The Very Word of God

This past Sunday, I met again with those who sent me back to New England in 2013, after three fruitful years of pastoral training. Our family worshipped at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and shortly after, I was interviewed before the church by Pastor Mark, my mentor in ministry. I shared with old (familiar!) faces and new about the stunning legacy of Tremont Temple Baptist Church. I shared that we are known as the first integrated church in America—that Frederick Douglass read aloud the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 at the abolition rally at Tremont Temple. I shared that the church has been a faithful steward of the gospel since 1839 and still is.

Mark asked me to share prayer requests, and among them was a praise for something that I testified to as a distinct mark of God’s grace among us at Tremont Temple. I quoted 1 Thessalonians 2:13:

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

Some people are governed by emotions. Institutions are often governed by ideology or cultural prerogatives. But the church of Jesus Christ is governed by God’s Word. He speaks to His people by His Spirit, through His Word, and we hear the voice of a Father who has never failed us—not once! This is something I have appreciated and praised God for over nearly ten years as a pastor of this flock, that the Bible is received as the very Word of God.

As we continue to make progress as a church in making God’s Word the center of our life together, allowing it to govern us is challenging! At times, God’s Word is pure comfort. At others times, it convicts and corrects us. All of this is for the building up of the body of Christ into maturity. Dear brothers and sisters, may we continue to press into growth, for our good and for the glory of Jesus! Pray that we would hear God’s Word as the very Word of God!