By Barry Whitlow
Barry Whitlow is a church communication activist that is passionate
about communication as it relates to the mission of the church. He
believes media is the language of today and when combined with
creativity and excellence is a powerful tool that can be used to touch
the heart of a congregation, community, or the world.
As a pastor and church leader, I’ve always been sort of a rebel.
I look at things not as they are, but as they could be.
That’s not an easy path, particularly in the church world where, along with the bad economy, safe often is the understated status quo.
One reality in the church world is that 70% of the people living in most American communities now CHOOSE not to get up and go to a church service on Sunday.
I’m pretty sure if Batman heard that amazing statistic, he would shout:
“Holy church frustration!!”
The experts say there are lots of reasons for this stat, but
the one that I don’t ever hear is the one that I feel should be at the
TOP of the list:
There is an ever-growing CHURCH COMMUNICATION GAP.
The 70% can no longer relate to how most churches in America communicate their message on Sunday.
THEY watch videos (3 billion a day).
WE talk to them.
THEY love variety.
WE do pretty much the exact same thing every Sunday (greet/music/message/music/dismiss/repeat-repeat-repeat-repeat).
THEY live to be entertained.
WE package the most important message on Earth in a mostly verbal communication in a one-person sermon.
THEY learn from "multi"media through the week.
WE teach them with lectures and a quick splash of multimedia.
THEY want choices.
WE remain the same.
THEY want God to be relevant to THEIR world.
WE want them to be relevant to ours.
So what’s it going to take to reach the 70%?
Change-change-change, and the RIGHT message communicated in the RIGHT way.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Daring Preaching Engages the Culture: Does Yours?
By Joe McKeever
Dr. Joe McKeever is a preacher, cartoonist and the retired Director of Missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans. Currently he loves to serve as a speaker/pulpit fill for revivals, prayer conferences, deacon trainings, leadership banquets and other church events. Visit him and enjoy his insights on nearly 50 years of ministry at JoeMcKeever.com.
Now, I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world... They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. (John 17:11,16-17)
A half-century ago, theologian Langdon Gilkey wrote a book titled "How the Church Can Minister to the World Without Losing Itself."
It's worth buying just for the title.
That's the challenge. God's people are sent to be in the world but not of it, to relate to the world without loving it, to bring the gospel to the world without succumbing to its enticements.
And yet, many of us love the culture where we find ourselves. Is this wrong?
Adrian Rogers used to say, "We are like a fellow in a boat. As long as the boat is in the water, he's fine. But as soon as the water gets in the boat, he's in trouble."
At what point does the culture threaten to swamp our lifeboats? I'm a football fan and love cheering on the New Orleans Saints. Am I succumbing to the world?
Seminarians discuss these matters in classrooms. They study books in which philosophers and theologians bring up the ramifications of engaging culture. Eventually, the young minister develops a set of principles for future ministry. In time, he graduates and goes forth to pastor a church with real people.
Suddenly, all bets are off.
In the urban setting where his seminary was located, the culture was one thing. In rural America where he has gone to pastor, it's something else entirely.
One of his classmates has started an innovative church in the artsy section of Chicago where the culture is unlike anything he has ever known.
A classmate is now serving a mission in small-town Ohio, a community dominated by labor unions and factory life. The highpoint of the social season, he says, is the tractor pull at the local arena.
Another friend has been appointed missionary to the bush country of West Africa where the culture is pagan, primitive, and powerful.
Lastly, a colleague has taken a county seat ministry in the heart of the Bible Belt, where four churches stand on the corners of the major intersection and every community leader belongs to one of them.
Nothing to it, right? Just "preach the gospel, servant of God."
There are no easy fields in which to labor.
This being a fallen world, all people groups on the planet are known to be sinners, therefore in need of salvation, and yet strongly resistant to the Holy Spirit.
The servant of God who goes to bring the Lord's word to the Bible Belt or the untaught primitives of the most backward nation will face similar challenges: How to relate to the cultures of the people to whom he has been sent.
