By Capt. Robert W. “Bill” Johnson
Preaching to military families
The Apostle Paul exhorts us in 2 Timothy 4:2 to “preach the word.” To whom are you preaching the Word? Are you preaching to your entire congregation or just to a few attendees? So often pastors become engrossed in certain preaching topics and targets and miss the bull’s eye. A bunker-busting bomb has a certain target in mind, and so should your message. One example would be the intention to take out an airfield but not to hit the planes on the airfield that carry the bombs. Be sure your message hits the right target!
Allow me to share a few helpful preaching suggestions when you know that your church has military families:
Military families need to hear of the peace of Christ due to increased deployments and the uncertainty that their loved ones may not return home alive. Their hearts need to experience the peace that only Christ gives.
Military families need encouragement! The military family is constantly being asked to give and give, to go and go, to move here and there, and they just get tired, but they serve us with honor! Pastor, please speak words of encouragement to them.
Military families need to hear a sense of purpose in what they are doing. Yes, they do receive pep talks from commanders, supervisors and others in their chain of command, but offering them a bible-based sense of purpose as a military member will greatly further their cause. The Old Testament has some wonderful passages supporting purpose within the military.
If implemented, the above-mentioned suggestions will do wonders for your congregational military families, and will enhance the fellowship of your church as it reaches out to the entire body of Christ.
_______________
Capt. Robert W. “Bill” Johnson is an active duty chaplain presently assigned to Langley Air Force Base, VA. His previous assignments have been in Florida, Virginia, DC, and Korea.