Trusting in the power of God's word

On Sunday I preached at Moorlands Evangelical Church, my church in Lancaster, on the subject of wives and husbands from 1 Peter 3:1-7.

I was fairly concerned about this task: only having been married for eight weeks myself, I didn't exactly have very much marital experience of my own to bring. Add to this phrases such as 'wives, submit to your husbands' and the wife being referred to as 'the weaker partner' and it felt like there was quite a task on my hands!

Well, praise God that he speaks through his word by his Spirit: something I was reminded of again on Sunday. I tried to let the passage speak for itself as much as possible, and was delighted to chat afterwards with an engaged couple, a woman who had been married for more than fifty years, and a divorced man, all of whom said that God had spoken to them through the passage.

Praise God that the preacher's task is not to preach himself! Thank goodness that a sermon is not for a preacher to broadcast their theories or opinions. As John Stott puts it, 'we are trustees of God's revelation, and are determined above all else to be faithful in our stewardship.'

Incidentally, if you would like to listen to the sermon, it's available online at http://www.moorlands.org.uk/sermons/mec070805.mp3.