Some churches rely on itinerant speakers, others have a team preaching approach, and many churches have the solo preacher approach. There are some unique challenges that come from being the main or the only preacher in a church. At the BibleFresh preaching event, Stephen Gaukroger offered seven quick comments on what it takes to sustain a long-term ministry as the main preacher in a church:
1. You have to be a long-term preacher – That is, our personal integrity only becomes more important in a context where you preach over a long period of time, so you must be refreshing yourself under God’s Word continually.
2. Preach the Bible, the whole Bible – Don’t pick and mix your favourite passages based on personal or denominational biases, but allow the whole Bible to set the agenda over time.
3. Refresh your approach to preaching – Don’t get stuck in a style or always default to your default.
4. Work harder at multi-dimensional application – Not just to the individual and the church, but also to the society and global needs too. (I would add that application should not just be relating to conduct, but also to belief and affection too.)
Tomorrow I will finish the list, but keep checking the Bible Fresh site as the talk should be uploaded sometime and is worth watching (look out for the quote of the conference about birds and mice!) – click here.
Biblical Preaching 
Could you expand on bullet #4? I’m fuzzy on that one…
I will try. I think that Stephen Gaukroger’s point was that we too easily preach applications that are individualistic, personal to people in the church or to the church itself. For instance, it’s easy to always apply at the level of our own devotional lives, but we also need to think through our role as speakers speaking into a wider context of societal and global needs too. What does the Bible say about the contemporary issues in politics, ethics, trends, ecology, etc. For long term preaching we have to have more to say than just the personal and local applications.
My point was that on a more personal and local level, we tend to apply at the level of conduct – i.e. let us all read this much Bible this week, or make a list and check it twice, or select one person to pray for, etc. I think we need to drive our applications deeper to belief – that is what we believe, know, etc., and deeper still to the affections – what we value, love, trust, etc.
Applications that reach outside the four walls of the church, and applications that reach deeper than the four to-do’s on a list . . . both are necessary for a full-orbed biblical preaching ministry.
Not just to the individual and the church, but also to the society and global needs too. (I would add that application should not just be relating to conduct, but also to belief and affection too.)
Tomorrow I will finish the list, but keep checking the Bible