Idea-Centered or Event-Centered

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Matthew 7:7-12 gathers up the themes of the Sermon on the Mount, asking, seeking and giving, under the Father who gives good gifts. Jesus speaks as a preacher, not a lecturer, full of power and urgency. Jeremiah 29 promised that after the exile God would let himself be found by those who sought him. That day has come in Christ, God's decisive act; preaching should announce what God has done, not lecture on ideas.