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How does God Speak

Through the words of the preacher

God will often speak to us through the preaching of his word, because there is no doubt that the spoken word of God is powerful:

Heb 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Preaching can generally be separated into three ways of delivery: evangelistic, doctrinal, and inspirational.

Evangelistic
Many times people will say that God spoke to them through the message at a service and remark that the preacher was speaking 'just to me'. This testimony is often heard when people tell the story of how they were born again.

Doctrinal
God uses those with a teaching ministry to open up the scriptures and expound his word to the congregation, bringing enlightenment, as Jesus did with his disciples on the road to Emmaus:

Luke 24:27 "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."

and as Philip did with the Ethopian eunuch:

Acts 8:35 "Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus."

Inspirational
The Holy Spirit will take the written word and use it to penetrate the listeners' hearts, highlighting areas of sin, wrong attitudes, unforgiveness and unbelief. The listener will feel uncomfortable, feel convicted, or have a prompting within to take some action as a result of the preaching.

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