Grood Stuff @ Boulevard Baptist
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (ESV)
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
If truth be known, I would probably be accused of being a "church hopper" by some (or many). This is unfair. I have not been hopping for the sake of hopping or until I find a church that has the right color of carpet or that only sings Charlie Hall praise choruses ('cause Chris Tomlin is better anyway... lol), etc. Someday I will write a lengthy blog about my journey through (more or less) Evangelical churches, starting with my parents being raised in the Oneness cult and then onto a Pentecostal-Evangelical church, then to a watered-down-gospel-less mega-church, and beyond. But not tonight.
I think I mentioned in a previous blog that Kacey and I were looking at churches, trying to find a good one (rare in any town I am convinced, Springfield or no). Well, without going into too much detail about the search (which consisted of mostly MAJOR misses, and only two good hits), I think we have finally found the congregation God would have us be in for the dividing of His Word. Boulevard Baptist Church.
Kacey and I have been attending there for about a month now or so, and we are really happy there. Even though I am not really Baptist (I would consider myself a "Baptistyrian"), but I recognize good Christ-centered preaching. Pastor Doug Shivers definitely preaches a Christ-centered gospel. I will admit, I am a HUGE fan of expository preaching - going into the meaning of the text with the Greek and Hebrew. Currently, Boulevard is not doing this. However, this is because they are doing an overview series on the ENTIRE Bible - one book a week. One cannot go into every Hebrew or Greek term in a book in an hour long sermon. However, he does give a very succinct overview of the book the congregation has been reading the past week, picking out the key passages that sum up the author's intention in writing the book.
There is something else that is amazing about Boulevard though, something rare in Evangelicalism today. Pastor Doug preaches Christ in every sermon. Yes, every sermon includes the gospel. I am not talking about a mere invitation at the end of the hour. I mean, he shows the book's place in God's redeeming a people unto Himself, and points to the gospel - Christ and the atoning work of the cross. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Doug pointed this out as something pastors rarely do, and how it is needed for preaching. I did not want to be overly skeptical, but I wanted to be discerning and asked myself, "Okay, so he gives this principle lip-service. But does he actually do it in his sermons?" YES!! He does!
Take today's sermon on Jeremiah. After giving the core of the book, he focused attention to Jeremiah 31:31-34, which is a CLEAR presentation of the gospel and God's promise of a new covenant!! So many could have missed this. But this church's focus is on proclaiming Christ and him crucified.
This church feels as though it could be a home for Kacey and I, and this is something I consider a blessing. Next weekend, Kacey and I will start attending Sunday School there, as they start a series through the Book of Hebrews. (I will be sure to bring my ESV Study Bible for help...
)
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And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
If truth be known, I would probably be accused of being a "church hopper" by some (or many). This is unfair. I have not been hopping for the sake of hopping or until I find a church that has the right color of carpet or that only sings Charlie Hall praise choruses ('cause Chris Tomlin is better anyway... lol), etc. Someday I will write a lengthy blog about my journey through (more or less) Evangelical churches, starting with my parents being raised in the Oneness cult and then onto a Pentecostal-Evangelical church, then to a watered-down-gospel-less mega-church, and beyond. But not tonight.
I think I mentioned in a previous blog that Kacey and I were looking at churches, trying to find a good one (rare in any town I am convinced, Springfield or no). Well, without going into too much detail about the search (which consisted of mostly MAJOR misses, and only two good hits), I think we have finally found the congregation God would have us be in for the dividing of His Word. Boulevard Baptist Church.
Kacey and I have been attending there for about a month now or so, and we are really happy there. Even though I am not really Baptist (I would consider myself a "Baptistyrian"), but I recognize good Christ-centered preaching. Pastor Doug Shivers definitely preaches a Christ-centered gospel. I will admit, I am a HUGE fan of expository preaching - going into the meaning of the text with the Greek and Hebrew. Currently, Boulevard is not doing this. However, this is because they are doing an overview series on the ENTIRE Bible - one book a week. One cannot go into every Hebrew or Greek term in a book in an hour long sermon. However, he does give a very succinct overview of the book the congregation has been reading the past week, picking out the key passages that sum up the author's intention in writing the book.
There is something else that is amazing about Boulevard though, something rare in Evangelicalism today. Pastor Doug preaches Christ in every sermon. Yes, every sermon includes the gospel. I am not talking about a mere invitation at the end of the hour. I mean, he shows the book's place in God's redeeming a people unto Himself, and points to the gospel - Christ and the atoning work of the cross. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Doug pointed this out as something pastors rarely do, and how it is needed for preaching. I did not want to be overly skeptical, but I wanted to be discerning and asked myself, "Okay, so he gives this principle lip-service. But does he actually do it in his sermons?" YES!! He does!
Take today's sermon on Jeremiah. After giving the core of the book, he focused attention to Jeremiah 31:31-34, which is a CLEAR presentation of the gospel and God's promise of a new covenant!! So many could have missed this. But this church's focus is on proclaiming Christ and him crucified.This church feels as though it could be a home for Kacey and I, and this is something I consider a blessing. Next weekend, Kacey and I will start attending Sunday School there, as they start a series through the Book of Hebrews. (I will be sure to bring my ESV Study Bible for help...
)<><
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