The Church is God's Farm

We have noticed a trend as we have listened to quite a number of pastors preach throughout the course of our search for a church home.  It seems most of the sermons consist of pastors lauding their personal accomplishments and recounting numerous personal anecdotes.  If this turns my stomach, how must it make our Savior feel?  And we are visiting the proverbial "cream of the crop."  We have avoided churches we know are definitely not Bible-centered and doctrinally sound.

"For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake." II Corinthians 4:5  

Matthew Henry comments that: "Self was not the matter nor the end of the apostles’ preaching: they did not give their own notions and private opinions, nor their passions and prejudices, for the word and will of God; nor did they seek themselves, to advance their own secular interest or glory. Their business was to make their Master known to the world as the Messiah, or the Christ of God, and as Jesus, the only Saviour of men, and as the rightful Lord, and to advance his honour and glory."  Source:  Commentary by Matthew Henry

As I was doing a bit of digging into II Corinthians 4:5 I came across this lovely gem by Spurgeon entitled Farm Labourers.  He uses I Corinthians 3:6-9 as his text.  Here is just a brief excerpt regarding man seeking to steal God's glory:

"This farm [the church] is, by choice, by purchase, by enclosure, by cultivation, by preservation, entirely the Lord's. See, then, the injustice of allowing any of the labourers to call even a part of the estate his own. . .  Shall insignificant nobodies rob God of his glory? Remember how Paul put it: "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?" "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" The entire church belongs to him who has chosen it in his sovereignty, bought it with his blood, fenced it by his grace, cultivated it by his wisdom, and preserved it by his power."

In Need of a Sermon

We are once again searching for a local church to join.  When I say "local" I mean a church within 75 miles.  Yes, that's considered local here.  We learned this is the definition of local when we purchased a washer/dryer set from Lowe's and they offered free local delivery and it included us way out here in Beloit.  Of course I joked about trying to order a pizza to be delivered here from Salina.

I struggle at times with the feeling of an empty stomach spiritually speaking.  Today was one of those days.  It's so hard when you have a baby who doesn't like to be away from mom for any length of time.  I'm always grateful for those churches that have a speaker for video system for those in the nursery.  I like to listen to God's Word being preached even if I'm not up in the auditorium.  Abby enjoys the music and sometimes sings along in her own little way, but has not learned to be quiet during the preaching.  She thinks it's time for her to get a few words in too.  Where can I order a "cone of silence" for a baby?

Needless to say, I missed the teaching during Sunday School and the preaching in the morning worship.  Due to the miles and lunch and other logistics we were not able to attend an evening service.  So I turned on one of my favorite live webcasts of a church service and enjoyed good singing and testimonies, but no preaching!!! God had worked in the lives of many young people and they wanted to share what God had done so that was a blessing.  It's just that it feels like it's been so long since I've been able to enjoy one good sermon.  

You know a sermon delivery service wouldn't be too bad.  I would pay to have a good preacher show up at my house during the week and preach a couple of good sermons.   I would cover his mileage and maybe give him a big glass of sweet tea and a slice of pie or even a full meal.  All of this to take place out on the front porch so as to prevent any appearance of evil.   The neighbors could probably use a little preaching too.  I think a tip should be based on how good the sermon is and I expect doctrinally sound expository preaching that lasts well over 45 minutes.  None of the namby-pamby feel-good fluff with a sprinkling of humorous illustrations throughout.  So is there a Christian Craigslist out there where I can post my wanted ad?