No Stinking Gimmicks

Our pastor recently preached a sermon entitled "The First Deacons." One of the many things I really appreciate about him is his continued emphasis on the priority of the Word of God. He has a practical, down-to-earth, extremely Biblical approach to preaching. His sermon emphasized the necessity of appointing those first deacons in order to insure that the apostles had ample time to dedicate to the Word of God and to prayer.

Everything we do as believers needs to be based on the Scriptures. Human effort falls so far short when compared to what we find in His Word. At one point, he addressed the many human inventions, and as he called them, "stinking gimmicks," that are so often used in an effort to bring people in to the church. If we are not careful, we can forget the truth of the statement that "what we win them with is what we will win them to." I once had a pastor remind me that the only healthy way for a church to grow is through the faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God. To that, I can only say a hearty "amen."

Here are some direct quotes from the sermon:

"We're filled with so many stinking gimmicks ... they're all around us, these stinking gimmicks."

"Almost anywhere and everywhere we find stinking gimmicks to try and draw people in. They are everywhere ... trying to be relevant..."

"These people (the early Christians) didn't have any stinking gimmicks. They prayed and ministered the Word."

What more can I add to that?

You can hear the entire sermon at the following web address:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=72312164078