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Ministry in Postmodern Cultures

Project Paper

Throughout the course, it was my earnest expectation that the term ‘postmodernism’

would give a familiar ring to my ears. Since I studied a variety of literature, one cannot go

through different literary lenses and approaches without taking a glimpse into the postmodern

sensibilities of the world today. The course renewed and reemphasized my definition of

postmodernism. It was defined in the module video by Dr. Brooks, “Postmodernity is a means by

which individuals engage various aspects of reality, such as art, culture, truth, etc., in which there

is a rejection of a singular, controlling, all-encompassing, narrative to life.1” The definition

impacted me on a personal level and through that my curiosity was piqued.

In my younger years as a Christian, I have a number of experiences when I felt the glory

of God enveloping the whole congregation, not only on an emotional level, but also in awestruck

reverence. As we listen to the pastor, being used as a mere instrument, as he displays God’s truth

upon his beloved church. This image reminded me of a verse from Paul’s letter to the

Corinthians, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him

that we utter our Amen to God for his glory2.” When I started my seminary voyage with SUM, I

began to learn that joyful, proactive, and responsive worship was originally from the Pentecostal

and Charismatic churches back in the day. Dr. Vinson Synan even described their worship that it

was beyond understanding for those who have little knowledge of the inner spirituality that

founded the movement3.

1 Module 1a Video
2 2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV
3 The century of the Holy Spirit: 100 years of Pentecostal and charismatic renewal, 1901-2001 (Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 2001).
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As I ponder on these thoughts, I realized that the preaching of the Word is as important as

the congregation’s reception of its truthfulness. How each believer/attendee proclaims his/her

affirmation of the Lord’s promises in words, such as “Yes!” and “Amen!” Hence I came up to

this thesis statement, “The holistic affirmations of the church is not limited to Pentecostal

experience and teaching but rather is a theologically rooted teaching of the Scripture and its

effectivity towards the postmodern audience.”

I seek affirmation as well as with my main argument with full hope and conviction to the

Holy Spirit’s leading and wisdom. I aim to prove that a believer’s degree of theological maturity

equates to the genuineness as he received the word. I also need to acknowledge the variation of

affirmations and not limit it through verbal proclamation by saying Yes and Amen but also

through authentic physical, emotional and spiritual experience.

At the end of the study, I expect personal growth in my theological standpoint, the same

with others who may read this proposal. In addition, God-willing, I may be able to apply these

insights in my local ministry and the on-going missionary works.

Looking into Postmodern Context through the Congregation

Kieran Beville, a pastor and author, made an initial impact as I read his first chapter. He

differentiated how the church saw the preaching of God’s eternal word. “Is the preacher expected

to entertain rather than enlighten4?” He clarified the question as to where contextualization ends

and syncretism begins. Contextualization is achieved when there is faithfulness to the Scripture,

translating its meaning into contemporary cultural context. While syncretism prioritizes cultural

context as the controlling factor that bends God’s divine message within the Scripture. It is when

church leaders and overseers adapt the overpowering worldview of their own upbringing that

4 Beville, Kieran. 2010. Preaching Christ in a Postmodern Culture. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars
Publishing. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=532126&site=ehost-live, 2.
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reshapes the behavior, beliefs and biblical standpoint of believers. This situation can be reflected

within the post-modern churches who prefer the compatibility of the preaching to their own way

of living and understanding instead of the authoritative, sometimes rebuking nature of the

Gospel. Sadly, these can be observed in most mainline churches around the world today.

Knowing these dangerous unfoldings, Beville proceeds in his book by emphasizing the

goal of preaching, which is to connect the ancient world of the biblical text and contemporary

culture with holy consideration to both revelation and relevance5. He concluded with a firm

understanding that engaging the postmodern world with a piercing message as the Word of God

is both a daunting task yet a wide array of opportunities. Beville suggested that a preacher must

involve his congregation into theological reflection and not just be passive receivers of the

message. He best described it through this quote, “The sermon should animate the text of

Scripture so that it is a dramatic recreation which captivates people’s imaginations and engages

the minds, emotions and wills of hearers.”

