First Baptist Church
January 18, 2026

      • Luke 4.16-17ESV

      • Luke 4.18-19ESV

  • Your Words Of Life
  • How Firm A Foundation

      • Isaiah 55.11ESV

  • Ancient Words
  • Introduction to series:
    Any builder before he sets out to build a new addition, first should pause to consider the foundation. For anyone to quickly look to the future and begin to envision all of the things that could be without first really getting the first things right, runs the risk of seeing everything come toppling to the ground.
    We are in that season of change and addition. Where before us seems like a whole spectrum of possibilities. Potentials and possibly fears for all kinds of ministries, programs, discipleship. However, before we can truly begin to envision the road before us we need to make sure we are building the structure correctly and that starts with the foundation. We need to evaluate if we have issues or cracks in our foundation.
    What are the foundational things of any church. Things that are absolutely essential. Without them the church wouldn’t exist. If we were to go to the book of Titus to see what Paul said were the essential things that needed to be in place for a church to exist, you would notice that he starts right in chapter one with the establishment of qualified pastors.
    That’s essential. That’s foundational. That was and still is step number one. You can’t move onto step 2 or 3 or any of the future steps until step one is done and done correctly. Marcus and I love to build legos together. As we build, we cannot wait to get to the final results. But what if to save time, we open up the instructions and say, na we don’t have time for steps one through 30, we will just skip towards the middle to the end of the book, and we’ll just figure out the other stuff on our own so we can get to the good stuff faster.
    How likely is it that that lego set is going to turn out well?
    Same is true on anything we do, even in the church as well.
    If we don’t get pastoral leadership correct, our church is not going to move forward, but it will collapse. How do we get it right? We look at the manual and make sure we are following it correctly.
    Does our opinions and views of what a pastor does match up. Have we thought thoroughly and methodically of what place pastors have in our church.
    Let me talk more about this in this way.
    I mentioned before that we are in a season of change.
    With change comes different reactions and emotions
    -fear
    what things do churches fear when hiring a new pastor. Here are some of the common answers… not finding the right fit, losing things we love or have held onto, general fear of unknown, not being able to support them they way they need, effectiveness (success) of the ministry under their leadership
    -expectations
    with anything new that comes, we naturally begin to envision what the “new” thing will look like. If I asked everyone here to decorate one room (supplying the paint, furniture, floor coverings, and decorations) not one single room would look identical. We all have differences in vision and tastes.
    The same could said about how we all view a “new” pastor. We all have visions and tastes that we prefer in our new pastor.
    Stated a different way. What if I were to go around the room and ask everyone what they expected of their pastor. Everyone would give me at least one. How many of those expectations would perfectly line up? Some might, but the probability is that this room would be full of all kinds of differing expectations. We might all think that our one expectation isn’t all that much to ask for (as long as he- the pastor- sets up a good kids program, a ministry to the older yolks, as long as he keeps our congregation singing hymns, or singing newer songs, as long as he hosts people regularly in his home, as long as he comes over to visit frequently, as long as he preaches and teaches 3 times a week or more, as long as he doesn’t preach too long or too short, as long as he wears a certain type of clothing, as long as he creates lots of ways for us to have activities that are fun and good for fellowship, as long as he is winning is out in the community doing things, as long as we doesn’t spend too much time away from church family and devotes his time to our members, as long as he spends ample time with his family, but as long as he is willing to drop everything to come to my aid when I need him (answer all my calls, texts, emails), we could go on and on with expectations ranging from biblical, helpful, and good to purely preferential, unbiblical, and unrealistic. The reality is that if we are not careful as a church, it could be very easy for a church to expect of it’s pastor over 100 different expectations. Many new pastors quite within a few yeas and become discouraged because the amount of things people expect and want is far too much than what he can give.
    So for that reason, in this season of change, it is right, it is wise, and it is biblical for us to address these fears and expectations in light of what God has said.
    Again everyone of us have fears and expectations, but my question is do they line up with the instruction manual or are we skipping the first steps. It’s easy for us to get lost in what we want and fail to get the essential things. Churches collapse and fall hard when they do this. But a church that goes back to the instructions and works step by step through it finds great encouragement and ministry effectiveness when they line up with the truth.
    In this way, this series of messages should encourage you because your fears become scarce as we see that we are following (or trying to follow) the church instruction manual. And when we are not, we have all learned to curb our expectation to the same and right source of truth. And this is important for all it’s members to do. Evaluate our expectations to make sure that they line up with what God’s word says. You know what they say, One bad apple can ruin the whole basket. Same is true in the church one really vocal and unbiblical opinion can really cause a terrible commotion in God’s church and can ruin much great gospel effectiveness.
    So let’s tune our hearts to hear what God’s plan is for the Pastor. God provides many different names for the pastor. Bishop, elder, overseer, Shepherd. That last title provides much help in visualizing and understanding what a Pastor does. He is a shepherd. So we will consider the pastor’s role by seeing it through the biblical analogy of a Shepherd.
    In beginning today, what might we consider His most important task.
    Jeremiah 3:15 ESV
    “ ‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
    John 21:17 ESV
    He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
    The responsibility to be taken most seriously about shepherding is the task of feeding. That’s what Jesus had in mind for his apostles and would be elders and pastors. Physical food wasn’t want Jesus had in mind what He said that wanted Peter to feed His sheep. It was spiritual food.
    In the book to the church in Ephesus, Paul connects the shepherds role to spiritual feeding by saying this.
    Ephesians 4:11 ESV
    And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
    In greek word translated “and” can mean “in particular”, so not describing two different positions, but one role with one primary function. He is a teaching/preaching shepherd.
    And that’s what we will spend our next few weeks considering. The Shepherd’s task: The importance of preaching.
    PRAY
    I pray you would protect, guard, and hold the future senior pastor of this church accountable to this task. Strengthing him in it to do it well.

