Proclaiming Christian Holiness Volume 63 Number 3 MARCH/APRIL/MAY 1988 Wesley Tracy J. D. Abbot Editor O. D. Emery Robert W. McIntyre Mark D. Marvin Earle L. Wilson General Superintendents Assistant Editor The Wesleyan Church Consulting Editors Bill Sullivan Director of the Division of Jack C. Rea Church Growth Jack L. Willcuts Church of the Nazarene Maurice Roberts Robert Hess Superintendents Wilbur Brannon Evangelical Director of Pastoral Friends Church Ministries Church of the Nazarene Wayne E. Caldwell General Editor Robert Kline The Wesleyan Church General Superintendent Churches of Christ in Christian Union Contributing Editors Cover Photo: Comstock/Harold M. Lambert Eugene L. Stowe Charles H. Strickland William M. Greathouse Authors should address all articles Jerald D. Johnson R. Donald Shafer and correspondence to Editor, John A. Knight General Conference Preacher's Magazine, 6401 The Pa- Raymond W. Hurn Secretary seo, Kansas City, MO 64131. Self- General Superintendents Brethren in Christ addressed, stamped envelopes Church of the Nazarene Church PREACHER'S MAGAZINE (ISSN 0162-3982) is published quarterly by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2923 Troost Ave., Kansas City, MO 64109. Editorial offices at 6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64131. Address all correspondence concerning subscriptions to your denominational publishing house. Copyright 1988 by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City. POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to the Preacher's Magazine, P.O. Box 419527, Kansas City, MO 64141. Subscription price: $3.50 per year. Second-class postage paid in Kansas City, Mo. Litho in U.S.A. Palm Sunday, the agony of Gethsemane, and the deso­ MONDAY MORNING DEVOTIONS lation of Calvary, He was able to keep His balance be­ (Continued from page 1) cause His life was lived for His Father. He calls us to live for Him, to die with Him to all other This raises very good questions: Why do we stay dependencies, and to find our worth and meaning in where we are? If we move, why will we stay there? I Him and His gospel. remember hearing Franklin Cook talk in chapel about the complex problems of our missionary enterprise. He asked the question, “What keeps us there?” I will never For Monday, March 28, 1988 forget this part of his answer: “An inner heart attach­ LIFE IN THE GOSPEL ment.” That is what keeps us where we are, doing what we are doing. Another part of the answer is that we are called not to serve our own interests but to produce fruit in those nly let your manner of life be worthy of the whose interests we are called to serve. Once more in gospel of Christ”