The West Africa Theological Seminary, Ipaja, Lagos began its much-publicised expository preaching conference on Wednesday, April 24 with an American Preacher, Dr Bartholomew Orr sounding the alarm for the church to wake up from its slumber.
Orr who disclosed he was stepping on the soil of Nigeria for the first time said the world needs the church more than ever before.
According to him, preachers of the gospel are better positioned to give hope to the world through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus.
God’s will
He said, “We must accept God’s will for our lives. We must ensure the will of God is also done in the lives of others.”
Orr who has been in ministry for 35 years alluded to the story of Jonah in his message pointing out that he ran away from the will of God for his life.
“But the good thing is that Jonah woke up from his slumber in the ship and told the people who he was and also told the people what to do to be saved from the impending mishap”
Orr pointed out that like Jonah many preachers of the gospel are sleeping adding, “How can we sleep in a time like this?” he asked, adding, “How can we sleep when the world is daily lost in sin? How can we sleep when the homosexual lifestyle is becoming the norm in society? How can we sleep when our young people are straying away and straying into other religions? How can we sleep when our communities are full of hatred and division? How can we sleep when marriages are falling apart.”
He said further that, “It is time to wake up with the message of Jesus. It is time to wake up. There is a world that needs the gospel of Jesus. Tell them about Jesus”
Effective message
Orr who spoke to hundreds of church leaders at the opening session of the conference said to them that their messages can only be effective if they are humble., holy and homely.
“We must remain humble in everything we do. It is in humility that we yield ourselves to God. We must remain holy. God is looking for holy men and women. Nobody wants to drink from a dirty cup. If we want to be the instrument God will use in these last days, we must be holy. We must not be conformed to this world. God has called us to be set apart so we can used by him.”
He kicked against the preaching of the prosperity gospel saying, “We must preach the gospel of Jesus. We must only proclaim his death, burial, and resurrection. We must go back with a burning desire to preach the word of God, book by book, chapter by chapter. In proclaiming Jesus, we can’t just whisper it, we need to cry out loud, and lift up our voices.”
Purpose in preaching
Continuing, he said, “Jesus had a purpose in his preaching. He was intentional in what he said. His goal was to reach the poor and free the captive. We ought to preach to inform the hearers of the truth of the word of God. There is so many lies and misinformation going out there. We must inform the people by instructing them the word of God. “
While declaring that hope is not in the business community, he said, ” Hope is in the word of God. We preach to see lives change. God has used the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. The church is struggling to bring people to Christ. Yet it is the church that has the answer to what the world is facing. Since God has given us the message of hope for this desperate time, we need to wake up.”
God’s call
He pointed out that God has called us to salvation and sanctification. “We have been called to let our light shine. We have been called to live a holy life. Don’t resist God’s call to holy life.”
Referring to the pandemic, he said, “God closed the door of the church during the pandemic so that we can reach the world. That was the time God had his way in our lives throughout the universe. The gospel was freely preached out of the confines of the church.
“Unfortunately, again, everybody is doing what they want to do instead of doing what God has asked us to do. When it comes to preaching, we must obey without delay, obedience will keep us out of the storm. We must obey what God has called us to do. We must not resist the calling of God.”
The expository teachings continue on April 25 and 26 at the seminary