Here’s today’s post from Pastor James Machperson’s blog. I thought it has some great questions regarding preaching:

“I love listening to different preachers talk about the way they construct messages so I was interested by Six Questions to Frame Your Sermon by Mark Driscoll …

1. What does Scripture say? – The Biblical Question

2. What does the Scripture mean? – The Theological Question

3. What is my Hook? – The Memorable Question

4. Why do people resist this truth? – The Apologetic Question

5. Why does this matter? – The Missional Question

6. How is Jesus the Hero/Saviour? – The Christological Question”

Proverbs 25:3 (The Message)

Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth,

the understanding of a good leader is broad and deep.

Sometimes the Bible just speaks for itself. I don’t want to mess it up. Great proverb for every leader and leader-in-training!

Gen 17:7    And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.

We live in a society and culture where we want everything instantly. We are the Twittering, Blackberrying, microwaving, takeaway society. We can now email from basically every device we own.

We are used to things happening fast. To things happening now. And this also crosses over into our faith. We like shorter church services, more punchy sermons. I am reminded of the prayer a young boy said, “Lord give me patience, and give it to me now.”

However, let’s remember this: God goes by a different clock. His strategy for progress is different. God’s method of fulfilling dreams, and taking promised lands is different than ours. When we see days, or months, or even to our own shock, years, God sees something else. What is this something else? God sees generations. He looks generationally.

So what is God saying in Genesis 17? It is this: God’s concept of progress is generations. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Generations!

In fact, the Hebrews seem to have measured time by the generation.

Most Christians today are too short term in their thinking. We need to catch the concept of thinking generationally.

God’s plan for our lives has always been generational. In your life, it is essential to understand how generations affect your own family, your church, and even your business and legacy in life.

Here’s the punchline: it may not happen in your lifetime, but it will happen in your lifeline.

The imagery the Bible uses for the work of completion is that of the potter and the clay.

Jeremiah 18 talks about how our life is like clay, and God is like a potter that is shaping and moulding who we are on the wheel.

This sounds like a really cute thought, until you take a moment to think about the process of pottery. The clay is pounded, pushed, prodded, and then once it finally resembles the finished product it is put in a furnace. Ouch.

For us it is a powerful reminder that God is at work in our lives. And even the times when we feel the most pressure in life, they may just be the times when the potter is shaping and molding us the most.

Like a potter shapes clay, He will push at certain points to make and shape us. He will push at your thoughts, your attitudes, your relationships, and your faith. Why? Because the potter has an end goal in mind – completion.

When you look at those distinct marks on a clay pot, you are seeing the points where the potter was at work. So it is with us.

In life, there are sometimes key events, decisions, people, or seasons that shape who we become. God’s tool is nouns, ‘people, places, things,’ to shape us.

God has a method and a pattern to building people. God uses the process to build the person. He uses the journey. Life itself becomes our master teacher.

You are on the potter’s wheel. So take every pressure, problem, and crises as an extra step forward in your completion.

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

God is in the business of finishing whatever He starts. His goal in our lives is completion.

The word complete literally refers to a house renovation that has been finished. It is always easy to start a home renovation. We can picture how the house will look with the new kitchen, and with some new paint. But after starting sometimes it can be hard to retain that initial motivation to complete it.

In the same way, when we give our lives to God, our lives are totally un-renovated.

However, God does not stop until every room of our lives are totally complete.

If you have given up on a dream, and you think it will never be realized, know that God can complete it. Maybe you have given up on that family member who is not with the Lord, start believing for a complete work.

Remember, if God started it, He will finish it.

I love the House of God.

It’s not perfect. And I’m part of the reason why!

But it is a place that is full of purpose.

The world today is full of uncertainty. The financial crises, global warming, technology advancements. It seems like everything is changing! The one place where we can anchor our life to an unshakable foundation is the House of God.

Call me old fashioned, but there is something I love about just being in church with God’s people, worshipping, and receiving the Word.

We can get distracted with a lot of different things when it comes to church. How important it is to refresh our focus and remember it is GOD’s house. It’s all about God. It’s all about the grace and love of Jesus. When you walk into church this Sunday take a moment just to remember where you would be if it wasn’t for God in your life. It scares me to think where I would be.

Here’s a great principle to live by: If you build God’s house, he will build your house (life).