Shepherding with Spurgeon

Weekly Newsletter for Pastors from SpurgeonBooks

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Sermons should have real teaching in them, and their doctrine should be solid, substantial, and abundant. We do not enter the pulpit to talk for talk’s sake; we have instructions to convey important to the last degree, and we cannot afford to utter pretty nothings. Our range of subjects is all but boundless, and we cannot, therefore, be excused if our discourses are threadbare and devoid of substance. If we speak as ambassadors for God, we need never complain of want of matter, for our message is full to overflowing.

The entire gospel must be presented from the pulpit; the whole faith once delivered to the saints must be proclaimed by us. The truth as it is in Jesus must be instructively declared so that the people may not merely hear, but know, the joyful sound. We do not serve at the altar of “the unknown God,” but we speak to the worshipers of him of whom it is written, “they that know your name will put their trust in you.”

SERMON ILLUSTRATION FROM SPURGEON

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe seeking after God.

If I were told that a city was about to be besieged, and if I were commanded to keep the people supplied with provisions during the siege, I should lay in a plentiful store at once to provide for the famine.

So, if you desire to continue in the love of God, have much of the love of God now and pray for more of it. Oh, to know the love of God as much as ever it can be known! Be greedy, be hungry, be covetous after it. Store it up; fill your soul full of it as a man would fill his storehouses and granary if he knew that a famine would be in the land.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Disciple your kids this school year

Having our homes under control is one of the qualifications for pastors. If we aren’t trustworthy to point our own kids to Christ, how can we be trusted to point an entire church to Christ?

I also understand that the rigors of ministry can make it challenging to plan and execute daily family worship.

To help busy parents like you, I’ve been creating a series of family devotionals for all ages that cover the entire Bible (every chapter). The goal is to teach kids each book in its own context while also pointing them to Christ, laying a foundation of Bible literacy that kids can build on for the rest of their lives.

As you set new rhythms for a new school year, I hope you’ll consider using family devotionals from God Centered Family.

Learn more and subscribe today.

ONE MORE REMINDER: PREACH JESUS THIS WEEKEND

“Preach Christ — not merely his example and the ethical precepts of his teaching, but his atoning blood, his wondrous satisfaction made for human sin, and the grand doctrine of ‘believe and live.’” — Charles Spurgeon