WOW-16 OCTOBER 2024: A FLAMING MESSAGE FROM A BURNING HEART

Senior Pastor Daniel O. C. | Oct 16, 2024

Calvary greetings to you in the blessed name of Jesus Christ our Saviour, Amen!

A FLAMING MESSAGE FROM A BURNING HEART

Christ is our peace; the sins of yesterday by His most precious blood are washed away.
Christ is our life; the trials of today He bears for us who walk life’s toilsome way.
Christ is our hope; the future all unknown is in His care who watches from the throne.

“Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.’
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not” (Jeremiah 20:9).

It is the will of God that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
In His infinite wisdom, God has designed preaching to be the means of persuading men to repent of their sins and turn to God.
But the educated or elite regards the preaching of the gospel of Christ Jesus as foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:21-23).
Yet the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes (Romans 1:16).
If the gospel is not preached, souls will not be saved.
The kind of preaching that will bring conviction to sinners must be pungent, penetrating and powerful.
The preacher must be a person called and ordained by God (Romans 10:13-15).

FOUR FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO EFFECTIVE PREACHING

There are four factors that contribute to a preacher’s effectiveness in preaching a flaming message from a burning heart. They are:

DEFINITE objective in preaching
DEEP compassion for unsaved people
DISCIPLINED lifestyle of study of the Word of God
DELIVERING the message with wisdom and fervency

DEFINITE OBJECTIVE IN PREACHING

Before embarking on any preaching assignment, we must first define the objective.
This will guide our preparations (Luke 14:28-30 / Acts 26:16-18 / Esther 5:7-8 / 2 Timothy 3:16-17 / Acts 14:13-18).
Preaching programs are really demanding. Therefore, we need to have a definite objective for focus.
We must always ask this question to ourselves: Is our message going to aim at sinners, backsliders, the fearful, oppressed or the sick?
Defining the objective of our message helps for a successful gospel campaign.

DEEP COMPASSION FOR UNSAVED PEOPLE
(Matthew 9:36-38 / 14:14 / 15:32 / Acts 17:16, 22-23 / Nehemiah 1:4 / 2:12-17 / Exodus 32:19-20, 31-32 / John 11:33-37)

To preach a flaming message from a burning heart, surely, we would have sat where the people sit.
We would have felt the pangs of pain and the devastating work of Satan among the people.

Like Nehemiah, the preacher, we would have made personal survey of the damages which sin and Satan had brought on to his prospective audience.
He would have seen the sorrows, sufferings and the afflictions brought by the enemy upon the people (Exodus 3:7-10).
We can only develop compassion after seeing the effects and consequences of sin in the lives of the people.

The spiritual need and God’s plan for salvation of all people will cumulatively produce a burden and fire of compassion in our hearts.
Jesus endured the cross and its humiliation because He was touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15).
Compassion for lost souls fueled His zeal in preaching.

To be continued.

Remain blessed and rapturable,
Yours to reach this generation with the Gospel,

Dr. Daniel O. C.