Multnomah

I remember well my first class in hermeneutics at seminary. Years later I still have the voice of my prof ringing in my ears – “Observation! The first step in inductive Bible study method!” Influenced as he was by Howard Hendricks, he left his mark in my life as I open the Bible and start by looking. What is there? What does it say? You can’t interpret it until you know what it is. Observation is the critical first step to success in Bible study, and in preaching too.

You have to observe well to handle the Bible well. You have to observe well to communicate effectively. In a discipline like preaching, so built on effective Bible study, we would do well to continually develop our observational faculties. Let me share this quote from William Wirt (1828), quoted in McDill’s 12 Essential Skills:

Perhaps there is no property in which men are more distinguished from each other, than in the various degrees in which they possess the faculty of observation. The great herd of mankind pass their lives in listless inattention and indifference to what is going on around them . . . while those who are destined to distinction have a lynx-eyed vigilance that nothing can escape.

Practice observation every day. Describe the person you just spoke with. Define the distinctive characteristics of their body language. Observe the headlines on the newspaper you pass. Live with a lynx-eyed vigilance so that you never waste your life in listless inattention and indifference!

Who’s the best preacher you’ve ever heard? What was the best sermon you ever listened to? A few months back I sat in Westminster Chapel for a day conference on the resurrection. During the breaks I imagined what others have raved about – the ministry of Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I was about 35 years too late. But even so, I’ve heard some good preaching in the last 20 years.

What was it about that preacher that so impressed you? I think back to composure, the natural style and the command of Scripture I saw in Joe Stowell when he visited England in the mid-nineties. I think back to the obviously captured heart of David Needham as I sat under his teaching at Multnomah. What impressed you in a preacher or teacher you’ve heard?

What was it about that sermon that resonated so deeply? I think back to the sermon on heaven that stirred my heart heaven-ward and my life world-ward that evening in Minehead. I think back to the overwhelming power of the cross at that Saturday afternoon service where the missionary to the Muslims shared so simply. I think back to how my God seemed so big and my heart was stirred to worship by the little Chinese preacher with the presence of a lion. I think back to how my life was provoked to pro-active faith action in a world of lost people by that weak missionary speaker in a bizarre jacket.

Take some time to reminisce the best preachers and the best sermons. The ones you remember without effort, even though hundreds or thousands of sermons have come and gone since. Thank God for that speaker, for that sermon. Prayerfully re-live the impact as you reminisce. It’s amazing how biblical preaching can resonate so deeply that it rings loud and clear years after the sound waves have dissipated.