Within the realm of worship, there are the beautiful voices of singing by the saints, there are the joining of each other in gathering around the Lord’s table as a memorial of Jesus’ sacrifice, there are the cheerful giving which God has so richly gave us, there are the prayers that ascend to the throne of God out of humble hearts and there is the preaching from the hand written pages of Almighty God. Thus, worship is God centered. Now, not too far in the past, a local denomination was advertising a “Contemporary Worship” service for modern days called, “Soul Solutions.” They claimed on a flyer of theirs that visitors and members alike will “hear positive, practical messages which encourage” and on the bottom of that same flyer read the words, “No Guilt Worship.” This “feel good about yourself” style of preaching dominates the religious minds and scenes today. Now, while a preacher should have no problem with preaching positive, practical messages that motivate, open your Bibles and notice what kind of preaching dominates the pages of God’s Word. Even a novice of the Bible or a casual reading from the preaching of Moses, the prophets, John the Baptist (by profession), Jesus and the preachers of the great commission (Matt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15-16) reveals preaching designed to convict and correct, not to caress and comfort. Remember the prophet by the name of Jeremiah? Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet.” Why? Well, some may claim that he got this name because his message was primarily to comfort those when feeling down or going through disappointments. But, this would be an inaccurate assumption. In Jeremiah 1:10, the Lord said to him: “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” Notice that Jeremiah’s preaching contained four negatives and two positives. Again, the Lord describes his Word, “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29). The thing is, Jeremiah was a preacher who “had something to say” unlike many of the preacher’s today who simply thinks that they “have to say something.” Great gospel preaching begins and ends with God’s Word! Notice that the preachers of the New Testament simply, “told it like it was.” This is God’s type of preaching. The late John, who paved the way for Christ, began his preaching, “saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). It was his preaching that disturbed his hearers and they went to him and were baptized, confessing their sins. Apparently, John’s preaching was a cry of warning against the wrath of God. Read if you will, of the words that he uses toward the Pharisees and Sadducees in his preaching: “. . . he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matt. 3:7-10). Also, do not forget the powerful words he used to tell Herod the tetrarch, “. . . It is not lawful for thee to have her” (Matt. 14:4). Sadly, these words cost John his life. Now sometimes, preachers may be asked to preach leniently because there may be visitors in the seats. However, when thinking about what type of preaching we are to have in worship, notice the first gospel sermon preached to the visitors at Pentecost. It was the apostle Peter who used fierce words of accusing his audience of the murder of the Son of God (Acts 2:22-23, 36). No doubt, Peter’s preaching pierced the hearts of his hearers and certainly did not give them warm fuzzy feelings. Yet when considering preaching, one must, of course, observe the preaching of our dear Master, Jesus Christ. Notice that he did not travel around massaging the fragile minds of the people in his day. Instead, he begins his public ministry with a call for change on the part of his hearers. He called them to repent (Matt. 4:17) as well as calling some: hypocrites, vain worshippers, blind leaders and offending them while stating, “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (Matt. 15:7-14). Now if repentance that Christ preached requires a change of thinking that results in a change of lifestyles, how can this be accomplished without some measure of guilt? You know, even the preaching of Jesus offended some of his disciples so greatly, that they left him and walked with him no more (Jn. 6:66) by which he even asked the twelve that he chose, “. . . Will ye also go away?” (Jn. 6:67). There is a place for positive preaching. The pulpit is not and cannot be used to just beat the people down week after week. Christians and visitors alike are not the enemy. Sin is the enemy. Therefore, there must be a balance just as the apostle Paul told young Timothy and to keep the balance of reproving and rebuilding to go along with the exhorting (2 Tim. 4:2). This is the kind of preaching that will step on some toes, cause some to praise God and some to carefully examine their lives. This is the kind of preaching that is needed ALWAYS and is the kind of preaching that saves the souls of men. Robert Notgrass