This week on ESPN radio, the sports guys were tossing this subject around in connection with professional football teams. Should San Diego, for instance, go after players who will mesh with their laid-back "beach" culture? Should the New York City teams draft athletes with star appeal who will fit right in?
They finally answered their own question: Regardless of background and culture, if a player makes that team a winner, the people will welcome him as he is and not require him to adapt to them.
The easiest approach is to remain aloof from the culture and condemn it.
I live in metropolitan New Orleans. Today—January 6, 2012—marks the official end of the Christmas season and the opening of what is locally called the Carnival Season. This means parades and parties, endless theme-oriented displays and colors and conversation, king cakes in the stores and on the tables, all of which ends with a full-fledged holiday in which the city shuts down. February 21 is "Mardi Gras."
A new pastor moves to this city and takes over the leadership of a church. The first question some will ask is his position on Mardi Gras. It's a loaded question. Local church people are not in agreement at all on how Christians should relate to this festive culture. Some attend the parades, insisting that theirs are as benign as a homecoming parade back in their Alabama hometown. Others arm themselves with tracts and march forth into the throngs to witness for Christ. Most simply stay home and treat the day as a holiday.
My friend Jerry Clower, a widely acclaimed Christian comedian and first-rate storyteller, was a Baptist deacon and outspoken Christian. Some 20 years ago, when a "krewe" in this city invited him to ride as their "king" or grand marshal, Jerry took them up on it. Immediately he began to be criticized. Mostly he ignored the barbs, but a couple of times he told how this opened doors for witness. After all, as a member of the Grand Ol' Opry, he frequently found himself backstage counseling entertainers whose marriages were on the rocks or whose lives were being ruined by strong drink and wayward living.
Did he do the right thing? To join the culture or try to avoid it altogether is a matter between oneself and the Lord.
Who are you to judge another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls (Romans 14:4).
Psalm 137 is the perfect illustration of the Lord's people remaining aloof from the culture in which they found themselves....
By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion (Jerusalem). We hung our harps upon the willows... for those who carried us away captive required of us a song. Those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion."
Got the picture here? Exiled in Babylon, Israel's temple singers are being asked to perform some of the songs of their faith.
Looks to us like a great opportunity to witness.
They didn't see it that way.
How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.
It all goes downhill from there.
Think of that question, Christian: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"
That is precisely what we have been called on to do.
Our "strange land" lies just outside the doors of church. Anyone can sing the hymns of Zion indoors where the faithful gather and no one minds. But to sing the Lord's song in the factories and schools, in the clubs and restaurants, in the theaters and concert halls and playgrounds and stadiums is far better, much harder, more productive, and far more hazardous.
The Apostle Paul and Don Richardson have a great approach.
In Acts 17, when the Apostle confronted the philosophers of Athens with the message of Jesus Christ, he began with their own culture. Paul was sufficiently familiar with Athens to know of their addiction for new ideas and their fear of all the possible gods in the universe to the point of erecting a monument to "The Unknown God," just in case.
Paul said, "Therefore, the one whom you ignorantly worship, I proclaim to you" (17:23).
A good approach? It seems so. I'm impressed, I'll tell you that.
But others disagree.
Now, Paul had found a point of connection with those people, an area where the message of Christ touched them perfectly. No syncretism here, in which one simply treats the gospel as an additive and mixes well with the current religious fads and erroneous ideas.
However, critics point out that Paul's message that day never was finished. The moment he mentioned the resurrection (17:32), the crowd turned into a mob and took over the meeting. Some say Paul even admits as much when he tells the Corinthians—the group to whom he went immediately on leaving Athens—that "when I came to you, I did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God" (I Cor. 2:1). They say Paul was reacting against the approach he had attempted in Athens.
Don Richardson wrote a book called "Peace Child" some years ago detailing the discovery he and his missionary team made with a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. The work was hard and slow and the results were miniscule, until the day Richardson learned of a custom the warring tribes had by which one group would give the other a small baby, called a "peace child." The receiving tribe had to raise the infant. So long as the child lived, peace reigned between the tribes.
