So, at this particular moment, I am listening to a sermon by John Piper on the first four verses of Hebrews. There is so much depth to the word here, that apparently he preached three separate sermons on this passage.
One of the main points: God speaks. The depth of that is incredible - we have a God who speaks - and he speaks to us!
I guess John Piper's approach to preaching is exactly what I need - there's this incredible exegetical depth underlying his sermons, where you know that he has spent some serious time with the Word and with God.
When I go to church, as I was saying to myself today, I want to hear the Word. I want the scriptures to point out my sin, for the sharpness of the Word to pierce my heart and cut it out. I want to be bleeding from the wounds. There's a proverb that says that the wounds of a friend are faithful, while the kisses of the enemy are deceitful. How much more faithful can the wounds of removing sin from our heart be, when it is Jesus Christ who himself was wounded for our transgressions?
So, as the Word pierces my heart, and I am bleeding, and need Jesus more than ever, I want to hear scriptures that heal, that transgressions are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
So, all this...is what I want, and I find I rarely get what I expect at church. Thats why its so incredibly important for our pastors to spend hours and hours and some more hours in the Word, because there is so much power in the Word, yet we treat it so lightly. So, if anyone reading this preaches, preach with passion, preach with conviction, and know that there are people that desperately need to hear their sin blatantly confronted and how to deal with it.