Christian Renewal – Our past does not define who we are in Christ. Only our present and our future in Jesus define our lives today. This is what Christian renewal is all about!
Christi, a student at CLI, found herself in a very difficult situation because of the path she had chosen in her life. As she says, “I didn’t want to hurt anymore. I didn’t want to be bad, but I didn’t know how to get out of it. And while I sat in someone else’s car about to steal it….I cried and begged him to pull me out of this. This was not who he created me to be. I begged him to take my pain. I wanted him to take my life. But he wouldn’t. All my life, I have begged him to take my pain. I thought the only answer was death.”
Now Christi knows that she has died to sin and is alive in Christ Jesus. She knows that her Christian renewal has changed her life. She writes, “As women we are so distracted by society, we do not want to walk with God to know the truth about our heart’s desires. God has given us this desire to want a marriage union, but we (for the most part) don’t understand how to do it correctly because we’re distracted from God’s word.” She is now studying God’s Word at Christian Leaders Institute in training to be a woman of God who can bring Christian renewal to others as she leads them to the path of truth.
Too often, the enemy will use our past to haunt us and make us believe that God does not want us to be His chosen instruments of truth in our society. Our hearts are filled with the despair of not knowing how to get out of the terrible situation in which we find ourselves. The enemy (Satan) taunts us with the idea that the only way out is to die. Christi found the real truth, however, when she picked up a Bible to read why it was that God did not end her life. There she discovered that the enemy had been feeding her lies to convince her that her past defined her future.
Christian Renewal Through the Word of God
God’s Word set her free from those lies. She now is learning more and more about this God who saved her in Jesus. Why? So that she in turn can bring the freedom of the Truth of God to others in the bondage of failed and destructive relationships. Christi is being raised up by God to be a revival leader in her family, among her friends, and even to people she meets on the streets of her Kansas home town. She is bringing Christian renewal everywhere.
Christi is thankful that God has prepared a place like CLI where people can be trained to be revival leaders. She writes, “Thank you Henry!! I am beyond blown away of the compassion you and your colleagues have shown by putting this school together. You have enabled God to reach his children who have him in our hearts to carry on his perfect will for us and to speak to many others whom God puts in our path.” Give thanks to God with us that He has saved Christi from her destructive path and given her a new life in his Son Jesus. To Him be the glory!
Jamaica Preaching Course
Johnis Burton is student from Jamaica taking preaching at Christian Leaders Institute. This Jamaica preaching course ends with a reflection what he learned. This is his reflection:
By: andresumida
The weeks of training in different skills areas and the formulation of sermons have brought a whole new rage of concepts and ideas to mind. The art of constructing a proper sermon is dependent on the individual for one, the type of people that we are target to get the message across and the varieties of format style that can be used to present the message. The information presented in this class have open new avenue to something that I have never done before and so all the knowledge that I have gathered have become useful for future reference.
I have learnt the different types of sermon that are available and how they are used depending on your audience or your preference. These different type of sermons approach ranges from topical, exegetical, expository, testimonial etc. I have also grasped the idea that Jesus’ ministry was one in which His parching style uses illustrations and stories to reach and appeal to the mind of the wider sect. This is a form of preaching that may appeal to people who sees and remember thing by such means. Examples of this preaching style was demonstrated if further weeks using power points to drive the message home.
An effective sermon presents a problem and gives solution that will help. When the audience see that there is a problem and a solution is forth coming they will listen to the end of the entire sermon. Sermon construction teaches how to introduce a problem to your audience who might not even have a problem until you present one. People who go to church go there to find spiritual guidance or for a peace of mind. They are searching for love and a sort of carefree comfort that will allow them to forget about the care of the world at least for a few hours. And so presenting them with a problem (may be theirs) will help them to see that through God all things are possible. The elements that can help to introduce a problem are: The fallen condition focus; an illustration that makes you audience feel the fallen condition; the propositional statement. With these three key elements the preacher can set the stage for the sermon and in doing so may help someone who is in desperate need of a word. As the weeks progresses I started to understand more to the point that preaching takes more than meet the eyes. Preaching and sermon construction is something that take focus on our part and the intervention of the Holy Spirit to write and deliver the message but most of all the Holy Spirit have to open the hearts of the audience to receive the message. This is where prayer, fasting, and the skills associated with speaking techniques comes into play. CLI does a great job by incorporate this method into almost each class to help learner to understand the importance of speaking when presenting a sermon. Even though it can be used in whatever speaking occasion may arise. The speaking and presentation techniques that Karen Friedman and Andrew Bryant presents was clear cut and brought new insight to how a presentation should be done in order to capture and engage your listeners.
Jamaica Preaching Course Video Reflections
There was one video presentation by John Piper that spoke to me as he dealt with the outlines of what Expository Exultation is and how to use them effectively. According to Piper the aim of this exposition is to help you eat and digest biblical truth that will:
- make your spiritual bones more like steel
- double the capacity of your spiritual lungs
- make the eyes of your heart dazzled with the brightness of the glory of God
- and awaken the capacity of your soul for kinds of spiritual enjoyment you don’t even know existed.
