Preaching with boldness and power
by Norma Koehne
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He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the law of Moses and from the prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus (Acts 28:23b).
Read Acts 28:17–31
I love those words from the general prayer of the church that say, ‘Give us faithful pastors to preach your word with boldness and power’. In this passage, we have the example of one who was not afraid to do so. Even though his message was rejected by the Jewish church leaders in Jerusalem, and he was arrested and sent to Rome, Paul did not give up on his fellow Jews. He still hoped to bring them to faith in Jesus.
So, in Rome, he invited the Jewish leaders to hear what he had to say. Many others came as they had heard from relatives and friends back home about this new ‘sect’ and were curious to find out more. Paul did not ‘badmouth’ the people in Jerusalem who had had him arrested. Rather, he used the whole of the Old Testament to show them that Jesus was the Messiah who had first been promised to Adam and Eve and had been spoken about by the prophets. By showing how Jesus had fulfilled all the promises in the Old Testament, Paul hoped to persuade them that Jesus was their promised Saviour. Can you imagine today having a preacher so enthralling that you would listen to them as they preached from morning to evening?
When some would not believe, he had the boldness to rebuke them with the words of Isaiah, ‘You will be hearing and never understanding, you will be ever seeing, but not perceiving’ (Isaiah 6:9).
In the church today, we need to be aware that so much of our message is strange, one could say alien, in our society. Sin and grace, God’s wrath and love, Jesus atoning death, living a servant life – all these are difficult concepts. We must beware of ‘dumbing down’ our saving message, but rather, like Paul, preach it with ‘boldness and power’.
Lord, we thank you for those faithful pastors who preach your word with boldness and power. Help us all to be prepared to confess our faith boldly to those around us without fear. Amen.
Norma grew up in Koonibba SA. She was a teacher at Concordia College in SA and then served in various roles in Papua New Guinea with her husband. Returning to Australia, Norma worked as an International Student Advisor and, after completing a PhD, worked in administration at the University of Divinity. She has been privileged to serve the LCA on the General Church Board, the Seminary Council, and as president of Lutheran Women of Victoria and Lutheran Women of Australia. Currently, she is happily retired.
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