The name Gus Nichols continues to be remembered by members of the Lord's Church, especially in the south. Brother Nichols preached in Jasper, Alabama for over 40 years. That included sermons, Bible classes, a daily radio program, and more. The amount of "material" he produced in his lifetime is astounding, to say the least.
Brother Nichols was once asked how he could continue to preach and teach after thousands upon thousands of sermons and lessons. His answer, while pointing to a Bible, was, "There are still 10,000 more sermons in there that I have yet to preach!"
When I first read this story, I thought back to my dad. I have no idea how many sermons, Bible classes, radio lessons, lectureships, VBS lessons and more he has done in over 30 years of preaching the Gospel. As a kid, I used to wonder how he could possibly keep "coming up" with ideas for sermons that were new and helpful.
Then, I began to study more deeply from God's Word. Brother Nichols' statement began to become reality. There are countless lessons just waiting to be taught!
I once heard brother Alan Highers (editor of Spiritual Sword) state that every time he read the Bible, he learned something new. Our God is wise enough to write a book that is simple enough for us to gain what we need from it quickly, but deep enough that we will never "mine its depths" completely.
When is the last time you picked up the Bible and read it? When is the last time you studied a book, topic, person, or theme in an in-depth manner and gained greater knowledge from the Bible?
There are more than 10,000 more sermons to be found and taught. Why not pick up the Bible and discover one of them today?
- Adam Faughn serves as the pulpit minister for the Lebanon Road church of Christ in Nashville, TN. He may be contacted through the congregation’s website at: http://www.lebanonroadchurchofchrist.org
No comments:
Post a Comment