‘Tis the season…when we usually start thinking about “stuff”! Stuff we’re thankful for, stuff we need to put up around the house, stuff we need to put on the Christmas shopping list. This time of year, it is so easy to be consumed by “stuff”.
For the Ihle Crew, this season has a different feel to it. It doesn’t have the appeal it once did. Since we plan to move to a new country next year, we can’t be consumed with more stuff – decorations and gifts that will go into storage or be donated with love. Also, we are so incredibly busy with learning God’s word, learning Chinese, homeschooling, making plans to move and preaching that we don’t have the interest in material things that we once had. While this may sound a little sad, it’s not! There is great peace and contentment in focusing on God’s work! We are still enjoying the season. We’re just not as consumed with “stuff”.
This year, we’re thinking mostly about Christ and His glorious riches! Incomprehensible strength can be found in Him. That is if we are not concerned with the stuff of the world. We still have worldly needs of course, but we’ve been more overwhelmed with the spiritual blessings of having supporters, like you, all over the country who care about us and the work. We have incredible thanksgiving for the profit we know the Lord will add to your account. We trust the Lord will bless us and you! Even when things become difficult, we know the Lord will bless us spiritually, especially through our friends, like you. The work of the gospel will continue. And He will be glorified!
I preached this lesson in my Chapel sermon this month. The idea comes from Philippians 4:10 – 19. In this text, Paul teaches us the “secret” to being content. It is not in stuff and not in self. He rejoiced for having received a great gift from the Philippians. He rejoiced, not because of the material benefit, but because of the spiritual benefit. He said that he could do all things through the Lord who strengthens him. Such was his mentality. His chief concern was his work of spreading the gospel and with the spiritual profit of his supporters. Now those are riches worth being thankful for!
The Art of Preaching Sermons
One of the great privileges of being at a preaching school, like Bear Valley, is having the opportunity to preach at many different congregations throughout the state. Some of these congregations are self-sufficient, and they’re just generous enough to open up their pulpits occasionally for students to practice. However, most other congregations are small. They cannot afford a full-time preacher, or they’re in between preachers. In some cases, the nearest congregation from them is 60 miles away! So there is real need for someone to preach. If I choose to not preach on any particular Sunday, that means that a congregation may not have a capable preacher that day.
Starting this month, I take over coordination responsibilities for students who “preach out” at these congregations. One of my jobs will be to encourage students to take the opportunity. It has been such a rich blessing for me to preach out in order to work on my sermon preparation and practice my delivery, but it is also a huge blessing for the congregations who just need someone to encourage them with the truth. So, I take the job of inspiring other students to do the same very seriously.
This quarter, I am also taking Homiletics with Donnie Bates, one of our elders at Bear Valley. Donnie has encouraged me with his passion for preaching. There have been several technical and practical lessons I’ve taken from the course. However, one of the plainest lessons to learn about preaching is the idea of letting God’s Word shine through your words and your personality. It’s not rocket science. God’s Word has the power. I’m learning that the trick to preparing great sermons is to take a passage, make it plain to understand it in its context, and make it easy to apply in today’s life. That’s it! If I do that, I can know that those who want to hear will take it with them and bear fruit. And when you see that happening, it makes preaching God’s word one of the most fulfilling things we can do!
Just One will be Worth It Last month, I reached a big milestone in my study of Chinese! I have achieved what is known as HSK 1 proficiency. What that means is that I am familiar with how to recognize and use the top 150 most frequently used Chinese characters.
To learn Chinese fluently, most experts suggest that you need to learn 3,000 – 4,000 characters to read a newspaper. That would be roughly HSK 5 or 6 proficiency. Most suggest that HSK 3 or 4 proficiency is needed to get a professional job in China. So, obviously I still have a long way to go, but my goal is to be at least conversational in Chinese by the time we move.
Learning a new language is a tough, persistent task. But with 100’s of millions of Chinese speakers who do not have easy access to the truth of God, staying motivated isn’t difficult. Our motivation is to take the truth to one person. At least one soul who would not have otherwise received the truth! Just one will make it worth it!
Love,
-The Ihle Crew
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