1 Corinthians 13:4-5 – “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

Love is not proud. In some ways, this subject is difficult to teach because the New Testament warns against pride in so many different contexts. Jesus forbid pride toward other church leaders or members: “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave…” (Matthew 24:25-27).

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Psalm 133 - “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.  It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forevermore.” 

This psalm is a profound prophecy about the unity of the body of Christ in the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit’s purpose is to unite God’s true servants together as one body connected to the head – Jesus Christ.   continue

“They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’  But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.  And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.  Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.  The greatest among you will be your servant.” - Matthew 23:6-11

Our flesh craves prestige and power.  The Holy Spirit does not accommodate this trait of man.  In the Work of the Holy Spirit, there is a constant struggle to keep our flesh from interfering with the Spirit’s Work, from hurting God’s project.  The Spirit wants to give glory to Jesus and none other.  Our flesh wants at least a little glory for ourselves.  Some people feel a need to be someone “special” – as did the Jewish leaders Jesus describes in the passage above.   continue

HOW TO PREACH

1 Timothy 4:13 – “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”

Galatians 1:11 – “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.”

Every church or religious movement has its own style of preaching. In fact, many full-time ministers are just professionals at public speaking and oratory. In Maranatha, the Lord has challenged us to lay aside traditions and avoid imitating the preaching styles we see around us, especially with “celebrity” preachers. Humility is key. The Lord has called us to abandon our fleshly desire to impress the congregation with our public speaking abilities, and focus instead on transmitting God’s message to the church for that day – no more and no less. The preaching in all our Maranatha churches – thousands of congregations – is rather uniform. We operate as a Body. We do not permit preachers in our churches to deviate from the pattern the Lord has showed us – it is a simple matter of obedience to His Word. Our entire goal is to do what the Lord wants, not what man wants. The following are some guidelines that we give to our newer preachers about the expectations we have in our churches.

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