Thereafter, in his ministry to these people Richardson drew parallels between God giving us Jesus Christ His Son—who came to us as a Baby—and "He himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14). That day, the people began to "see" and to believe.
Later, Richardson's second book, "Eternity in Their Hearts," recounts tales from tribal cultures across the globe wherein missionaries had found stories, myths, customs, and legends that were ready-made vehicles for the gospel. The title came from Ecclesiastes 3:11.
This principle calls on us to learn the culture of the people to whom we were sent, then prayerfully look for avenues and tie-ins and parallels which the Lord has prepared for alert disciples to present the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let the Christian worker not look for the easy way out, but become a student of the culture and look for the hand of God in what he finds.
No gospel worker who chooses to remain aloof from the culture where he goes to minister will have much effect on it. He will not know how to relate his message to its intricacies or needs.
There is no place for lazy evangelists.
I received a note once from a young minister in another state looking for a church to pastor. "But let me emphasize," he said, "I do not want to waste my time with a lot of people stuck in their traditions. I'm looking for a church poised for growth, where everyone loves the Lord and each other. They're ready to follow a dynamic leader and willing to do whatever it takes."
I responded that we did not have any churches like that, that all our churches were made up of believers at every conceivable stage of spirituality and maturity, that most of our people were struggling to rebuild their homes and their lives after a devastating hurricane, and that he should probably look elsewhere.
I never heard of him again.
An old manual for missionaries puts it this way: A necessary qualification for missionary work is a love and appreciation of one's own culture demonstrated by involvement in it. A Christian who has a lively interest in history, economics, politics, music, art, and literature will appreciate the same things in other cultures. If he cherishes his own social values and institutions, he will be more likely to respect those of others.
The multicultural nature of the United States makes it an ideal training ground for the missionary who will be communicating across cultural barriers. It offers unlimited opportunities for involvement with different cultures and subcultures, which will give invaluable experience on the foreign field.
I have difficulty believing the sincerity of a man who has no concern at all for Afro-Americans, Chicanos, Indians, and Chinese here in America but who will cross ocenas to love these same people in other parts of the world. The English say, "Charity begins at home." (from Pius Wakatama in "Cultural and Social Qualifications for Overseas Service")
The Lord's workers must avoid the extremes.
The church of Constantine's day seems to have joined the culture and adopted its values and lust for riches. As a reaction against this surrender to the world, concerned priests—monks—began to pull aside from the culture and live in isolation in deserts and mountains. Monasteries were built for groups of monks whose isolation was a protest against the self-indulgence and surrender of the church to the standards of the world.
Both extremes are just that, however. Extremes. We should not join the culture; we must not abandon it. We must engage it. That will require us to study and learn it, to appreciate what is good about it, and to identify and use the portions which prepare the hearts of its people for the gospel of Jesus.
Therefore, most Christian workers will learn to live with tension.
There seems to be no clear path between the world on one side and the Lord's way on the other. The two seem to overlap at places and to be strangers to the other at other times.
In the racially troubled south of my early days in the ministry, some pastors I knew turned their pulpits into platforms for their own racial prejudice or rage against racism. Others—among whom I count myself—tried to find ways to minister to our people who were themselves struggling to find "the way" out of their Jim Crow past but without capitulating to the liberal theology of some of the extreme activists.
There was always tension. We were always getting shot at by both sides.
In time, I came to believe that tension is the norm for those trying to bring the gospel into their culture. They will be working to learn it and relate to it, but working just as hard to keep a healthy distance from its worst values and seductive charms.
There are no easy answers. I like them as much as the next person, but there just don't seem to be any.
We will give the Apostle Paul the final word on this today. "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (I Corinthians 9:22).
Now, all we have to do is figure out what that means.
Dr. Joe McKeever is a preacher, cartoonist and the retired Director of Missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans. Currently he loves to serve as a speaker/pulpit fill for revivals, prayer conferences, deacon trainings, leadership banquets and other church events. Visit him and enjoy his insights on nearly 50 years of ministry at JoeMcKeever.com.
