Skip to main content

Let the Bible Speak: The Utumishi wa Neno course book is out




Ministering the Word, whether it is to a congregation, to unbelievers, to children, patients or prisoners, is at the same time a wonderful privilege and an awesome responsibility. We are entrusted with the Words of eternal life and we want to minister them in such a way that they bring that life. We are entrusted with the living and active Word of God and we want to speak as those speaking the very oracles of God.

At iServe Africa we believe that when God’s Word is taught faithfully as the testimony of Christ, the living God speaks, eternities are changed and lives and churches transformed. At the same time we are not ignorant of the massive pressures of our culture, of the vast amount of false teaching in our context and of our own deceitful hearts that would lead us away from a confidence in the pure Word of God.

This book is a rather brief introduction to preaching the Word. As it has grown out of a course run by iServe Africa and may be used to accompany group sessions you will find worksheets with practical exercises at the back. Some of these may be useful for individual study too.

Ministry of the Word is in one sense very simple.  It is not the preserve of professors and ‘super-apostles’ but for anyone who would open the Word, listen humbly and let it speak for itself. But at the same time it is a lifelong pursuit. We will always need ‘Learner’ signs. We will never arrive. We will always need to keep sharpening each other in these things. So wherever you are in the journey, welcome. Let’s go back to the Word together and fix our eyes afresh on Jesus and be encouraged to preach Him.

[Let the Bible Speak is available from iServe Africa Bookstore for KES 500 or it is given to participants as part of the Utumishi wa Neno course (details pdf)]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 things servant leadership is

Having cleared away 10 things servant leadership is not , here are 10 that it is. Credit to Harrison Mungai for his help in observing many of these features and helping us to think through this really important area. I used to think that all that was necessary in gospel ministry was faithful Bible handling. Preach the Word carefully and surely everything else should follow? But I was wrong. Sadly it is possible to have high quality expository preaching and ungodly leadership. It shouldn’t be possible but it is. And it’s a very ugly thing. Peter Mead has written  on the danger that can be done to a church or ministry when appointment of leaders values ability over character. So here are ten aspects of biblical servant leadership, specifically in relation to gospel ministry leadership, from 1 Thessalonians, especially chapters 2 and 3: Servant leadership is, wherever possible, Plural . A lot of articles and books on leadership assume that it is a personal project. Search Google

4 combinations of workplace relations

Ephesians 6:5-9 gives a beautiful picture of healthy workplace relationships: servants who serve and leaders who serve . But that mutuality is not the only combination.  Here are 4 different models of interaction between leader/boss and servant/employee: OPPRESSIVE LEADER AND SUBMISSIVE SERVANT This tends to be the pattern in settled traditional societies and modern totalitarian societies. Here hierarchy is strong – the pyramid model. Those at ‘the top’ very much see themselves as ‘above’ others and those at the bottom know their place and submit. Leaders are dictators who cannot be questioned, ‘strong leaders’ who make harsh demands and place heavy burdens on the people ‘under’ them, accumulating resources, power, control and status for themselves (1 Sam. 8:11-14; Neh. 5:15; Eccl. 5:8-9). In this model, leadership is the privilege and ability to make things better for yourself or to push your own agenda. It is certainly not servant leadership. This pattern ‘works’ in a sense in that

Utumishi wa Neno taster

It's finally starting! We had our first taster day for the church-based Utumishi wa Neno preaching course on Saturday. It was great to spend a few hours with 14 or so brothers and sisters and just spend soak in the Word. One of the crazy things we did was to read through the whole of Philippians out loud. How long did it take us? 15 minutes. And all of us enjoyed the experience and heard things we'd never noticed before. More thoughts on the day here . And for those who asked for the notes, they're available to download here .