There were a few other videos that showed parching style along with sermon format. One such was the preaching style that made it seems like one is singing (whooping). Funny enough I have heard it before but didn’t know what it really was. The bottom line though of all this is that it is suggesting that it not necessarily about the styles of preaching but the individual bringing the message. The focus is not of the man that gives the message but from who the message is originated – which is God.
It then dawned on me that this (sermon construction) takes more work than I thought. In the first place there is a level of thought that have to be put in to come up with what sermon is to be preached on Sunday. Not a sermon with the frills and cosmetic touches that is beautiful and no effect but one directed by the word of God that will ministers to the hearts of the hearers. The next step is to begin the sermon. According to Henry Reyenga to begin a sermon one must adhere to these three simple guidelines: The word of God; Does the message come out of the truth of your own walk? Is it true to you? With these simple guideline one can begin to formulate a sermon that for the most part be a testimony of your life or in my case my life. The message must be taken by you/me before it can be taken by others. I have realized that people identify with someone when they have been there or down that path. Do you believe what you are preaching or saying? Have you even been to the doctors and he/she proscribes medication for you in hopes that you would take it according to the correct dosages? If yes I believe then that is how a pastor should minister to his/her congregation who for the most part be spiritual sick and need a dose of spiritual Madison.
The anticipation of constructing a sermon got heighten as I begin to grasp the concepts needed to set a foundation of a well-organized sermon. There was more to learn and it would take the commitment of a child of God to venture in to that aspect of kingdom building. The type of kingdom building that would need keys to making a good sermon. Professor Michael Regness gave seven essential keys to a good sermon. These keys are:
- A good sermon engages the biblical text
- A good sermon proclaimed the gospel
- A good sermon connects God’s word to the lives of God’s people
- A good sermon is well organized and easy to understand
- A good sermon engages the imagination of the hearer
- A good sermon is delivered well
- A good sermon orients hearers to life in God’s world
These keys make a sort of personal connection between speaker and listeners. That sort of delivery that make the listener feel like they are the one God is speaking to (in most case whether good or bad) yet is speaks and appeals to all who listens.
This class even though challenging gave me a new perspective. The learning outcome was appropriately design to capture my creativity and intellectual engagement towards the different methods and skills needed to construct a great sermon.
Whether you are in Jamaica or somewhere else, enroll at CLI. After you take the getting started class you can enroll in this preaching course.
Sweden once was alive with Christianity. Belief in God was commonplace. Today less than 10% of the population confidently believe there is a God. (Ann Arbor News Report) While many immigrants to Sweden hold to their belief in God, Swedish nationals are becoming more and more secular.
Some Swedish nationals are staying firm in their belief in God and are called to become pastors and leaders. God can use these leaders to bring revival to Sweden.
Biblical Education is needed in Sweden!
Much of the clergy training in Sweden is even shifting away from theological training (Christianity Today). Biblical education is becoming rare in Sweden. In this setting, students like Mats Jonsson are looking for Biblical education.
Mats Jonsson is a follower of Jesus Christ. He is married to Sarah. Together they have one son named Linus. He’s called to minister in Malmo, Sweden.
Mats Jonsson has sought Biblical education online at Christian Leaders Institute. Here is his story.
“I a volunteer as an Assistant Pastor/Leader for an international Christian Fellowship for more than 7 years now and I love the diversity in our community but a diversity unified in the love in Jesus Christ.
“We live in the very south part of Sweden in an area which is one of the most secularized parts of Sweden. Around 30% of the people living in Malmo, the third biggest city, are foreign. Mainly people from Denmark, Irak, Bosnia, and Polen, but overall 171 nations are represented in Malmo. Many of these people are coming from Muslim countries, have never heard of the Gospel, are coming from horrible backgrounds, war and conflicts. It is hard reaching these people but we are doing what we can, reaching out, building bridges, connecting.
“My ministry dream is to continue to grow in the knowledge of God in order to be able to help, guide and mentor people in our community.
“I want to continue to build bridges from our ministry/church out into the the society and then create pathways back to our fellowship, I dream and hope to do that here in Sweden or at any other place on earth God wants us to go.”
Biblical education is very important to Mats. Mats wants to use his Biblical education to be prepared to lead in the planting of churches and fellowships.
Mats says, “We, as a family, want more than ever not only to plant churches/fellowships but also to ‘be’ the church. I want to continue to study and get educated to make sure I have a good and strong knowledge in the word of God and get equipped so that I can be able to face the many challenges on the way.”
Mats found the Lord through his wife. His wife brought him to a church that preached Christ as Savior and Lord.
“I was drawn in to the ministry and got saved through my wife. She was the one who took me to church and showed me the way many years ago.”
Now together they are growing in Christ. Mats is getting the Biblical education online that he needs to prepare himself to lead others to the Lord. He is also being prepared to plant churches and bring revival to the nation of Sweden.