Malcolm Cox

2nd Commandment: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevent Poor Performance. Introduction Our preaching and teaching will never be perfect. But can we be effective? That’s a noble aim.  “At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.” (Acts 14:1 NIV11) Point of conviction Preparation does not begin the moment you are asked to speak, given a preaching assignment or teaching opportunity. It starts as we carefully, deliberately, consistently study the Scriptures day by day by day. Regular study prepares us to teach a text because we are better able to put it into context with the rest of God’s Word. How was Peter able to stand up and preach the first ‘Christian’ sermon in Acts 2 blending together his experiences of Jesus, prophecy from Joel and Psalms into a message that resulted in the baptism into Christ of at least 3,000 people? In part it was because of the 3 years of instruction by Jesus, including the