Preaching Without a Pulpit

Preaching ought to be the natural response to our relationship with Christ. Like the shepherds after hearing from the angels and seeing Jesus the Messiah.
Luke 2:20 “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
An unnamed leper plead with Jesus to heal him. Jesus responded with the unthinkable and touched him. With Jesus’ touch the man was healed. Jesus then told him not to tell anyone and this was the man’s response.
Mark 1:45 “But he went out and began to talk (preach) freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.”
Like the Demoniac of Gadara, a man who had been possessed by a legion of demons. After Jesus cast out the demons and healed him, he began to follow Jesus. Jesus told him…
Luke 8:39 ““Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”
Like the people who brought a deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus. Jesus took him aside and healed him. Then he…
Mark 7:36 “And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.”
Shortly after Pentecost the Apostles were arrested and asked to stop preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. This was their response.
Acts 4:20 “for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.””
When Paul’s explained why he preached he said…
1 Corinthians 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
However, many if not most Christians lose their zeal for preaching the gospel shortly after salvation. Or at best they intermittently preach the gospel when it is convenient. We shirk from our responsibility because we are shy, nervous, or afraid. Paul encouraged Timothy his son in the faith…
2 Timothy 1:8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,”
This was not something that Paul just said. It was something he lived for …
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
and consequently died for…
2 Timothy 1:12 “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.”
You may say, “Pastor isn’t that the job of preachers and evangelists levitra générique prix.” My response to that is yes it is. It is our privilege to preach the word as a full time vocation. But I also want to remind you that you are called, “Preach the Word without a Pulpit.” Jesus gave us the great commission, which applies to every believer.
Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim (preach) the gospel to the whole creation.”
This is what the shepherds did and they were not preachers. This is what the Demoniac of Gadera did and as far as we know he wasn’t an evangelist. That’s what the leper did and he didn’t preach for a living. This is what the people who brought the deaf man to Jesus did. And they were not pastors.
Preaching the word ought to be the natural response of someone who has been transformed by the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is our reasonable service.