    I. It’s Priority in the NT Church

    How big is preaching? How much priority should it take up. 3 descriptive points about preaching will show us it’s priority.

    A. Set Apart Task

    Acts 6:1–4 ESV
    Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
    This is a very powerful verse. The shepherd/pastor has many tasks, but of the those tasks, preaching is the only one that is given such priority that other tasks get delagated to other people to give more time for preparation and preaching. No other task receives this kind of treatment in scripture. ONLY PREACHING!!!
    How does that line up with today’s shepherds.
    Many shepherds spend far too much time being entertainers, activity directors, coordinators, hype-men, business mogels, instead of faithfully preaching the Word. Sometimes though, pastors know they want to preach the word and can do it well, but find themselves buried beneath loads of other expectations and responsibilities to do this well.
    Mark Dever from Capital Hill Baptist has a book called preach that had a great quote on that.
    “Too many pastors find themselves unable to give themselves to preparation for the ministry of the Word because they are too busy waiting tables (Acts 6:2). Other leaders in the church and the congregation as a whole need to have their expectations set. They need to understand that the sermon is the center of the pastor’s responsibility.”
    So how do we change to this....
    “...when the preaching of God’s Word shapes the agenda of the church’s life as a whole, the congregation begins to learn the importance of protecting the pastor’s schedule so that he has sufficient time to prepare to preach.”
    Continue line of thought.
    If pastors are directed by God to set aside other things for the preparation and preaching of God’s word, what should that also say of the priority preaching should have to the congregation?
    WE MAKE TIME FOR THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT!
    Do we other examples where other good things were set aside so that time would be given to hear the Word of God.
    Mary & Martha
    How much do you devote to sermon prep? In other words, what do you do with your time.
    Take 10-12 hours average to prepare for one sermon, preach Sunday night, another 10-12 hours. And that’s well over half of a 40 hour week. Not including the times you’ll preach and lead in prayer, or Sunday School, or mid-week discipling someone else. 20-25 hours in preparation for public preaching.
    That seems like alot, why do you need so much time for preparation and preaching? Isn’t that too much?
    It’s best ask the Bible those important subjects. The next two subpoints should answer that.