Now, I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world... They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. (John 17:11,16-17)
A half-century ago, theologian Langdon Gilkey wrote a book titled "How the Church Can Minister to the World Without Losing Itself."
It's worth buying just for the title.
That's the challenge. God's people are sent to be in the world but not of it, to relate to the world without loving it, to bring the gospel to the world without succumbing to its enticements.
And yet, many of us love the culture where we find ourselves. Is this wrong?
Adrian Rogers used to say, "We are like a fellow in a boat. As long as the boat is in the water, he's fine. But as soon as the water gets in the boat, he's in trouble."
At what point does the culture threaten to swamp our lifeboats? I'm a football fan and love cheering on the New Orleans Saints. Am I succumbing to the world?
Seminarians discuss these matters in classrooms. They study books in which philosophers and theologians bring up the ramifications of engaging culture. Eventually, the young minister develops a set of principles for future ministry. In time, he graduates and goes forth to pastor a church with real people.
Suddenly, all bets are off.
In the urban setting where his seminary was located, the culture was one thing. In rural America where he has gone to pastor, it's something else entirely.
One of his classmates has started an innovative church in the artsy section of Chicago where the culture is unlike anything he has ever known.
A classmate is now serving a mission in small-town Ohio, a community dominated by labor unions and factory life. The highpoint of the social season, he says, is the tractor pull at the local arena.
Another friend has been appointed missionary to the bush country of West Africa where the culture is pagan, primitive, and powerful.
Lastly, a colleague has taken a county seat ministry in the heart of the Bible Belt, where four churches stand on the corners of the major intersection and every community leader belongs to one of them.
Nothing to it, right? Just "preach the gospel, servant of God."
There are no easy fields in which to labor.
This being a fallen world, all people groups on the planet are known to be sinners, therefore in need of salvation, and yet strongly resistant to the Holy Spirit.
The servant of God who goes to bring the Lord's word to the Bible Belt or the untaught primitives of the most backward nation will face similar challenges: How to relate to the cultures of the people to whom he has been sent.
This week on ESPN radio, the sports guys were tossing this subject around in connection with professional football teams. Should San Diego, for instance, go after players who will mesh with their laid-back "beach" culture? Should the New York City teams draft athletes with star appeal who will fit right in?
They finally answered their own question: Regardless of background and culture, if a player makes that team a winner, the people will welcome him as he is and not require him to adapt to them.
The easiest approach is to remain aloof from the culture and condemn it.
I live in metropolitan New Orleans. Today—January 6, 2012—marks the official end of the Christmas season and the opening of what is locally called the Carnival Season. This means parades and parties, endless theme-oriented displays and colors and conversation, king cakes in the stores and on the tables, all of which ends with a full-fledged holiday in which the city shuts down. February 21 is "Mardi Gras."
A new pastor moves to this city and takes over the leadership of a church. The first question some will ask is his position on Mardi Gras. It's a loaded question. Local church people are not in agreement at all on how Christians should relate to this festive culture. Some attend the parades, insisting that theirs are as benign as a homecoming parade back in their Alabama hometown. Others arm themselves with tracts and march forth into the throngs to witness for Christ. Most simply stay home and treat the day as a holiday.
My friend Jerry Clower, a widely acclaimed Christian comedian and first-rate storyteller, was a Baptist deacon and outspoken Christian. Some 20 years ago, when a "krewe" in this city invited him to ride as their "king" or grand marshal, Jerry took them up on it. Immediately he began to be criticized. Mostly he ignored the barbs, but a couple of times he told how this opened doors for witness. After all, as a member of the Grand Ol' Opry, he frequently found himself backstage counseling entertainers whose marriages were on the rocks or whose lives were being ruined by strong drink and wayward living.
Did he do the right thing? To join the culture or try to avoid it altogether is a matter between oneself and the Lord.
Who are you to judge another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls (Romans 14:4).
Psalm 137 is the perfect illustration of the Lord's people remaining aloof from the culture in which they found themselves....
