By Bob Russell
My mother loved the Bible and was determined to pass along her passion for God”s Word to her six children. Some of my fondest memories of early childhood are of my mother prompting me to memorize Scripture so I could get a star on the chart in my Sunday school classroom. She was wise enough to know that Scriptures memorized in youth stay with us and guide us for a lifetime.
The second Bible verse I memorized (which was embedded in my mind right behind John 3:16) was Psalm 119:11: “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Next was 1 Peter 5:7: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” That was followed by the more challenging Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest . . .” (King James Version).
John 11:35, “Jesus wept,” was always a bail-out verse””the shortest verse in the Bible””to be used in cases of emergency when there was no time to memorize. To this day when I quote those familiar passages, they often come out as a blend of King James and the New International Version.
I once memorized John 14:1-14 for a children”s day program. I had the first 11 verses down pat but hit a mental block in front of the audience when I got to verse 12, so I just repeated the 11th verse three times!
Later that day our elderly preacher, D.P. Shaffer, placed a palsied hand on my shoulder and asked, “Is this the young man who repeated the Scripture this morning?” I can still see the proud smile on my mother”s face as she responded affirmatively. “You sure would make a good preacher someday,” the 80-year-old godly minister responded. Though that seed remained dormant in the back of my mind for the next 11 years, it finally took root and sprouted toward the end of my senior year of high school.
As a young minister I decided that most of my preaching would be expository preaching, explaining the Bible verse by verse. I discovered there was tremendous power in just reading, explaining, applying, and illustrating God”s Word. Hebrews 4:12 became the basis for my preaching, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
It”s amazing how the Bible meets the deepest needs of the human soul””needs we”re often not even aware of. Every so often someone will tell me, “I was struggling with a problem and when I came to church I couldn”t believe it. You preached on that very subject and it really helped me. Thanks!” I feel really good about that until I check the preaching schedule to see what I preached about and realize it had nothing to do with their problem! However, the Holy Spirit took one verse of Scripture or one thought from the Bible-based message and spoke to their need.
I once prepared a series of messages from 2 Thessalonians. In that letter the apostle Paul writes about the coming of Christ, the rise of the Antichrist, and the ultimate judgment of God. Just before I got up to preach the first message, I noticed a young man in the audience who was there for the first time; I recognized him as the brother of one of our regular members. I knew his family had been praying for him for years because he had been living a very worldly life.
I thought to myself, Oh, no! The first time he comes, I”m preaching about the second coming of Christ. What does this have to do with him? He sat through that message and came back for the second and third sermons. At the end of the fourth message he came forward during the invitation hymn and gave his life to Christ. When he was baptized he said, “Wow! That series on the wrath of God scared the tar out of me!” God”s Word does not return empty.
Today when people visit Southeast Christian Church and see the massive campus and thousands of people filling the seats, they often ask, “How did this happen? How did a church grow from 100 to 20,000 in attendance?” I often point to Mark 4 where Jesus said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain. . . . As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come” (vv. 26-29).
The fact that I”ve witnessed firsthand how the seed of God”s Word can grow and produce an abundant harvest explains why I often write Ephesians 3:20, 21 after signing my name. It”s a passage that summarizes my life experience. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Bob Russell is retired senior minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
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