    B. Most Honorable Task

    1 Timothy 5:17 ESV
    Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
    1 Corinthians 9:8–14 ESV
    Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
    Both of these verses indicate something essential about why Pastor’s should be paid and for what activity they are paid for. As you read these verses, notice ,according to the apostle Paul, what the basis for the pastor’s payment is. Is it how well he counsels, is it how well he leads meetings, is it how well he organizes activities, is it how well he ministers and prays for his flock, is it how well he gets to know his flock and enjoys fellowship with them… All these are extremely good things and some of these may in fact be Biblical , but Paul says that one primary thing exists that the Pastor does making him deserving of his financial payment… and that is to preach...
    “those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel”
    If you’re not entirely convinced of that, that preaching is the essential reason pastors are paid, read on in the rest of the chapter. The next four verses use the word preach repeatedly. Think of it this way as well, it’s one of the primary ways that elders differ from deacons. The elder must be able to teach/preach the word. Able to teach. Deacons in their qualifications do not have this requirement.
    Thinking about Paul’s instruction, this isn’t merely his thoughts alone… he grounds his teaching with the Old Testament law and Christ’s own teaching.
    “you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain”- from Deut. 24:7
    “the laborer deserves his wages”- Luke 10:7. Spending time in this passage, you would see that Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs to “proclaim the truth of the Gospel” and would thus not worry about their payment, because God would provide for them for their work.
    Consider once again the verse we read in 1 Timothy 5:17
    1 Timothy 5:17 ESV
    Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
    The elder who rules well is deserving especially if he labors in preaching and teaching.
    Why, because there’s a HUGE VALUE of the ministry of the word — on which the whole life of the community rests. How much value can we place on being feed the right things from scripture. It’s truly far more valuable than anything on the planet. Think about it. If a real shepherd put so little thought and time into what they feed their sheep, and frequency of feeding their sheep, and how they feed their sheep, do you think that would have effect on the health of the sheep.
    I submit, that this alone might be the most essential thing contributing to the overall health of the sheep.
    Anyone who raises animals for such things as 4-H, or work and so on knows this importance. If you want your animal to be EFFECTIVE-USEFUL, then you feed it right.
    So it is with us. The shepherd MUST feed the sheep the correct truth (their diet), the right frequency, and the correct way. Your spiritual health is dependent upon it and so is your usefulness... so it’s a task that shepherds must take seriously.
    And it’s a blessing and a privilege that the sheep should long for and appreciate! Do you as sheep long for the priviledge of being feed and feed often. What is your diet like. The shepherd can prepare all he wants but if the sheep don’t come and don’t eat, it does them little good, and in fact, slowly destroys them.
    It a two way street, the feeding and receiving. Maybe we don’t realize this, but the desire of the sheep for the food of the shepherd, does indeed impact the shepherd. How much and what kind makes a big difference.
    Excerpt from an article online.
    “A faithful congregation will draw faithful preaching out of their pastor. Conversely, it is very hard to persevere as a faithful teacher of the Word of God to a congregation that does not want to have it taught to them. To some extent congregations get the preachers they deserve, because preaching is a two-way process: the attitudes of the preacher and congregation must unite in a humble hunger for God’s Word.”
    Speaking of how serious this task is, brings up to our last subpoint of the priority of preaching.
    Preaching is a...