By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion (Jerusalem). We hung our harps upon the willows... for those who carried us away captive required of us a song. Those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion."
Got the picture here? Exiled in Babylon, Israel's temple singers are being asked to perform some of the songs of their faith.
Looks to us like a great opportunity to witness.
They didn't see it that way.
How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.
It all goes downhill from there.
Think of that question, Christian: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"
That is precisely what we have been called on to do.
Our "strange land" lies just outside the doors of church. Anyone can sing the hymns of Zion indoors where the faithful gather and no one minds. But to sing the Lord's song in the factories and schools, in the clubs and restaurants, in the theaters and concert halls and playgrounds and stadiums is far better, much harder, more productive, and far more hazardous.
The Apostle Paul and Don Richardson have a great approach.
In Acts 17, when the Apostle confronted the philosophers of Athens with the message of Jesus Christ, he began with their own culture. Paul was sufficiently familiar with Athens to know of their addiction for new ideas and their fear of all the possible gods in the universe to the point of erecting a monument to "The Unknown God," just in case.
Paul said, "Therefore, the one whom you ignorantly worship, I proclaim to you" (17:23).
A good approach? It seems so. I'm impressed, I'll tell you that.
But others disagree.
Now, Paul had found a point of connection with those people, an area where the message of Christ touched them perfectly. No syncretism here, in which one simply treats the gospel as an additive and mixes well with the current religious fads and erroneous ideas.
However, critics point out that Paul's message that day never was finished. The moment he mentioned the resurrection (17:32), the crowd turned into a mob and took over the meeting. Some say Paul even admits as much when he tells the Corinthians—the group to whom he went immediately on leaving Athens—that "when I came to you, I did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God" (I Cor. 2:1). They say Paul was reacting against the approach he had attempted in Athens.
Don Richardson wrote a book called "Peace Child" some years ago detailing the discovery he and his missionary team made with a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. The work was hard and slow and the results were miniscule, until the day Richardson learned of a custom the warring tribes had by which one group would give the other a small baby, called a "peace child." The receiving tribe had to raise the infant. So long as the child lived, peace reigned between the tribes.
Thereafter, in his ministry to these people Richardson drew parallels between God giving us Jesus Christ His Son—who came to us as a Baby—and "He himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14). That day, the people began to "see" and to believe.
Later, Richardson's second book, "Eternity in Their Hearts," recounts tales from tribal cultures across the globe wherein missionaries had found stories, myths, customs, and legends that were ready-made vehicles for the gospel. The title came from Ecclesiastes 3:11.
This principle calls on us to learn the culture of the people to whom we were sent, then prayerfully look for avenues and tie-ins and parallels which the Lord has prepared for alert disciples to present the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let the Christian worker not look for the easy way out, but become a student of the culture and look for the hand of God in what he finds.
No gospel worker who chooses to remain aloof from the culture where he goes to minister will have much effect on it. He will not know how to relate his message to its intricacies or needs.
There is no place for lazy evangelists.
I received a note once from a young minister in another state looking for a church to pastor. "But let me emphasize," he said, "I do not want to waste my time with a lot of people stuck in their traditions. I'm looking for a church poised for growth, where everyone loves the Lord and each other. They're ready to follow a dynamic leader and willing to do whatever it takes."
I responded that we did not have any churches like that, that all our churches were made up of believers at every conceivable stage of spirituality and maturity, that most of our people were struggling to rebuild their homes and their lives after a devastating hurricane, and that he should probably look elsewhere.
I never heard of him again.
An old manual for missionaries puts it this way: A necessary qualification for missionary work is a love and appreciation of one's own culture demonstrated by involvement in it. A Christian who has a lively interest in history, economics, politics, music, art, and literature will appreciate the same things in other cultures. If he cherishes his own social values and institutions, he will be more likely to respect those of others.
The multicultural nature of the United States makes it an ideal training ground for the missionary who will be communicating across cultural barriers. It offers unlimited opportunities for involvement with different cultures and subcultures, which will give invaluable experience on the foreign field.
