Paul's Mission Plan!

A great start to the conference with Simon Ponsonby kicking off a talk on 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. The apostle Paul opens this passage with a blueprint for his mission, and is an ideal one that we can all use! 


Simply put, it is preaching Christ crucified accompanied by signs and wonders. Simples!
Well it sounds so, but lets break it out a bit. The preaching bit I understand, and I also understand that only anointed preaching is effective preaching. Preaching without the anointing of the Holy Spirit is hard work and not as effective, but the scriptures tell us that His word will not return empty! So in my view preaching without anointing is better than no preaching at all. Well that's my excuse!


The message of Christ crucified is the gospel in a nutshell, or to expand slightly with John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This is the message the world needs to here. This is the only message that really matters.


God loves everyone from the most saintly to the worst sinner, and He does not want anyone to live or die without Him. He brings hope where there is despair. He brings love to the loveless. He is the answer to our greatest need.


But it seems that over the centuries, the Christian church has lost the third important ingredient to this blueprint - signs and wonders! How can we prove to a non-believing secular world that God exists, and that Jesus is risen? By signs and wonders! That how Jesus demonstrated His authority when on earth, and He has promised the church that "greater things than these shall you do in My name!"


Unfortunately, we have lost that in the majority of our churches! Yes, God is still in the  business of miracles, but most of His church seems to have forgotten that! He can make the lame walk, the blind to see, set captives free from all sorts of bondage; drugs/alcohol abuse, sexual immorality, etc.


Come on Christians, let's get back to these basics, return to His word, and demonstrate His signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit!