FRANKLIN GRAHAM TACOMA

Sunday morning some of our flock met early to pray for the Franklin Graham Decision America Rally in Tacoma before attending that evening. It had been over fifty years since I had been to my first Billy Graham Crusade in Seattle. I heard the gospel clearly there, repented and trusted Christ. A few years later I was a counselor in his Portland Crusade. 

I was looking forward with anticipation and prayer to the event this week. Times have changed and I expected it would be different from years ago. As we drove I was pleasantly surprised by the cars backed up on the freeway to get in. I thought we were early but was wrong. Hundreds of cars had already filled the large parking areas on the way in. 

Along the access road small groups of demonstrators representing an atheist group, a gay rights group, an anti-hate group, a separation of church and state group, a group against islamophobia and so on, as if Franklin was for those things. A Tacoma clergy group signed a letter against "Franklin Graham hateful version of faith: Not welcome in Tacoma." I don't recall seeing things like that in the sixties. Yet there were no clashes with the guests arriving. People were respectful.

The rally was in the parking lot and we were to bring our own chairs. I didn't think that would work. But thousands were already seated near the stage, music was playing and people were still arriving. We got seated hundreds of feet from the platform and separated from a number of other groups. There were about seven-thousand-eight-hundred people of all ages; yet there were no disturbances, few police and no drinking. 

Soon Franklin appeared and welcomed everyone. He made it clear America needed help and that Christ was the answer. He also encouraged believers to be involved in our government. He pointed out political parties can't fix it. Only God can. Then he preached on the prodigal son. He mentioned his own rebellion in his youth and how he didn't find satisfaction in it. He finally came to his knees in repentance and trusted Christ. He said we are all prodigals, lost and away from God. It is only in repentance over our sin and faith in Christ that anyone can be saved from the wrath God has over our wrong.  

His treatment of sin pulled no punches. He named a wide range of acts that many today might not think are wrong. He was clear that all sex outside of marriage is sin and that the gay lifestyle was also clearly sin against God. He said, "Some of you may think you have no sin." "But even thinking that is sin."  Wow!

Finally, he invited people who wanted to repent to stand. He explained and prayed with them and then offered them Bibles, etc. Hundreds stood. He prayed for them and the churches that have a role in encouraging them; we are among them. Things have changed but the Gospel of Christ is still the same. I am encouraged that we can still have such a meeting in our country. Hear Franklin's message for  yourself here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNjHcK1IPCA.

See their drone pics and other closeups of the event here. https://billygraham.org/gallery/decision-america-pacific-northwest-photos-tacoma/

Pray for our Family Camp this weekend.  Wednesday is the last day to register at the Community.  Because of camp there will be no Men's Discipleship Breakfast this Saturday.  Church services will be as usual at Discovery back in Gig Harbor.

-Pastor Mark

ONE FISH AT A TIME

Proclaiming the gospel is what Christians are called to do. Peter and Andrew, while fishing, were called by Christ to be fishers of men. Both left their nets and followed as we saw last Sunday. Peter is mentioned first in any list of Apostles and is the leader of the twelve. But his brother Andrew isn’t so prominent in the New Testament. However, both are important examples of being fishers of men. Peter was the preacher that reached thousands. His sermon in Acts 2 is an excellent example. He didn’t even give an altar call. Eusebius, a third century historian, said Peter’s preaching was so penetrating that believers begged John Mark to write it down. -JFB

But we don’t know much about Andrew. We only know he brought others to Jesus one at a time. It was Andrew who found Christ first. Then he “found first his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which translated means Christ).  He brought him to Jesus.” (John 1:41-42a). Andrew also brought the lad with the loaves in John 6:8-9 and in 12:20-2 he brought some Greeks; he was always bringing folks individually.

An Irish pastor friend, Philip De Courcy, likened publicly preaching the gospel to throwing a bucket of water at a cluster of empty pop bottles. You’ll get a lot of water out there but only a little in the bottles. God uses that. But another way to fill a bottle is one at a time under a faucet; that is Andrews method. Everyone can reach one person at a time. That is how Andrew caught the big fish Peter. It is like the old jingle, “Each one, reach one, teach one.”  

Franklin Graham will be speaking this Sunday evening at Cheney Stadium. He will give the gospel like Peter. But it is our job to bring “one soul at a time” to hear of Christ. This is another important way that God uses the one fish at a time method. Are you reaching out to bring one soul to meet Jesus this Sunday night August 12th at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma?  Rev. Franklin Graham will be speaking at the Decision America rally at seven thirty PM. Parking is on site and seating will be in the parking lot so bring a folding chair and pray.  See more at www.DecisionPacificNW.com. 

-Pastor Mark  

WHAT IS EXPOSITORY PREACHING?

The word "expository" is not in most people's vocabulary. I was a Christian for about fifteen years before I ever heard of it. The word refers to explaining or describing something. In ministry it refers to preaching that clearly explains Scripture so the original meaning is given. It is a way to preach that closely follows what we see in the Bible.

Expository preaching is in contrast to preaching that is merely a motivational talk, sharing, or a lecture with little reference to or explanation of God's word. 

The expositional message is based on Scriptures like Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (NASB) This tells us that Scripture is inspired of God and is different from any other book in history. If the Bible is understood as God intended it will penetrate and convict our sinful hearts. This is how the prophets, apostles and Christ used it. Therefore, it is essential that the preacher study, understand and clearly explain the Word of God so the Holy Spirit can apply it to our hearts and bring spiritual life through faith.

Jesus is the best example of this kind of teaching. In His Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-6) Jesus was basically explaining the Ten Commandments so that people would understand them in the deeper sense. Many were convicted by this most amazing sermon of history. 

After Christ's resurrection He met several of his sad disciples walking on a road from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  He came upon them unrecognized and began to chat. They expressed their sorrow and confusion.  Then Luke 24:27 says, "Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." What an amazing sermon this must have been as they walked for seven miles. He systematically touched on the texts that explained who the Messiah was. Suddenly they got it and realized He was the Christ. 

Expository preaching may be of a verse or two or of entire books of the Bible systematically as I most often do. The advantage of the latter is that the hearer is exposed to God's truth in the order it was given by the Holy Spirit rather than a disjointed understanding because of major portions left out. 

Expositional teaching may also be topical. At times the pastor may need to speak on a topic of Scripture that needs explaining such as love, death, sin, marriage, adultery, homosexuality, salvation, forgiveness and other issues. A topic expositional approach brings forward the key verses in those areas and explains them in an expository way and brings the proper application to the question. Again, this allows the Bible to be understood as it was meant to be by God. This makes the hearer responsible before God to apply this truth. 

In ministry I came to greatly value the expository method. Over thirty-eight years of ministry I  have preached verse by verse expositions through many Old and New Testament books. Many of them took from months to years to get through a book. The books of Isaiah, Revelation, John, Acts and Galatians recently have been vastly enriching experiences to preach through. I trust that my ability has improved as I have tried to sharpen my skills in this area. My next blog will show some hidden benefits of expository preaching.

Regional conference on expository preaching in Olympia, WA.

Recently several of our young men and myself attended a conference on preaching that taught these principles.  It was a great blessing to hear Dr. Steve Lawson teach on this subject.  I am now enjoying getting started in my new series in Mark: The Newspaper Version of the Gospel.  I hope you will enjoy this fast moving approach to Christ life that Mark gives us. 

-Pastor Mark

Check out what's happening at Discovery on our calendar at www.discoverybaptist.org.  

Our preaching conference group meets outside during a break. Can you fine our guys in the picture?