By Pastor Shoichi Ino When preaching, a pastor shoulders the great responsibility of conveying God’s word, entrusted to him by God. He reflects deeply on the words of Scripture and makes it easy for the congregation to understand. I’d like to share something I read in The Supremacy of God in Preaching, a book by John Piper, about 5 steps the writer tries to keep in mind when preaching: APTAT. Piper asks for the help of the Holy Spirit by offering an “APTAT” prayer. A – ADMIT: I recognize that without you, Lord, I am nothing. P – PRAY: So, Father, I seek your help. Please grant me the insight,
1 Kings 13 sermon, “Taking God’s Word Seriously”
From a sermon series on 1 Kings by See Huang Lim, a missionary at IBF. Intro Today we will read 1 Kings chapter 13, to continue our series on 1 Kings. Chapter 13 contains a rather strange story and a warning. Before reading, let us pray. [Read 1 Kings 13] A strange story Welcome to the strange world of Old Testament stories. You probably have several questions buzzing in your mind. The writer doesn’t give many answers; he simply records the events that happened. But a few things are clear. First, the story begins and ends with King Jeroboam. Second, the writer often repeats this phrase: “the word of the
Christianity in Malaysia
This post introduces Christianity in Malaysia. The writer is a member of International Bible Fellowship (IBF) church. My husband and I come from Malaysia, but we have also lived in Japan and the U.S. In terms of race and religion, Japan’s population is quite homogeneous. Like the U.S., Malaysia is diverse, but in my country the lines of race and religion are even more distinct. Multi-cultural, multi-religious country In Malaysia, race and religion are sensitive topics, to the extent that we were discouraged from discussing them as speech topics in school. Though Malaysians live in relative harmony, there is an undercurrent of tension regarding race and religion. The two are