LaGrange Baptist Church

Deacons, Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some insights from our study of the book “What is a Healthy Church Member” by Thabiti Anyabwile. Our study this past Sunday focused on the idea that a healthy church member is an expositional listener. One of the first things we must do is define some terms.

Two important definitions:

"Expositional preaching is that preaching that takes for the main point of the sermon the point of a particular passage of scripture." pg 19

An important note to make is that expositional preaching is not providing a running verse by verse commentary of a passage. Doing so produces a commentary not a sermon. It is an important work, but it is not preaching.

"Expositional listing is listening for the meaning of a passage of scripture and accepting that meaning as the main idea to be grasped for our personal and corporate lives as Christians." pg 20

Here we need to note that as we practice expositional listening we are doing just that, we are listening. However, we are doing more than just listening, we are accepting. We are accepting the meaning of the passage.

As we think about listening for and accepting the meaning of the passage we also need to think about why we need this message. It is vital to a healthy church that we ‘grasp’ the message individually and as a body. There are many benefits in expositional listening for us as individuals and as a church. Next time I will highlight some of those benefits.

Blessings, Mark

Anyabwile, Thabiti M. What is a Healthy Church Member?. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2008.

Deacons, this Sunday will be the second meeting of the new deacon calendar year. We are working to make these meetings helpful to you so that your time invested will be to your benefit and that of the church. To that end we are planning to have some time dedicated to our spiritual growth. We are going to begin by looking at biblical principles of church membership, “what is it, what does it look like”. I will begin by walking us through a short book called "What is a Healthy Church Member?" by Thabiti M. Anyabwile (I won’t try to pronounce that name for you).

As you prepare your hearts for this study and for our meeting together this Sunday, I would like for you to consider a couple of statements from the book.

• "…the Lord’s intent is that you play an active and vital part in his body, the local church" (pg.14).

Please note, he is talking to every church member. As deacons and leaders in the church, this cannot be understated. God intends for you as deacons to play a very active and vital part in his body. Our intention together should be to encourage each other to do just that, capitalizing on our God given gifts and passions, while supporting the overriding mission of the church.

• "The health of the local church depends on the willingness of its members to inspect their hearts, correct their thinking, and apply their hands to the work of ministry" (pg 15).

This will be one of the very things we will try to do together throughout the coming year. I look forward to serving you this year in an effort to help you express your faith in God through vital ministry to His church.

God bless, Mark