    C. Strictly Judged Task

    Thinking about this point has me instantly considering a very real problem we often discuss in our own home. We recently inherited kittens from the unknown. And the girls were smitten with them. So they have, to my wifes great displeasure, become unofficial members of our home… outside of course. And with the priviledge of owning kittens comes the cost of responsibility. They need feed. Well, my daughters have both discovered how laborous feeding and caring for cats can be (although honestly, it’s not that lengthy or hard to do). This is not an apples for apples comparison here, but what my daughters have quickly discovered is that the burden from the responsibility can be lightened if it is a shared responsibility… hence… why just just about everyday, battles wage about who’s turn it is to feed the cats.… “I did it yesterday, I did it this morning, it’s so and so’s turn.”
    And as exhausting as that may be, it reminds of the truth that shared responsibilities for the most part, lighten the load.
    So how does this transfer over to the responsibility and burden of feeding God’s sheep, the church. One can imagine that the simple solution would be to quickly find others to assist in the task.
    In fact, is not that what Jesus aimed to do and to promote in the gospels.
    And so we may be tempted to quickly dish out the task, but to do so would be unwise, unhelpful, and potentially catastrophic. Though it is a noble goal and a goal shared by Jesus and by Paul to raise others up to do the task.... “commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also...”, we must not be too hasty to bring others into this role. In fact, these verses describe for us how much of a priority this task is.
    James 3:1 ESV
    Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
    This verse again proves the essentials of preaching because it puts preaching in it’s own exclusive class. What other instructions in the Bible basically tell you to not get many people involved in this activity and on top of that, tells you that by this activity, you will be strictly judged. There are very very few things which are held to this high of a level of seriousness. And if that’s the case, then that once again, proves to us how essential of a task this is to the shepherd of the flock.
    2 Timothy 2:15 ESV
    Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
    “The primary role of the pastor is to feed my sheep. That’s what Jesus said to Peter. Feed my sheep, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. That’s what Pastor’s do. Feed and therefore lead the flock of God. That is our calling. In fact, it’s explicity spelled out, teach the things that are connected to sound doctrine. And to do that you have to study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman not needing to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth. If you aren’t rightly interpreting the Word of God and feeding your flock, Paul says, you should be ashamed.”
    J-Mac

    II. It’s Prominence in the Scriptures

    Again we wonder why so much attention to this one spiritual activity. Why place it this high. Aren’t there other spiritual activities that can be equally uplifting. I’ve been asked and have asked such questions before. They ask things like: Why do you single out preaching over other forms of worship? Doesn’t his line of thinking not work well in today’s culture. Nobody will remember 95% of what you say anyway. Why not use our western cultural ways of discussion and dialogue to spur up Christian growth. Why give attention to so much long dialogue. In other words, you could almost interrupt these questions as, is this a waste of time?- 9 Marks article.
    “We wonder if part of the loss of confidence in God’s Word preached is due, ultimately, to a theological misunderstanding of exactly what preaching is in the first place. Think of it like this: if preaching is simply a way—one way among many—of ascertaining new knowledge about God and the Bible, then there are myriad ways for a person to do that. Reading books, watching videos, listening to podcasts, and having conversations with other Christians all fill that bill.”
    But preaching best exemplifies what God does with us… God speaks and we listen. Especially if we are preaching expository, we merely declare what God’s Word says (as it was written and in the order it was written and the meaning it was written for) and people listen. That’s what is most clear as you read the Bible and see how the people of the Bible viewed preaching.
    The Bible presents the act of preaching as having just that sort of power and authority. It is the preached Word, it seems, which the Holy Spirit uses in a unique way to give life and ignite faith in a person’s soul. We will cover much more on that next week, about the power and authority of God’s word preached, but for the rest of today, consider with me the prominence of preaching in the scriptures… first by the...

    A. By the OT Saints & Prophets

    Joshua 8:34–35 ESV
    And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.
    2 Chronicles 34:30 ESV
    And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.
    Nehemiah 8:1-8
    One commentator stated it this way:
    “When all God’s people gather as one after the exile, Nehemiah doesn’t lead them in a Crossfit routine, a finger-painting exercise, or an extended meditation through the stations of the cross. He has Ezra stand up on a wooden platform (Neh. 8.4) and while the people remained in their places (8:7), Ezra and the scribes “read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (8:8).”
    In the Old Testament, prophets were called to do what... proclaim God's word to His people, often delivering messages of repentance, hope, and divine judgment.
    What was the command that God so repeatedly told his prophets to say? Just about everytime the prophet spoke, he would begin with this phrase… “thus says the Lord....” .… in essences this is preaching… their whole and primary duty was to address the people with what God said. Mankind has always needed it. Direct dialogue. One speaking and one listening.