I have difficulty believing the sincerity of a man who has no concern at all for Afro-Americans, Chicanos, Indians, and Chinese here in America but who will cross ocenas to love these same people in other parts of the world. The English say, "Charity begins at home." (from Pius Wakatama in "Cultural and Social Qualifications for Overseas Service")
The Lord's workers must avoid the extremes.
The church of Constantine's day seems to have joined the culture and adopted its values and lust for riches. As a reaction against this surrender to the world, concerned priests—monks—began to pull aside from the culture and live in isolation in deserts and mountains. Monasteries were built for groups of monks whose isolation was a protest against the self-indulgence and surrender of the church to the standards of the world.
Both extremes are just that, however. Extremes. We should not join the culture; we must not abandon it. We must engage it. That will require us to study and learn it, to appreciate what is good about it, and to identify and use the portions which prepare the hearts of its people for the gospel of Jesus.
Therefore, most Christian workers will learn to live with tension.
There seems to be no clear path between the world on one side and the Lord's way on the other. The two seem to overlap at places and to be strangers to the other at other times.
In the racially troubled south of my early days in the ministry, some pastors I knew turned their pulpits into platforms for their own racial prejudice or rage against racism. Others—among whom I count myself—tried to find ways to minister to our people who were themselves struggling to find "the way" out of their Jim Crow past but without capitulating to the liberal theology of some of the extreme activists.
There was always tension. We were always getting shot at by both sides.
In time, I came to believe that tension is the norm for those trying to bring the gospel into their culture. They will be working to learn it and relate to it, but working just as hard to keep a healthy distance from its worst values and seductive charms.
There are no easy answers. I like them as much as the next person, but there just don't seem to be any.
We will give the Apostle Paul the final word on this today. "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (I Corinthians 9:22).
Now, all we have to do is figure out what that means.
Finish the Devil's Sermons
By Steven Furtick
Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, an incredible move of God in Charlotte, NC with more than 9,000 in attendance each week among (soon-to-be) six locations. He is the author of the book, Sun Stand Still. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Holly and their three children, Elijah, Graham and Abbey.
As you navigate the story that is unfolding in your life, you’ll be quick to find that discouragement is everywhere. It seems that the harder you run after God, the harder the devil is going to try to prevent you from getting where you’re going. And all he really has to do to trip us up is drop one little hint of discouragement in our ears.
You’re unworthy.
You’re a terrible father.
You’ll never be any better than this.
He’s said it to me and I know that he’s said it to you. The worst part is, the devil doesn’t necessarily speak in complete lies. He gives us half-truths with just enough reality to hit us between the eyes. But here’s an easy way that you can overcome those conniving schemes:
Finish the devil’s sermons.
It’s simple. The devil is only giving you half of the truth—give him the other half.
Yes, I am unworthy. I am absolutely nothing without Christ. But thankfully, He died so that I may become a new creation, void of you and full of the purpose that He has for my life.
No, I may not be a perfect father, but I am loved unconditionally by a perfect father who breathed the stars yet knows the number of hairs on my head. And He’s making me more like Him every day.
You’re right. On my own accord, I can’t do any better than this. But I am not doing this by myself—I serve the LORD, who is able to do immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine.
You don’t have to be Charles Spurgeon to preach the devil out of your life. The name of Jesus alone is enough to send your enemy running for the hills.
The devil will always try to show you the downside of your story. Make him pay. Show him who Jesus says you are.
Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, an incredible move of God in Charlotte, NC with more than 9,000 in attendance each week among (soon-to-be) six locations. He is the author of the book, Sun Stand Still. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Holly and their three children, Elijah, Graham and Abbey.
As you navigate the story that is unfolding in your life, you’ll be quick to find that discouragement is everywhere. It seems that the harder you run after God, the harder the devil is going to try to prevent you from getting where you’re going. And all he really has to do to trip us up is drop one little hint of discouragement in our ears.
You’re unworthy.
You’re a terrible father.
You’ll never be any better than this.
