REVEALED! HEALTHY PULPITS FOR HEALTHY CHURCH

By Dr Francis Bola Akin-John

Some few years back, I drove pass a church building in an area of Lagos that was closed down. Later I learnt that another church was looking for a place of worship and have to go and check it out.

This had once been a thriving congregation. Faithful Christians had given sacrificially to construct that building. They had consecrated it to the Lord and had worshipped there for many years. Yet now that building was deserted, decaying and up for sale. What happened? How did that church go from thriving to dying? How did it slide from healthy to sick, to dead? This church is destroyed by people claiming to act in the name of Jesus. This church self-destructs, by following these four steps:

❖ Reject the Truth
❖ Reject Truth-tellers
❖ Embrace False Teachers
❖ Embrace False Doctrines

Once a local church takes these four steps and have her pulpit and ears corrupted, she will die – 2 Tim. 4:3-4.

A. The Place Of The Pulpit In Healthy Churches – Romans ‪10:13-15‬; 1 Thes. 2:3-6; 1 Cor. 2:3-5

The pulpit plays a major role in bringing health to the local church. Preaching is the avenue that God has chosen to convey his mind, heart and will to his people – 1 Cor. 1:18,21.

✓ The pulpit must be credible, respected and sacred.
✓ The pulpit must thunder out the undiluted gospel of Christ.
✓ The pulpit must be clear, concise and connecting.
✓ The pulpit must confront sin and call people back to God.
✓ The pew must be transformed by the truth and power of the pulpit.
✓ Compromise and conformity with the world must not be in the pulpit.
✓ The pulpit must bring Light, Life and Liberation to the people.
✓ The pulpit must preach to people, not for, at, down and up for people.

A healthy pulpit exalts Christ, give people a bigger picture of God, train people to apply the Bible to their life situations, demonstrate good examples and lead people to seek God the more.

B. Unhealthy Pulpit Practices Today In Churches

Spiritual and all round health is very rare in local churches of today simply because the pulpit has become unhealthy. The true word of God has departed from our pulpits, only prophecies, entertainments, prayer points, ceremonies and secularism. Here are 13 deadly sins of the pulpit today:-

➢ Preachers that don’t live what they preach
➢ Preaching Jesus as Saviour without His Lordship
➢ Preaching Christ without the cross.
➢ Preaching salvation without godly character.
➢ Preaching the Bible only in business concept.
➢ Preaching prosperity without purity.
➢ Preaching this world without eternity in view.
➢ Preaching without systematically teaching the word.
➢ Preaching membership without discipleship.
➢ Preaching without direction and unction of the Holy Spirit.
➢ Preaching without warfare prayers.
➢ Preaching revival without Transformation.

Modern church pulpits commit these deadly sins on regular basis. They become ear-tickling preachers.

1. Ear-tickling preachers bypass self-denial and the cross.
2. Ear-tickling preachers go light on sin.
3. Ear-tickling preachers are loved by the world.
4. Ear-tickling preachers tell the flesh what it wants to hear and
5. Ear-tickling preachers get away from the word and give way to fables.

Small wonder that the life of God, His presence and power are absent in our churches today.

C. Healthy Preaching That Makes Church Healthy – 2 Tim. 4:2

The kind of preaching that glorifies God and protects the church is what we need today. Preaching is only as powerful as its faithfulness to the Bible. There is no inate power in the form of preaching: the power in the preaching comes from the source of the preaching. Preach nothing down but the devil, and nothing up but Jesus.

1. Preach to yourself first – live and obey what you preach in your personal life.
2. Preach expositorily – it is not enough to simply preach, we need to
preach the Word.
3. Preach persistently – in season and out of season.
4. Preach practically – reprove, rebuke, exhort
5. Preach patiently – forbear until they practice.
6. Preach doctrinally – teach the whole counsel of God.
7. Preach powerfully – unction and anointing of Holy Spirit.
8. Preach progressively – repeat, renew and add new things to your old
messages.
9. Preach prayerfully – pray that your preaching will have effect, before and
after preaching.
10. Preach productively – fruitfulness and spiritual results must come out of
your preaching.
11. Preach passionately – the passion, conviction and courage will magnetize
people.
12. Preach purposefully – aim at a definite result, don’t be a rambler.

A healthy local church demands that the pulpit ministry must constantly improve. To improve your pulpit ministry demand for a learning spirit; studying preaching and teaching again and again; listening to other godly preachers; praying more for your pulpit ministry; ask for comment from others; listen to your own sermons; enlist a prayer team; prepare better for your preaching; doing reflections and appraisal of your preachings and taking care of yourself physically and spiritually before you preach.

STEPS TO BRING GROWTH BACK TO YOUR CHURCH

Church revitalization is both a pertinent and critical need in Africa . Too many churches are into decline and tailspin. Lots of churches, either denominational or independent, mainline or Pentecostal, evangelical or traditional are well into losing members, steam and vitality. That’s one reason I’m glad to be a part of International Church growth Ministry and Church Renewal Center, because our calling and mandate is to bring renewal, revitalization to churches through their pastors.. Sometimes, however, pastors and church leaders overcomplicate the process of revitalization. Here are some simple steps all of us pastors can take:

1. Evaluate your own level of commitment to the church. If you already have one foot in the next church you want to lead, you’ll never lead your current church to growth. Your heart’s not in it.
2. Enlist a prayer team that focuses intentionally on revitalization. I fear that too many revitalization efforts emphasize strategy without leaning on the power of God. A lack of prayer means our efforts are all in our power – and that’s ultimately fruitless.
3. Take responsibility for the decline or growth of the church. I realize this step is a controversial one, and I know that God is ultimately responsible for any growth in our churches. My point is that leaders who always blame others for the church’s condition seldom lead a church to change.
4. Know your community well—do a demographic study. If you’re only guessing about the demographics of your community, you don’t have enough data to move your church toward revitalization. Knowing your community well will (a) increase your burden for your neighbors and (b) bring focus to your church growth strategy.
5. Don’t worry about changing the whole church; instead, focus on changing lives. Even Jesus didn’t get all His followers on board. You and I won’t either, but we can still ask God to help us see change in one life at a time. Several changed lives can change a church.
6. Focus first on a few people. When even a few people get on board with a vision, that added support can encourage and strengthen us. Find a core of people who are ready to move forward, and work with them. They’ll help spread the fire.
7. Make sure you’re doing personal evangelism. Our own lack of outward focus is one reason our churches turn inwardly. If you’re not in your community telling others about Jesus, your church won’t do it, either. On the other hand, simply doing evangelism has a way of re-igniting our fire for the gospel and the church.
8. Look for easy wins to strengthen your church. That may be as simple as enlisting greeters at the doors or changing the way you welcome guests in the service (that is, you don’t embarrass them!). Sometimes, we see the big picture needs of the church but miss the little things that will move the church in the right direction.
Start somewhere, and praise God for every victory He grants you!
This is one issue we are addressing in our next seminar on REACHING and DISCIPLING YOUTH and  CHILDREN IN TODAYS CHURCH, April 16&17. You can reach out to me for details or send SMS and chat with ‪08056126914‬