Sensitivity can really strengthen a sermon. If it is overdone it can also neutralize a sermon, but well-placed and well-worded sensitivity is well worth the extra thought it takes. If the text was originally targeted at one specific type of person (such as the early chapters of Proverbs targeted at young males), perhaps a careful [...]
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It is so easy to get into ministry maintainance mode. We do what we have to do to keep things ticking over. As soon as one program is over, the next is looming. And there is certainly something to be said for faithful plugging away in local church work. But while remaining faithful to what [...]
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One of my preaching instructors at seminary once mentioned a handful of books that he keeps within easy reach of his desk for sermon preparation. I’ve done the same ever since and find myself referring to them often. To preach the text effectively we have to do more than dissect the text and preach the [...]
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I recently spoke to a preacher after he had preached and thanked him for his ministry. I asked how he felt about it. To my surprise he said something like, “Oh, I never think about it, the job is done and I move on.” If that is true, it is strange. I suspect most preachers [...]
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When you start a new series consider whether it’s time to be more overt with some study instruction. This is especially helpful when shifting to a new genre. For instance, after spending some time in an epistle you shift to a series from Proverbs. Help people re-orient themselves by deliberately setting aside a message to [...]
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Robinson and other instructors teach a hierarchy of illustrative materials. In a simplified four-level hierarchy the list would be as follows: Level 1 illustrations come from the experience of both the speaker and listeners. Level 2 illustrations come from the experience of the listeners, but the speaker has to learn about them since they have [...]
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Posted in Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Doctrine, Illiteracy, Spurgeon, Theology on February 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Last week I wrote a post that spoke against theological agenda-driven preaching. Yesterday’s post affirmed the value and relevance of theology. Are these positions contradictory? Not at all. We are living in a generation where there is an increasing biblical and theological illiteracy. So as preachers we have a responsibility to really know the important [...]
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I was just reading a little book by a famous seminary professor. He referred to the thousands of chapel services he has sat through in his time. The one thing that bothered him perhaps more than anything else was when a visiting speaker would say something along the lines of: I am going to leave [...]
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Following the post on Saturday, “It Can’t All Be We,” Steve submitted an important comment. I hope he doesn’t mind the extra exposure for the comment by including it here, but I think this is a very important issue for us to wrestle with as preachers. Steve wrote: The problem with saying there is only [...]
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Posted in Homiletics, Preaching on February 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
This weekend we had the privilege of joining a church for their annual weekend away. Stunning weather (in February in England!), great food, beautiful venue, etc. But from my perspective I would say that I enjoy weekend retreats primarily because they provide such an ideal preaching environment. Why? 1. These events are smothered in prayer. [...]
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Posted in Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, tagged criticism, discouragement, Minister, Ministry, Pastor on February 17, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Non-preachers often don’t realize the roller-coaster of ministry. Due to the exacting nature of ministry – giving out, being buffeted spiritually, etc. – we are all prone to repeated discouragement. Today as you press on through another Sunday, take stock of the realities of ministry: Discouragements are par for the course. A preacher facing discouragement [...]
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Posted in Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Authority, Craddock, New Hermeneutic, New Homiletic, Reader-Response on February 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Cultures shift. In the west we are living in an age when people no longer respect authority, including the authority of a preacher. People may like the preacher, and listen to the preacher, but there is some resistance to the concept of a preacher speaking with authority. Consequently, many preachers will try to use “we” [...]
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People may hear words, but they sense values. Values are caught as much as taught. Watch a dysfunctional family situation where the children are verbally instructed with one set of values, but observe the flagrant disregard for those values in the parents. Or watch the influence of a preacher who may state the importance of [...]
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Posted in Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 1 - Passage Selection, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 4 - Passage Idea, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on February 14, 2008 | 3 Comments »
As preachers we have to determine a fundamental perspective in our approach to preaching. Do we preach the Bible, or do we preach a theology? Obviously when we preach the Bible we will preach theology, and hopefully we will do that well. And there are times when we must chose to address a particular theological [...]
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One privilege of preaching is the privilege of study. But not everything you discover in your private moments poring over the sacred text should be shared from the pulpit. Some things may be an exegetical cul-de-sac that you pursued but led to an apparent dead end. Other things may be genuine insights from the passage [...]
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Yesterday I wrote about the danger of abusing introductions to promote pet perspectives. After the introduction, the message continues. As people look at the passage in the Bibles sitting on their laps, can they see how your message comes specifically from that text? If people cannot see how we get our message from the text [...]
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The first few minutes of a sermon are important. They provide the opportunity to get the attention of the listeners, surface a need for what is to follow and move them into the passage and message. During this relatively brief movement there is a temptation that we probably all face to one degree or another. [...]
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Many preachers have a tendency to overestimate what can be achieved in one sermon. We also have a tendency to underestimate what can be achieved in five years. Perhaps today will be an obviously great day in the work of the church. Perhaps major breakthroughs will occur for all to see, as you have prayed [...]
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In order to improve as a preacher it is important to get feedback. We need more than the handshake’s and comments after the service in order to grow. Howard Hendricks has referred to this as the Glorification of the Worm ceremony! So we need something more constructive. Probably not after every sermon, but certainly periodically, [...]
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Eugene Lowry’s work sits under the broad umbrella of the New Homiletic. His work overlaps considerably with Fred Craddock. Other New Homiletic writers have been criticized for writing well, but failing to provide a clear model of what they are suggesting. This charge cannot be leveled at Lowry. The Homiletic Plot was first released in [...]
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The final moments of a sermon are highly strategic. The last opportunity to emphasize the main idea, drive home the application, stir motivation for response, etc. Then there is one other thing we may be inclined to include – an early advert for next Sunday’s continuation in the series, an early raising of need for [...]
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Bible study feels like a journey. Perhaps for others the terrain feels slightly different, but I can often discern three stages I go through in the process of studying a passage. I am not referring to exegetical method here, but rather to a sense of progress in my quest to understand the passage. 1. Apparent [...]
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No biblical text says everything. Each text says something. So, we have a potential problem. There is a constant temptation in preaching to over-qualify. We are tempted to over-qualify the big idea so that it won’t be critiqued as biblically incomplete. We are tempted to over-qualify the points of application so that we aren’t perceived [...]
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Commentaries – The Golden Ones
Posted in Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Review, Stage 2 - Passage Study, tagged BEC, BST, Commentaries, Glynn, NAC, NIGTC, Tyndale, WBC on February 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Since we’re talking commentaries, here’s another thought. How are we supposed to know which ones to buy? As a preacher I often note a common problem in commentaries – they tend to be atomistic. That is to say that many of them seem to deal only with the word or phrase at hand. As a [...]
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