He’s said it to me and I know that he’s said it to you. The worst part is, the devil doesn’t necessarily speak in complete lies. He gives us half-truths with just enough reality to hit us between the eyes. But here’s an easy way that you can overcome those conniving schemes:
Finish the devil’s sermons.
It’s simple. The devil is only giving you half of the truth—give him the other half.
Yes, I am unworthy. I am absolutely nothing without Christ. But thankfully, He died so that I may become a new creation, void of you and full of the purpose that He has for my life.
No, I may not be a perfect father, but I am loved unconditionally by a perfect father who breathed the stars yet knows the number of hairs on my head. And He’s making me more like Him every day.
You’re right. On my own accord, I can’t do any better than this. But I am not doing this by myself—I serve the LORD, who is able to do immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine.
You don’t have to be Charles Spurgeon to preach the devil out of your life. The name of Jesus alone is enough to send your enemy running for the hills.
The devil will always try to show you the downside of your story. Make him pay. Show him who Jesus says you are.
Funerals: 6 Things We Should and Shouldn't Do
By Jared Moore
Jared Moore is 31 years of age, and has served in ministry in a Southern Baptist context for 12 years. He currently pastors New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, KY. He is happily married to Amber and has two children: Caden and Ava. He has authored one book: The Harry Potter Bible Study: Enjoying God Through the Final Four Harry Potter Movies. Jared writes at jaredmoore.exaltchrist. He is also a regular contributor at sbcvoices, servantsofgrace, and churchleaders, and occasionally writes for speculativefaith, sermonce
Many pastors have a difficult time determining whether—or what—to preach at a funeral. Here are four "shoulds" and two "should nots."
We Should:
1. Preach the gospel. Funerals force all in attendance to admit their mortality, including their eventual death and judgment. Although we hide ourselves from death continually (do you see animals die, do you bury your own dead, etc.?), funerals force us to look mortality in the eye. Whenever we admit that death is real, understanding that it’s “the wages of sin” is just one step further. God is the one who has judged sin temporally through death; however, He has crucified His Son so that sinners will enjoy Him forever through Christ. Christ’s death propitiated God’s wrath toward sinners. Sinners simply must repent, placing their trust in Christ alone for their salvation. Hopefully, this “face-to-face” meeting with mortality will send your hearers running to the cross for salvation.
2. Accommodate. Some of you may disagree with me on this; however, I will gladly read poems that speculate concerning eternity if the family of the deceased requests it. I will, however, qualify what I’m about to read by saying, “The family has asked me to read this poem titled __________.” Just because you read it does not mean that you necessarily approve of all the theology that it contains. Although I will not read a heretical poem for anyone, I will gladly read a poem that I disagree with that is still in the realm of orthodoxy.
3. Preach the truth concerning heaven and hell. There are more sermons on heaven than on hell in today’s pulpits. As pastors, however, we should emphasize both places since the authors of Scripture emphasized both. You should not allow this rare opportunity to pass you by to preach the result of trusting in Christ: heaven, and the result of rejecting Him: hell.
4. Preach the gospel from the deceased’s perspective. Something interesting that the Scriptures teach is that both heaven and hell are full of entities with a desire for evangelism. Peter says that the heavenly angels desire to look into sharing the gospel (1 Peter 1:12), and Jesus says that those in hell wish someone would share the gospel with their loved ones so that they wouldn’t have to come to such a place (Luke 16: 27-31). Bring this reality up by saying, “If the deceased could be here today, he would tell you to place your trust in Jesus Christ; for he knows today more than ever that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one gets to the Father but by Him (John 14:6).”
We Should Not…
1. Correct theology beyond the gospel. If the gospel does not hinge on the theology that is believed or being presented by someone else at the funeral, then you have no need to correct it at this time. The gospel should be the emphasis, not 100% correct theology. Basically, whatever is in the realm of orthodoxy should be tolerated. Only come against what you know to be 100% false, and don’t be arrogant. After all, you should not be as sure about eschatology as you are about the resurrection of Christ.
