In ministry we often live under the tyranny of the urgent. Sunday comes about every three days, or so it seems. Often we are hard pressed from every side, not only in terms of sermon preparation, but all the other complex needs of complex humanity that we are trying to serve. So [...]
Archive for November, 2007
Back-Burner Sermon Study
Posted in Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Stage 2 - Passage Study on November 30, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Review: Communicating for a Change, by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones.
Posted in Delivery, Homiletics, Preaching, Review on November 27, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Let me be honest. I love studying the subject of preaching. I want to be a lifelong student of the subject. But if I’m honest, a lot of books about preaching are somewhat dull, tedious, repetitive and unengaging. Not this book. Engaging. Compelling. Motivating. Intriguing. [...]
Spirituality’s Ignored Ingredient
Posted in Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching on November 26, 2007 | 6 Comments »
Peter Adam wrote that when it comes to spirituality there is a curious phenomena in Protestant Christianity. In our bookshops we can find much on the subject from Catholic, Celtic and Orthodox sources. But strangely there is often very little that addresses the Bible as a source of spirituality. He notes that [...]
Getting to Grips with the Genres
Posted in Genre, Homiletics, Preaching, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 4 - Passage Idea on November 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Imagine a history teacher that teaches history like it is fiction. Imagine a poetry teacher that teaches poetry like it is math. To do this would be absurd. History is not fiction and poetry is not math. Each subject functions differently. History functions through names, dates, and other facts whereas fiction functions through plot. Poetry [...]
Do We Pray Too Small?
Posted in Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching on November 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
In a world that is highly charged, energized and empowered, somehow life can be such a draining experience. In the busy-ness of life it is easy to lose track of the space necessary for thinking, for communing, for dreaming. I’ve written about the critical importance of our personal walk with Christ. I’d [...]
Strive to be an Expert in This
Posted in Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching on November 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
One more thought from the life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards. Piper states that Edwards probed the workings of the human heart and gained a profound understanding of it. He did not achieve this by “hobnobbing with the Northampton parishioners,” but by three things:
1. Diligent reading and contemplation of his own heart. [...]
First Things First
Posted in Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching on November 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
While I add a lot of posts on this site that are somewhat technical in nature, the foundation of effective preaching has to be our personal walk with the Lord. As good stewards we must do everything we can to be the best that we can, but none of that can replace the fundamental [...]
Being Natural Often Feels Unnatural
Posted in Delivery, Homiletics, Preaching on November 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
While this may not be true in every culture, many have little time for “pulpiteering” these days. The appearance of performance is significantly off-putting to those who place high value on genuine, vulnerable, honest and natural speaking styles. People do not appreciate the sales patter of a car dealer or the obvious reading of a [...]
Remember Your First . . . Sermon?
Posted in Delivery, Homiletics, Preaching on November 10, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday I had the privilege of evaluating fifteen sermons at the end of a preaching course. For five days the students had been working through an introductory course in preaching at Tilsley College, many of them never having preached before. I’ve heard negative comments from preaching instructors before about having to listen to student [...]
Preaching – Spiritual Gifts, Learned Skills And . . .? – Part 2
Posted in Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching on November 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday we considered spiritual gifting and learned skill. I would like to add two more elements into the mix today. Two things we should dwell on in regard to preaching:
Spiritual Element of Preaching – In the old days this slightly intangible element was called “unction.” Today many tend to refer to [...]
Preaching – Spiritual Gifts, Learned Skills, And . . . ?
Posted in Homiletics, Preaching on November 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Is it possible to have the gift and preach poorly? Is it possible to not have the gift and preach well? If I have a group of 20 students in a preaching class, should the gifted ones ignore the class because they have the gift, and should those without the gift ignore the class because [...]
Expository Misunderstanding
Posted in Audience Analysis, Homiletics, Preaching on November 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
For many people the term “expository preaching” carries negative baggage. Often this baggage relates to some restrictive view of what is meant by it. Dry, dull, lifeless, canned – these are all possible, but not required. Irrelevant is also added to the list, but technically that is not even possible. John [...]
Break the Routine
Posted in Homiletics, Preaching on November 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Some who read this blog are pastors/ministers who preach every week, perhaps multiple times per week. Others are “normal” people who preach regularly as well as holding down “non-preaching” jobs as well. Either way, it is easy to get into a routine. Perhaps a weekly routine where Monday’s are off, but Tuesday’s are back in [...]
Review: The Supremacy of God in Preaching, by John Piper
Posted in Homiletics, Preaching, Review on November 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
This is neither a how-to manual, nor a full theology of preaching, but it does make a definite contribution to the field. The book is divided in two parts. The first part is a series of lectures Piper gave at Gordon-Conwell Seminary on the subject of preaching. The second part is a series of lectures [...]
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