My Favorite Lists

As a preacher I am always trying to make things easy to understand. With every sermon I am trying to avoid those five-dollar words like antinomianism or ecclesiology (sometimes I throw them in there to impress people demonstrate credibility). But one of my favorite ways to simplify things down is to create lists. These lists help me memorize and retain information and hopefully they help the people listening to my lessons too.

I created an acronym for the proofs of God's existence, COMET, (cosmological, ontological, moral, experience, teleological--$5 words!) and one for the proof of the Bible's inspiration, HICCUPS (historical, intact, cohesive, cogent, unexplainable, predictive, supernatural). Sometimes the lists don't conveniently make up a word. In memorizing the Beatitudes (Mat. 5:3-10), I memorized the order of the first letter of each characteristic:  P2MHM3P (poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger/thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaker, and persecuted).

But the lists that I really enjoy and that I have been thinking about this week are three.. First, I think of the six works of the church. What makes a healthy church and what works make a church grow? I think Acts 2:42-27 is a perfect description of the church and every congregation should strive to emulate this description. All the things we do as a church should be in the name of at least one of these works.

The SIX WORKS OF THE CHURCH in Acts 2:42-47:
     ● Worship (breaking of Lord's Supper, filled with awe, praising God, having His favor)
     ● Relationships (fellowship, being together, in one another's homes, with glad hearts)
     ● Word of God (devoted to the apostles' teaching)
     ● Service (giving to those in need, having people's favor)
     ● Stewardship (having all things common, giving to those in need)
     ● Evangelism (adding to their number)

Another list I have been thinking of is one of personal health. A healthy person is a person who grows and enjoys life. Often we are off balance, focusing on one and ignoring the others.  Jesus grew in four areas and these are

FOUR AREAS OF HEALTH in Luke 2:52:
     ● Mental (wisdom ie. judgment, the ability to make good choices in life)
     ● Physical (stature, physical health like eating right and exercising)
     ● Spiritual (favor with God, worshiping Him and living by faith)
     ● Social (favor with people, relationships with others, showing kindness and service)

One more list I have been enjoying is the list of the "seven ones." This list is the essential
doctrines that create and unite the church. Every bible lesson I preach needs to have at least one of these subjects. The seven are tied for importance and the eighth is last in importance but still important.

The EIGHT DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL in Ephesians 4:1-6:
     ● One Body (the church)
     ● One Spirit
     ● One Hope (to which we are called)
     ● One Lord
     ● One Faith
     ● One Baptism
     ● One God (who is over all)
     ● Last, Unity (in the bond of peace)

These three lists help me answer the question, "What are my priorities supposed to be?"