John W. Kleinig6 shed light on the role of the Holy Spirit in enabling believers to

experience a worship only Christians do. He quoted in his journal, “As it praises God, a

congregation that has been baptized and filled with the Spirit is moved by the Spirit to thank and

praise and adore God.” He added that we cannot grasp this new way of worship if we fail to

appreciate the historical origins and the theological foundations. In John 6:63 Jesus says, “ The

words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” This denotes that the authenticity and sincerity of

our reception of the word of God corresponds to how we value God’s message in our hearts and

minds. As we dwell in his holy presence, we should evaluate the depth of our relationship with

5 Beville, Kieran. 2010. Preaching Christ in a Postmodern Culture. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=532126&site=ehost-live, 75.
6 Kleinig, John W. 2017. “The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Service: A Lutheran Response to Charismatic
Worship.” Logia 26 (3): 21–26. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAn4217925&site=ehost-live.
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God and how much we think about him in our day to day living. Thus, as we ponder thing about

Him, we have that inner hope to experience Him more in utmost reverence upon hearing

messages that are inspired through His word.

In light of these studies and accounts pertaining to the role of the congregation in

worship, we are to go back to the roots of why we worship from the first place. Jesus Christ is

the embodiment of perfect worship as a response to the Father’s glorious will. As children of

God, we are graced with the everlasting love and mercy of Christ to be like Him, inch by inch.

The book of Hebrews reminds us that we are surrounded by observing eyes, let us remove our

sinful tendencies and run the “race marked out for us7” with God-given perseverance. In a

practical sense, church leaders should not limit the role of the congregation during worship

service. They are to emphasize the importance of the response of the attendees. It counts how

they shout in praise, raise their hands, even be emotionally endowed as they worship.

In light of this study, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me a sermon that addresses the

misconception of the role of leaders and congregation in the church of God. In this sermon, I

would strike a balance between the two by achieving harmony through biblical soundness and all

for the glory of God.

7 Hebrews 12:1
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Sermon Notes

Spirit-led Congregational Response to the Preaching of God’s Word

Main Verse: John 14:16, 17a

Portions of this study are taken from the following:

1. Arturo Azurdia, Spirit Empowered Preaching (Involving the Holy Spirit in your

Ministry),

2. John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching.

“16
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide

with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees

Him nor knows Him;”

Introduction

The context of the main verse is how the Lord Jesus introduced a helper for his followers

when the time comes that he has bid farewell. Before He departed, he taught His disciples

regarding the Holy Spirit in three chapters (i.e., John chs. 14,15,16). The emphasis of the Lord

led us to see more closely the Personage and work of the Holy Spirit. With the same lens, we

saw the sins that may be committed against Him.

I will deal with this subject in two separate topics. First, we will look at the responsibility

of the pastor and then observe the responsibilities of the congregation. Lord willing, we will look

at the second portion of this sermon with greater emphasis.

Before everything else, I would like to acknowledge the main sources of what I will be sharing to

you. Much of the material I will share comes from Arturo G. Azurdia’s book, Spirit Empowered
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Preaching. Some portions were taken from John Piper’s book, The Supremacy of God in

Preaching.

The Responsibilities of the Pastor/Church Leaders

A. The Preacher must devote himself to a consistent pattern of fervent intercession

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be

given you8.” As the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are to acknowledge the wonders that He can do

in our ministry and through fervent intercession we must not limit rather exalt the power of the

Holy Ghost as He embodies the congregation. Azurdia supported this idea, “When a man of God

abides in Christ (when he earnestly cultivates his intimate communion with the Vine), and when

the word of Christ abides in him (when the word of Christ is the predominating influence in his

life), he will prove effective in prayer because he will pray in keeping with t design of God.9”

There are five steps Piper follows in seeking to preach not in his own strength but i nthe

strength of Almighty God. He sums it up with the acronym APTAT.

1. I Admit to the Lord my utter helplessness without Him.

2. I Pray for help and beh for the insight, power, humility, love, memory, and freedom I

need to preach this message for the glory of God.

3. I Trust not merely in a general way in GOd’s goodness, but in a specific promise in

which I can bank my hope for that hour.

4. I Act in the confidence that God will fulfill His Word.

5. I Thank God that He has sustained me and that the truth of His Word and the purchase of

His cross have been in some measure in the power of His Spirit to the glory of His name.

8 John 15:7
9 Azurdia, p. 138
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B. He must prepare himself by the means of the diligent study of Scriptures

As I mentioned a while ago, the apostles were devoted themselves to persevering prayer.

But they also possessed an unrelenting commitment to ‘the ministry of the word’ (Act 6:4).

In a familiar passage Paul writes:

2Ti 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become

convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you

have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in

Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting

and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every

good work.

