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.
