Book, chapter and verse preaching of the the gospel of Christ is the only means God has chosen to save your soul and mine. There is a lot of preaching that is being done but much of it is just telling interesting stories that entertain the audience and make popular the preacher. This type thing is a spiritual trap. We must hear Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins and then we must courageously obey Jesus from the depth of our hearts.

DISTINCTIVE PREACHING REQUIRES STUDY. As a teacher of your class or as a preacher of sermons, there is just no substitute for careful "handling aright of the word of truth." What a thrill it is to go to a real "bible class" and study the wondrous things out of God's law! On the other hand, what a spiritual disaster to waste valuable class and sermon time on current trivia. May God bless those young preachers who are willing to dig deeply into God's Word and then preach it with conviction.

DISTINCTIVE PREACHING SEPARATES THE GOSPEL PLAN OF SALVATION FROM THE WISDOM OF MEN. The gospel preaching of the apostles said , "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...,Acts 2:38, but the wisdom of men says, "Just accept Jesus into your heart where you sit and you will be all right.!"

DISTINCTIVE PREACHING SEPARATES THE CHURCH JESUS BUILT FROM THE CHURCHES STARTED OUT OF MAN'S DESIRE TO PLEASE HIMSELF. Jesus said, "I will build my church," Mt.16:18 and He did just that. Men and women repented of sins, were baptized, God added them to the church and in localities throughout the whole world baptized believers met and do meet to worship our God and Father in heaven. But a tragedy took place when Satan deceived people into believing that they could start churches with new names and different types of organizations and with different work to do. This is what a denomination is and these churches are contrary to God's Will. Distinctive class teaching and preaching calls people back to the church just as we see it in the New Testament.

DISTINCTIVE PREACHING WILL STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH WHEN TROUBLE REARS ITS HEAD. "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another," John 13:35. However, brethren sometimes do not love as they should and need be "withstood" to their face because of some sin. See Gal.2:11. Some churches never have any peace because when sin is reproved the sinner wants to change class teachers or get a different preacher. What is needed is men and women who will stand for the truth even if it means having only a very few in the congregation. We need to quit covering up problems and forthrightly "preach the word" encouraging all to obey the gospel without the loss of a single soul to wrangling and discontent.

May God bless us as we press on toward the wonderful place called heaven!

by Lynn D. Headrick