“The little things become the BIG things.” Have you ever heard that quote? A few years ago, I emailed some of my friends and asked them what they remembered about their childhood. I have reproduced many of their answers below, and I hope that you notice the things they remembered really were the little things.

In the latter part of Acts chapter fourteen we see the activities of Paul and Barnabas as they are finishing their first missionary journey. Churches were established in several cities. The disciples were taught, and converts were trained to lead the churches. After this they returned to Antioch.

Giving is not a minor topic in Scripture. In fact, the word give in its various forms is used 2,162 times throughout the Bible—that is more than believe (271 times), prayer (268 times), and love (714 times) all combined! Of the twenty-nine parables Jesus told, sixteen deal with money or possessions.

The pastor who knows his people is going to communicate with his people better. Why? Because he knows their heart. Shortly after coming to Lancaster Baptist Church I was amazed at how well Pastor Chappell knows his people. I would bring up a name thinking, “He’s not going to know this guy in my Sunday school class,” but he would stop and tell me all about that guy or his family, and I would just stand there amazed. But that is what makes a preacher effective.

Next to my salvation and my relationship with God, nothing is more important to me than my relationship with my family. I am very blessed to have grown up in a healthy, spiritual family. My parents were saved before my birth, and early in my infancy they started attending a Bible preaching church. That Bible preaching and teaching helped them in their marriage and certainly helped them raise their children.

We live in a day of analysts. And everyone, it seems, wants to analyze the church. Some analyze to be critical, some to posture themselves as “better than the imperfect church” in order to gain members for their “near-perfect church.” It seems most pastors view themselves to be more balanced than others or to have a better understanding of grace, theology, missions, etc. than others. Perhaps these self-assessments are true, perhaps not.

One of the most often rehearsed quotes from the lips of the apostle Paul can be found in the third chapter of the book of Philippians. After listing all the things he has been through—both good and bad—he reaffirms his intention to continue to pursue Christ by saying:

In the home where I lived as a boy, there was a medicine cabinet that hung on the wall above the sink in the bathroom. That cabinet is where you would find the thermometer and antibiotic cream and other items that relate to health and sickness. In that cabinet were two small bottles that looked very similar.

I recently preached from 1 Chronicles 28 and 29 on having a renewed vision for the work of God. Amazingly, after forty years of leading God’s people, David’s heart for God was still passionate, and his vision for God’s work was still fresh. As I studied for this message, I was impressed by how David personally participated in providing materials for the construction of the tabernacle.

Outside of Christ, there is no greater communicator in the Bible than Solomon. Proverbs is a book of metaphors. One common denominator to all great preaching other than the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is a metaphor. A metaphor uses the imagination to picture your point.