Malcolm Cox

How to be safeIt's easy to become obsessed with safety. And with good reason. The coronavirus seems to be spreading. As I type this rain is travelling horizontally outside my window. Storm Ciara is sweeping Great Britain. Roads are closed, trains are cancelled and Welsh rugby fans are stuck in Ireland unable to get home on the ferry!

It's desperately tempting to make 'safety' too much of a focus. I think it was CS Lewis who said that Jesus was not 'safe'. He was loving, yes. But not 'safe'. As he went around doing good some loved him, but many opposed him. He said the same thing would happen to his followers. How should we react when this happens? With peace of heart and rejoicing! Rather a strange thing, don't you think?

Jesus went further than simply telling us to tolerate our enemies. He told us to love them. No one demonstrated this more than Jesus. In Gethsemane. Peter took the violent route. An ear was separated from a head. What did Jesus do? He healed the ear. The ear of an enemy.

In this very unsafe world we will not find what most people think of as safety. But if we find Jesus, and if we live for him, we know that we are safe in his care. I took the funeral for Joy Revan on Friday.  The overriding thought I had at the funeral and burial was that life is uncertain. We do not know the time of the end. However, I quoted Romans 8:35-38 at the funeral:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35–39 NIV11)

We are most safe when we are in the hands of Our loving heavenly Father.  Your life and mine may or may not be terribly 'safe' this week. But our Spirits are safe. Let's rest at peace with that.

I hope that this week's podcasts, videos and other materials may help you to be at peace fully trusting in God's perfect love.

Thank you for reading this far, and encouraging me in my endeavours to support our times of quiet with God, our corporate worship experiences, and the effectiveness of our preaching and teaching. I hope my uploads will help you to have beatitude-infused conversations this week.

If you know anyone who might enjoy these materials, please send them a link to my website and encourage them to sign up for this newsletter.

God bless, Malcolm

“Kingdom Come” podcast, episode 43
Would you like to know more about the heart of Jesus? If so, you’ve come to the right place.   
Welcome to the “Kingdom Come” podcast of the Thames Valley churches of Christ. For two months we are diving deep into the “Sermon on the Mount”, found in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  
These podcasts are designed to help us take these amazing words of Jesus and apply them to our devotional life. 
Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our website is http://www.tvcoc.org.  
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John
mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

“Kingdom Come” podcast, episode 42
Would you like to know more about the heart of Jesus? If so, you’ve come to the right place.   
Welcome to the “Kingdom Come” podcast of the Thames Valley churches of Christ. For two months we are diving deep into the “Sermon on the Mount”, found in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  
These podcasts are designed to help us take these amazing words of Jesus and apply them to our devotional life. 
Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our website is http://www.tvcoc.org.  
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John
mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

“Kingdom Come”Sermon on the Mount Series 
Class 10: Matthew 5.21-48

QUESTION: What impact is the series having on your faith so far?
1. Raca and Reconciliation, 5.21-26

a. Murder is in view here, not 'killing'. Exodus 20.13.

Conclusion, Matthew 5.48
“teleios” - complete. 

QUESTION: How will this passage affect the way you live this week?

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

“Kingdom Come” podcast, episode 41
Would you like to know more about the heart of Jesus? If so, you’ve come to the right place.   
Welcome to the “Kingdom Come” podcast of the Thames Valley churches of Christ. For two months we are diving deep into the “Sermon on the Mount”, found in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  
These podcasts are designed to help us take these amazing words of Jesus and apply them to our devotional life. 
Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our website is http://www.tvcoc.org.  
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John
mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

“Kingdom Come” podcast, episode 40
Would you like to know more about the heart of Jesus? If so, you’ve come to the right place.   
Welcome to the “Kingdom Come” podcast of the Thames Valley churches of Christ. For two months we are diving deep into the “Sermon on the Mount”, found in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  
These podcasts are designed to help us take these amazing words of Jesus and apply them to our devotional life. 
Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our website is http://www.tvcoc.org.  
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John
mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Some notes on Matthew 5.17-20. It's a bonus recording on a paragraph of the Sermon on the Mount not covered in the class series.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

“Kingdom Come” podcast, episode 39 Would you like to know more about the heart of Jesus? If so, you’ve come to the right place.   Welcome to the “Kingdom Come” podcast of the Thames Valley churches of Christ. For two months we are diving deep into the “Sermon on the Mount”, found in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  These podcasts are designed to help us take these amazing words of Jesus and apply them to our devotional life. Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

“Kingdom Come” podcast, episode 38
Would you like to know more about the heart of Jesus? If so, you’ve come to the right place.   
Welcome to the “Kingdom Come” podcast of the Thames Valley churches of Christ. For two months we are diving deep into the “Sermon on the Mount”, found in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  
These podcasts are designed to help us take these amazing words of Jesus and apply them to our devotional life. 
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John
mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Today another episode inspired by my reading of Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones' book, “Preaching and preachers”. Let’s look at some thoughts from the fifth chapter of the book entitled “The act of preaching”.
A sermon is not simply about the text. The point of the sermon is drawing meaning from the text for our lives. But the sermon itself is more than simply what is written on the page. We have all benefited from listening to lessons or watching them online. But there is something different about the live ‘performance’. 

