“Expository preaching helps people to love God for who He is, not to love Him for what He provides. And explaining the Word of God and expanding on the Word of God reveals who God is.”
Thomas is the senior pastor at Calvary Hope of Nations in Lesotho in Africa. He has been in ministry at the church for 22 years. Their vision is to bring hope to all nations with the gospel of Jesus.
Involvement in Langham Preaching training has changed how Thomas preaches at his church, and he is passionate about the power of expository preaching.
Changed not just as a preacher but as a church
The preaching training from Langham not only changed things for Thomas, but also impacted his entire congregation.
He shares, “Langham started with me. I’m from a Pentecostal background and where one was just preaching from one verse that would just come to the mind or one verse that would make people happy. But when I attended Langham, I was shown how to read and interpret the scripture and not just take bits and pieces. It has helped me to understand the Word of God but it has also helped me to preach better to the congregation.”
Since employing the learnings from Langham Preaching in how the Word of God is taught, Thomas has seen many great changes in his church. They have had consistent membership, which is a huge indicator. In churches that preach the prosperity gospel, people don’t stay long.
They have also seen changes in the lives of the congregation.
Thomas shares, “The biggest is change in their lives, that people start trusting God, for anything and for everything, people trust what the Word of God teaches. We have seen people’s lives grow in reading the Word of God.”
Thomas estimates now around 40% of the church is reading the whole Bible throughout the year. It’s a challenge they do as a church every second year. This hasn’t just been accepted but has been loved by his congregation!
He says, “The other year some people said – ‘Can we start reading the whole Bible from the beginning to the end?’ So, we have seen people enjoying the Word of God, liking the Word of God and falling in love with the Word of God.”
The Word grows powerful roots
When the Bible is explained properly it has a powerful effect on how Christians live. Thomas explains, “It helps people to go through difficulties with faith in aGod that the Bible explains to us. We have seen that when people rely on the Word of God, hold on to the Word of God, that helps them to go through difficulties.”
Those who experience the Bible preached and learn to read it for themselves in an expository way hold fast to its truths much more than those who are not taught it properly.
This is something Thomas has seen clearly through his years of ministry. He says, “We have seen the difference in people who are taught the Bible in the right manner, they are rooted in the Word of God. But those that are not taught the Bible and have just picked a few verses and things like that, at the end, they dry up because those things do not really hold them.”
What Thomas describes is exactly why Langham Partnership raises up and supports local preaching training. Without a faith that is maturing through the Word of God, Christians struggle to hold fast to faith.
Thomas says to all who support Langham, “I would really encourage whoever is helping with Langham to please continue. I have seen that it changes lives. I have seen changes in pastors and in churches, where the Word of God was not correctly handled before and now it is. It’s bringing such an impact throughout the country.”