The First 18 Months:
Reviewing the Expository Pulpit of Lake Country Bible Church
“You guys have been in
Revelation for a long time.” Well, yes
and no. Between Pastor Sal and the new guy it has taken us quite a while to
exposit and digest twenty chapters and nearly four hundred verses of what is
often called “Scripture’s greatest prophecy.”
Since the end of the story (Revelation 6-22) is Divinely intended to impact
the here and now we have been in no hurry
to move on to something else; (note Dr. Vlach’s insightful article- “7 Reasons Your Church Should Take Eschatology Seriously”).
Having said that, in the
past year and a half we have considered many different themes, subjects, and
biblical books during our corporate worship service. My first message as the
new Senior Pastor of Lake Country Bible Church was on “Satan’s Strategy Against
Christ’s Church” from 1 Corinthians 3:1-7; Philippians 4:2-3.
Next, we reminded
ourselves what a robustly Biblical Philosophy of Ministry looks like. During this expository study we took four
weeks to carefully examine Paul’s inspired mission statement from Colossians
1:28-29. For two decades this text, along
with Ephesians 4:11-16 and Matthew 28:18-20, have shaped the ministry of LCBC. Lord willing, these passages will continue to
define our mission for a long time to come.
Along the way I’ve preached
a few standalone sermons from both the Old and New Testaments (Hosea 3:1-5; 2
Timothy 2:15; Jude 22-23) as well as a few holiday themed messages for Easter
and Christmas (1 Corinthians 15:1-10; Isaiah 7:1-16). I have also preached a few big picture
messages such as “The Three Key Words of Biblical Prophecy.”
During a miniseries in
2017 we spent many weeks trying to get our arms around how the ancient covenant
promises of God are related to the Church (Gal. 3:13-29; Heb. 6:11-19), to
Israel, and to the prophesied end times (Revelation). During this study, we studied Genesis 12;
Genesis 15; and 2 Samuel 7; while Dan R. provided an overview message on the
New Covenant during a Wednesday evening service. We then considered how these grand covenant promises
provide the basis of Messianic and future hope for the people of God in Luke
1:5-56. One cannot fully appreciate the
joy of Christmas or the details of Revelation without understanding the grand
covenants of Scripture.
During this expository series
of Luke 1 I took a brief detour to showcase what the Bible actually teaches concerning “the real Mary.” This series was designed to help Christians
know how to defend the Word (apologetics) and share the true gospel
(evangelism) with Roman Catholics; This seemed like an important subject to
address as there are over 1 billion Catholics worldwide (with many living in
the Milwaukee metro area). Quite a few
members of LCBC are former Roman Catholics.
As Jesus noted, “the harvest is plentiful, the gospel laborers few.”
Before launching into
Revelation 20:1-6 we spent a few months establishing a biblical theology of the
Kingdom. “The Kingdom of God” is one the
most prominent themes in God’s Word. It’s
also important because it connects the Old and New Testament Scriptures. During this study of the Kingdom we heard an
overview message on Acts and Romans 11, as well as many expository sermons of
key Gospel texts, such as- Luke 13:34-35; Luke 19:11-44; and Matthew 24-25. Though different aspects of the Kingdom are
emphasized in each of these texts, the Old Testament prophets, Christ, and the
Apostles perfectly harmonize with one another.
This is a key reason why our church embraces “futuristic
premillennialism;” (i.e. we believe there
must be a future, earthly reign of Christ).
In recent months we have gone
verse-by-verse through the “Grand Finale of Scripture.” Having spent the past month thinking about “hell
and the final judgement,” at long last, we have finally reached the Bible’s Mount
Everest (Revelation 21-22). Few subjects
are more encouraging, more mind boggling, more soul stretching, and more
important to the Christian life then “the glories of heaven.” I would prayerfully encourage you to bring a
spiritual oxygen mask, buckle your seat-belts, and pray for greater faith to
believe! For believers, “the very BEST
is yet to come!”
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Caleb Kolstad
