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Themes in the preaching ministry of Conner G. Armstrong, Pastor, Community Bible Church

Every preacher has his hobby-horses. I have tried to stay away from some of the geekier fascinations I have with the Bible (angels and demons as "gods," ancient cosmologies, Old Testament Lord's Supper moments, the divine plan for predatory animals, who is Qohelet, etc.), with about 80 percent success, and have tried to be true to my calling as a minister of Christ. Have I faithfully served up Christ alone each Sunday? I doubt it. But looking back over my sermons in Buffalo, I trace some Christ-centered themes I have harped on over and over. To wit:
1. Jesus is the eternal Word of the Father (mediated by the Spirit).
2. Jesus is the Christ, anointed as our Priest, King, and Prophet to bring God to Man and Man to God.
3. Jesus has already struck the fatal blow against the kingdom of darkness ("It is finished.") and freely forgives those men of darkness who cry out for mercy.
4. Jesus takes all who trust in him into his holy, new creation body.
5. Jesus still builds his glorious body, the Church, and it shall not fail in its attacks against the gates of Hell.
In classical theology, these themes fall, respectively, into the doctrine of God (theology proper), of Christ and Man (Christology/anthropology), of salvation (soteriology), of the Church (ecclesiology), and of last things (eschatology). I have attempted to teach a holistic view of the Bible by returning again and again to these themes. At the same time, I have stayed pretty strictly to simply preaching through sections of the Bible. My series have included:
-Philemon
-Haggai
-The Flood narrative (Advent)
-An overview of Romans 1-10
-John 13-21
-Habakkuk
I will finish Habakkuk this Sunday. Then we will have an Advent series. For Advent and Christmas, we'll study the Song of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79), covering these five themes.




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