Tuesday, July 22, 2008

"Preach the Word"

My new ministry at FBC, Freeport is up and running. Thank you very much for your prayers and support. This church has many hungry people who have been longing for the pure milk of the Word (1 Pet 2:2) for some time now. The deacon board is united in purpose and have been very supportive of me. It is great that i don’t have to come here and face the same challenges that young Timothy did (age discrimination in Ephesus, 1 Tim 4:12) with my deacon board. By that i mean, these deacons believe God’s hand is upon me and my ministry and therefore are not going to make me “earn” my leadership stripes. I have been allowed to come in and simply do what God has called me to do: namely feed, lead, and shepherd the flock of God. God’s hand of providence was surely in our recent move. Let me encourage you readers who are either elders/deacons or lay people to follow this model if you decide to call a younger man as your next Sr. Pastor. If you question whether or not the person you are candidating is mature enough to be your Sr. Pastor then do not hire him. It won’t be fair to him if he has to come in as a “pastor in training.” I have been blessed to be able to come here and not worry about dealing with those type of pressures (esp. with regards to my leadership team). That in effect has allowed me to focus in on doing the many things God has called me to do in this particular local church.

In my new ministry position i am charged with the great and high calling of bringing God’s Book each and every Sunday. This has been a passion of mine for 8 years now. Up to this point God has not given me a opportunity to PREACH the Word on a consistent basis. I have had many opportunities to teach but not to consistently herald the Word of God as a preacher. In my morning sermon i preached from 2 Tim 3:13-4:5. My goal in this first sermon was to define and defend the concept of Biblical preaching (which is under attack from those within the “church” these days). I then provided 6 reasons why i am wholly committed to Biblical Exposition.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so happy for you Brother. I know your desire has been to teach and preach, and I always felt God would place you in a position where you could do that. I know you will do well, as long as you keep Him #1. Jonah and I have been discussing coming over some Sunday and doing some special music. Let me know what you think about that.

Caleb Kolstad said...

That would be great- I need to call Jonah this week anyways.

Grace,
CK

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to it. Tell him to let me know when.


A.H.B.T.Y (All His Best To You)
PSquared

Jon and Linda said...

Pastor Caleb,

We are hearing wonderful comments about your sermons. and can't wait to hear you preach in person.
It is rare indeed, to find an expository Preacher who is committed to the preaching and teaching of God's Word in this watered-down era of church history. We are praising God for you.

Your Missionarys in Las Vegas,
Jon and Linda Craft

Caleb Kolstad said...

Jon & Linda,

We pray for you guys on Wed. nights.

Thanks for dropping me a line! Have a wonderful Lord's Day.

Caleb