    B. By Christ & His Disciples

    When we come to the New Testament, we discover first that the coming of Jesus is announced by a preacher – John the Baptist. In many ways he is the role model for all preachers, for his preaching was and is to prepare people to be open to Jesus… and that is what the best preaching does.
    In the New Testament, preaching takes on a new dimension with the advent of Jesus Christ, who Himself was a preacher. Mark 1:14-15 records, "After the arrest of John, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. 'The time is fulfilled,' He said, 'and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!'"
    Jesus’ public ministry in Luke begins by entering into the synagogue, picking up the scroll of Isaiah, reading it, and teaching from it
    Luke 4:14–22
    And so he laid the foundations for what his disciples were called to do. You see that clearly as he commissioned them to go out together in pairs. We referenced those verses earlier from Luke 10 where Jesus instructed them to enter a city and say to them… “The kingdom of God is at hand...” In other words, preach!!

    C. By the Apostles

    1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV 1900
    For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
    In Acts 2, at the beginning of the apostalic era and the dawning of the church, what do we find the apostles doing? Preaching. Peter’s sermon at pentecost where he gives a gospel presentation from the scriptures in Joel 2, or his sermon in Acts 3 after healing a lame man. Stephen (Acts 7) when he preached before being stoned. Paul in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13), or to the philosophers in Athens in Acts 17, or to the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20 when we preached so long that a young man fell and “died” from the balcony, or at Jerusalem to the angry mob (Acts 22) or the many sermons he shared before the Sanhedrin and the governing rulers.
    And that’s what Paul emphasized to the ones he would train up.
    2 Timothy 4:2 ESV
    preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
    Romans 10:14–15 ESV
    How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
    In other words, you can’t be a committed follower of Christ unless you submit yourself to the absolute essential characteristic of christian gatherings. To hear God’s word preached! The overwhelming amount of examples in scripture make it abundantly clear that God always chose the foolishness of preaching to bring about the power of His transformative ways.
    “Preaching has always typified Christians. It has always been at the center of their faith and at the center of their churches. In the earliest days of the church, in fact, that emphasis on the preaching of the Word was nothing short of scandalous. Christians were slandered as being “atheists” because the focal point of their faith was the spoken word rather than statues and figures of their gods. If we’re honest, the centrality of the preached word is still scandalous today. Nobody calls us “atheists” because of it, but they do chafe at the fact that in an age where the visual dominates and dialogue is king, Christians still expect one another to sit and listen as one man speaks to them for an extended period of time. And then to top it off, there’s no Snap Poll at the end to register your opinion on the matter! But regardless of what people want or even think they need, the truth is that they need to hear the Word of God being opened and explained and applied to their hearts and wills. And that happens through expositional preaching.”
    Conclusion:
    Just about every week or every month, our kids struggle at the dinner table to show gratefulness for the food provided for them by the labor of my dear wife. In fact, in those moments when they are more inclined to share there disapproval of the food before is a testament to an important truth. The diligence, patience, kindness of my wife to feed them bares testament to the fact that her labor worked. Why because the very reason they are able to bear there breathe to speak even there unappreciative comments means they are alive and alive because of my wife feeding them. And yet as sobering and disappointing as that can be, we are often act no different in the spiritual sense. We complain when it’s not what we want, we throw tantrums and have bad attitudes towards it, we are often forced to “finish your meal” though we have no desire to keep eating, and oftentimes we are very slow to desire to come to the dinner table at all when summoned because we have better things to do. So how do you approach the dinner table of preaching. How critical is it to you? How much to you prioritize it? Cherish it? Show gratefulness to it and to the one who prepares it? How do you aid the one in laboring to make it?
    Do you value the worth of the preaching of the Word of God and do you defend the one who labors in it?

        • Jeremiah 3:15ESV

        • John 21:17ESV

        • Ephesians 4:11ESV

        • Acts 6:1–4ESV

        • 1 Timothy 5:17ESV

        • 1 Corinthians 9:8–14ESV

        • 1 Timothy 5:17ESV

        • James 3:1ESV

        • 2 Timothy 2:15ESV

        • Joshua 8:34–35ESV

        • 2 Chronicles 34:30ESV

        • 1 Corinthians 1:18ESV

        • 2 Timothy 4:2ESV

        • Romans 10:14–15ESV

      • Speak O Lord
        First Baptist Church
        howardcitybaptist@gmail.com
        2319374809
        https://fbcohc-howard-city.faithlifesites.com
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