Using A Bible Timeline Chart When Preaching The Bible
Not long back I had a retired Pastor reprove me very sharply, for making some interesting points while preaching on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. He was very old school, and he referred to 1 Tim 1.4 “nor to be taken up with with myths and never ending genealogies.. ”
I quietly and respectfully asked him if I had said anything that was heretical or inappropriate to which he answered. “No”. I explained that this Scripture was never meant to exclude genuine enquiry into the Bible, but rather it was targeting the false philosophy of Gnosticism. But he would not have it.
Gnosticism had been so influential in the new Testament times, and the new Testament writings, how could a pastor of 40 years experience not know this. It is important for pastors to know these things, and to teach their congregation in order that they might understand and interpret their Bible well.
Tragically, a large proportion of pastors preach light weight messages, are so very shallow so that the congregation hardly grow in the Bible and interpretation skills. Pastors love to preach ‘moral essays’ and ‘warming affirmations’ because, if we truly ‘love’, others, this is what we will do.
It seems that, so long as we are positive and ‘nice’ to all, it really doesn’t matter if Christians are falling between the cracks because of a lack of knowledge.
The reality is, the more ‘relevant’ Christians become, to the world, the less relevant we all are in actuality, to the world. 
Why do Pastors get stuck in a rut of favorite topics and ‘feel good’ messages? Preachers preach on a verse from 1 John further a part about a victorious one from Luke; topical address from Matthew following on with the true faith of Mary Magdalene or the rigtheousness of Abraham.
After preaching portions from here and from there, through the Bible we need then to put it all together in a clear, understandable way for our congregation.
We seem to have a constant flow of new books and ideas, with dangerous Liberal leanings. We are repeating history, but if we were to teach the basics of Church history, we would be more equipped to avoid repeating that history.
Let’s equip the Church in understanding God, His Great Plan and the Bible by sewing each piece together into a seamless beautiful tapestry.
It’s not a difficult thing to accomplish, we just need to put in some study and prayer.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (NIV)
