When a minister comes to the end of their time serving in a church, it is a time for reflection. For me, 15 years as Senior Minister of Chalmers Church in Edinburgh is coming to an end, and I find myself in reflective mood.
In his book Transforming Preaching (Christian Focus), David Jackman reminds us that the health and effectiveness of both our individual Christian lives and our corporate church communities are directly dependent on the ministry of God’s word. Prayer and the ministry of the word are the indispensable core of all Christian ministry.
This is because Christian ministry is derived from Christ and exercised under His authority, which means according to His declared priorities. Preaching and teaching the Bible was Jesus’ priority. Early in His public ministry, faced with the plight of humanity and its desperate need, Jesus withdrew to pray and resolved that preaching was his priority (Mark 1:35-39). Likewise, Jesus commissioned His apostles to preach (Mark 3:13-19). And as the apostolic age came to an end, the apostles commissioned Christian ministers to preach the word (2 Tim. 4:1-2).