C. The preacher must recognize, and even revel in, his own human inabilities

Of the many paradoxes that appear in Paul’s Corinthian correspondences, one of the most

significant is his recurring theme of power through weakness. For Paul human weakness is the

channel through which God most readily communicates His power and Paul was prepared not

only to affirm his weakness but to revel in it10.

What was the point, he was attempting to make? The genius is never in the violin. It is

always in the violinist. And the same is true for the preacher. At best, he is but a twenty dollar

violin. But music can be heard when he is taken up in the hands of the Heavenly Violinist.

The Responsibilities of the Congregation

What are the responsibilities given to the congregation so that the Holy Spirit will be

involved in our ministry, specifically in our Sunday services. To put it in another way, what are

the responsibilities of the congregation for the preaching of the Word?

10 Azurdia, p. 143:
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According to Azurdia, the congregation’s first responsibility is this: The congregation

must consciously refrain from any kind of attitude or activity that might contribute to a

withholding of the effects of the Holy Spirit. As a person, the Holy Spirit can be grieved by sin,

and such grieving can lead to a withdrawal of His influences. Moreover, it is possible for the

Spirit and His ministry to be quenched. Thus, it is the responsibility of the congregation to

refrain from any kind of attitude or activity that could lead to a removal of His effects. They

shouldn’t grieve the Spirit by their attitudes (Eph 4:29-30). They shouldn’t quench Him by a lack

of expectation before and during the preaching of the word.

The second congregational responsibility is concerned with a holy duty to be assumed:

The congregation must earnestly take up its mandate to make intercession for the effects of the

Holy Sprit through the preaching of the word of God.

This truth has direct bearing in three areas11:

1. Each Christian needs to recognize his appointed duty to make consistent supplication

for the Spirit’s blessing on behalf of himself, the preacher, and others who will come

under the sound of the proclaimed Word.

2. This congregational responsibility also has implications for Christian families. The most

effective manner for instructing children in this doctrine of the Spirit’s vitality is for

parents to consistently pray with their children for blessing to attend the preaching of the

word. On several occasions my own children have asked: ‘Daddy, why do you always

pray for the Holy Spirit to help you when you preach?’ to which I have replied, ‘Because

11 Arturo Azurdia III, Spirit Empowered Preaching (pp. 170-172)

we want God’s word to be accompanied with power. This is how God changes people.

By God’s grace you will come to experience this yourselves.

Most importantly, this intercessory responsibility has direct bearing on Christians as an

assembled people. Aware of their absolute dependence upon divine enablement, congregations

need regularly to make petition for the transforming effects of the Spirit though the preaching of

the word. This can occur during the worship service, in Bible studies, discipleship groups, and

Christian education classes. Moreover, local congregations need to give serious consideration to

prayer meetings that are altogether devoted to this concern.

Conclusion

Paul did not feel that this urgent plea for prayer would lower his dignity, lessen his

influence, or depreciate his piety. What if it did? let dignity go, let influence be destroyed, let his

reputation be marred—he must have their prayers. Called, commissioned, chief of the Apostles

as he was, all his equipment (i.e., personal resources for success: the intellectual and emotional

resources that enable a person to succeed at a task or role in life) was imperfect without the

prayers of his people. He wrote letters everywhere, urging them to pray for him.

Do you pray for your preacher? Do you pray for him in secret? Public prayers are of little

worth unless they are founded on or followed up by private praying. The praying ones are to the

preacher as Aaron and Hur were to Moses. They hold up his hands and decide the issue that is so

fiercely raging around them.

References

Azurdia, Arturo G. Spirit empowered preaching: Involving the Holy Spirit in your

ministry. Mentor, 1998.

Beville, Kieran. 2010. Preaching Christ in a Postmodern Culture. Newcastle upon Tyne:

Cambridge Scholars Publishing. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=532126&site=ehost-live,

Kleinig, John W. 2017. “The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Service: A Lutheran

Response to Charismatic Worship.” Logia 26 (3): 21–26.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAn4217925&site=ehost-live.

Oord, Thomas Jay, Brent D. Peterson, Leonard I. Sweet, and Jay Richard Akkerman.

2009. Postmodern and Wesleyan? : Exploring the Boundaries and Possibilities.

Kansas City, Mo: Nazarene Publishing House.

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=520025&site=ehost-live.

Piper, John. The supremacy of God in preaching. Baker Books, 2015.

The century of the Holy Spirit: 100 years of Pentecostal and charismatic renewal, 1901-

2001 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001).