Last year I went to a gig in a local pub by a Bob Dylan tribute band (the Zimmermen). I could have watched them on YouTube, but, as you can imagine, seeing them in the flesh was a totally different experience.
Let's examine some of Lloyd-Jones' points and see what we can learn today.

1. Personality

“...in preaching all one’s faculties should be engaged, the whole man should be involved.” p82
God brings his word to people through people. And people are…people. No two of us are the same. We have our idiosyncrasies, our experiences, our personalities. All play a part in the act of preaching. We must bring who we are to the sermon.
What does this look like? Perhaps it’s easier to ask what it should not look like. Partly it’s about you being a heightened version of yourself when you preach, rather than a different person. Many years ago my wife Penny said to me, “I don’t like it when you shout”. What she was getting at was not so much the volume, but the fact that that sort of aggressive communication was not ‘me’.
Listen back to your sermons. Does it sound like ‘you’? Ask others their opinion.
A brief note for new and inexperienced preachers. Learn from preachers you admire. Imitate them. But, don’t copy them. Learning to be yourself and develop your own ‘style' takes time. Be patient with yourself and pray that others will be patient with you as you learn.
2.  Authority
“The preacher should never be apologetic, he should never give the impression that he is speaking by their leave as it were; he should not be tentatively putting forward certain suggestions and ideas.” p83
There might be nothing more disheartening than to hear a speaker begin their sermon with words like, “I don’t know why I’m speaking today, I’m not worthy… Somebody else would do a better job…”. If that’s really how you feel, then don’t agree to preach. It’s fine to be nervous. In fact, it’s healthy. But to be apologetic? My goodness! Is that how Paul approached speaking, or any of the prophets?
We may say that Paul was humble in his speaking. He came to Corinth, “...in weakness with great fear and trembling.” (1 Corinthians 2:3 NIV11) but this is not the same as being apologetic. He was humble, he did not depend on his own self-confidence. But apologetic? Far from it!
How do we develop a confident yet humble authority?  Primarily through prayer. Pray before you begin your sermon preparation. Pray over the text and through it. Pray as you prepare your lesson. Pray before you get up to speak and pray whilst speaking.

3. Freedom
“…the preparation is not finished just when a man has finished his preparation of the sermon.” p84
Since preaching is an act of the Spirit, no sermon is ever truly ‘finished’. At least, not until it has finished being delivered. Lloyd-Jones' point here is that the preacher must not be too tied to the details of his outline. As the Word goes out from us to the congregation, the Spirit will be working. Sometimes that will be in ways we have not anticipated. On occasion we will be surprised in the way the Spirit works in the congregation, but also the way the Spirit works in and on us.
Jesus was clearly one who paid attention to the spirit whilst he was speaking to other people: “Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?” (Mark 2:8 NIV11)
It’s too much of a copout to say, “Well, he was different.” Don’t we have the same Spirit?
What does it look like to speak with freedom? I can only share from my own experience, but there are times when I have a strong sense that I need to alter what I plan to say in the following ways:

Learning the difference between indiscipline and freedom is a key growth area for preachers. Where are you on the continuum? Does the congregation find it hard to follow your train of thought because you're often rather random? Or, on the other hand, does your congregation find it hard to pay attention because you are too predictable?
Pray during sermon preparation, and before you go up to speak that you will remain open to the prompting of God’s Holy Spirit whilst you are in the act of delivering his Word.

4. Interaction

“… The preacher while speaking should in a sense be deriving something from his congregation… There is always an element of exchange in true preaching… An interplay, action and response…” p84
Here is where a preacher needs to be in touch with the responses of his congregation.
Do you notice the reactions? Are people folding their arms? Are they nodding off? Are they sitting up? Smiling, frowning, snoring? What are you seeing, what are you hearing, and what are you sensing?
Check out Matthew chapter 12 is an example of Jesus in action, interacting with those around him, answering their questions and teaching. It’s a masterful display of teaching what needs to be taught as a response to audience reaction.
As a side point, this is one of the reasons why good preparation is vital. If we really know our stuff we have space to allow our senses to take in the information the congregation are giving us by their active or passive responses. Somebody once said that public speaking was less about delivering a lecture, than about having a conversation with your audience. Even though most of the speaking will be in one direction, it can be a conversation if you’re paying attention to the queues your listeners are giving you.
Certainly this takes practice and experience. And this is one reason why we need to be very clear on our point, and not overcomplicate our lessons. The ability to pay attention to our audience is also facilitated by not trying to communicate too much material. Simple lessons, with one point, not going on too long will help us to stay in touch with those in front of us and around us.
I have to say, I remain somewhat confused by how many of my colleagues speak for 40 to 60 minutes on an average Sunday. I don’t believe there is an ideal length for a sermon. Much depends on the circumstances, the context and the gifting of the speaker. I’m not against long lessons. But, for the average Sunday, I find it difficult to believe that our listeners need this much information. Or alternatively that they need the limited information repeated so much. I’d be interested to know your thoughts on length. However, that’s not our main point today.
I’m going to stop at this point. We will go on and look at the second half of the chapter and some more of Lloyd-Jones’ points next time.
Today we have talked about the act of preaching and that it must contain four elements:

What I’d like to know today is, “Which of today’s four points are most applicable to you?”
Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 
Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].
If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.
Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)
God bless, Malcolm
PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John
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