First generation leaders in the biblical counseling movement often spoke about the synergistic relationship between preaching/teaching and counseling. They suggested that a person who regularly preaches or teaches God’s Word will be better prepared to counsel with sound theology and a person who regularly counsels will be better prepared to preach or teach God’s Word with practical applications for everyday life.
Yesterday that principle came alive for me in ways that made me thank the Lord yet again for the wisdom of the women and men whom He used to launch the BC movement. It was a Monday morning, and I had a couple of hours to work on the following Sunday’s Christmas sermon from Matthew 1:23 about Jesus being our Immanuel. I began chasing that theme around the Scripture and soon, as is often the case, had enough material for a mini-series and I wasn’t even done with the introduction yet.
Biblical Examples of God’s Presence
I thought about how the role of God’s presence played out both positively and negatively in the Garden of Eden. Then came statements about people like Enoch and Noah whom God’s Word reports actually “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24, 6:9). Soon I was
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
