A Word for Preachers...Horton on the Method of the Mission

Not only does Jesus give us the reason and the mission statement, he gives us the methods too. With all due respect to Finney, he doesn't just say 'Go,' he tells us how to go, and how to deliver (the message) to those who deperately need it.

First, we make disciples, Jesus says, by preaching the gospel. This is not only how unbelievers are converted, but how believers are sustained in their faith. As Paul says, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. The gospel," he says, "is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Preaching the gospel can't be reduced to a tract, or Four Spiritual Laws, or an elevator speech. Sure, it can be summarized briefly, but we spend our whole lives being drawn into that unfolding drama of redemption that forms the scarlet thread of biblical revelation.

Mike Horton