2. Speculate about the deceased’s location at this moment: heaven or hell. Regardless how godly or ungodly a person was, we do not know 100% whether this person is in heaven or hell at this moment. We must be careful not to preach people into heaven or hell. Instead, we must seek to be vague about what we do not know, and instead, focus on the power of the gospel for those that believe. Your sermon is not for the deceased (he’s not there) but is rather for those present. Emphasize the fact that all those who trust in Christ will be reconciled to God through Christ, absent from the body and present with the Lord until the day Christ returns, and their bodies are raised from the dead and join their spirits to rule and reign with Christ, forevermore exalting God. Oh, happy day!
Jared Moore is 31 years of age, and has served in ministry in a Southern Baptist context for 12 years. He currently pastors New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, KY. He is happily married to Amber and has two children: Caden and Ava. He has authored one book: The Harry Potter Bible Study: Enjoying God Through the Final Four Harry Potter Movies. Jared writes at jaredmoore.exaltchrist. He is also a regular contributor at sbcvoices, servantsofgrace, and churchleaders, and occasionally writes for speculativefaith, sermonce
Many pastors have a difficult time determining whether—or what—to preach at a funeral. Here are four "shoulds" and two "should nots."
We Should:
1. Preach the gospel. Funerals force all in attendance to admit their mortality, including their eventual death and judgment. Although we hide ourselves from death continually (do you see animals die, do you bury your own dead, etc.?), funerals force us to look mortality in the eye. Whenever we admit that death is real, understanding that it’s “the wages of sin” is just one step further. God is the one who has judged sin temporally through death; however, He has crucified His Son so that sinners will enjoy Him forever through Christ. Christ’s death propitiated God’s wrath toward sinners. Sinners simply must repent, placing their trust in Christ alone for their salvation. Hopefully, this “face-to-face” meeting with mortality will send your hearers running to the cross for salvation.
2. Accommodate. Some of you may disagree with me on this; however, I will gladly read poems that speculate concerning eternity if the family of the deceased requests it. I will, however, qualify what I’m about to read by saying, “The family has asked me to read this poem titled __________.” Just because you read it does not mean that you necessarily approve of all the theology that it contains. Although I will not read a heretical poem for anyone, I will gladly read a poem that I disagree with that is still in the realm of orthodoxy.
3. Preach the truth concerning heaven and hell. There are more sermons on heaven than on hell in today’s pulpits. As pastors, however, we should emphasize both places since the authors of Scripture emphasized both. You should not allow this rare opportunity to pass you by to preach the result of trusting in Christ: heaven, and the result of rejecting Him: hell.
4. Preach the gospel from the deceased’s perspective. Something interesting that the Scriptures teach is that both heaven and hell are full of entities with a desire for evangelism. Peter says that the heavenly angels desire to look into sharing the gospel (1 Peter 1:12), and Jesus says that those in hell wish someone would share the gospel with their loved ones so that they wouldn’t have to come to such a place (Luke 16: 27-31). Bring this reality up by saying, “If the deceased could be here today, he would tell you to place your trust in Jesus Christ; for he knows today more than ever that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one gets to the Father but by Him (John 14:6).”
We Should Not…
1. Correct theology beyond the gospel. If the gospel does not hinge on the theology that is believed or being presented by someone else at the funeral, then you have no need to correct it at this time. The gospel should be the emphasis, not 100% correct theology. Basically, whatever is in the realm of orthodoxy should be tolerated. Only come against what you know to be 100% false, and don’t be arrogant. After all, you should not be as sure about eschatology as you are about the resurrection of Christ.
2. Speculate about the deceased’s location at this moment: heaven or hell. Regardless how godly or ungodly a person was, we do not know 100% whether this person is in heaven or hell at this moment. We must be careful not to preach people into heaven or hell. Instead, we must seek to be vague about what we do not know, and instead, focus on the power of the gospel for those that believe. Your sermon is not for the deceased (he’s not there) but is rather for those present. Emphasize the fact that all those who trust in Christ will be reconciled to God through Christ, absent from the body and present with the Lord until the day Christ returns, and their bodies are raised from the dead and join their spirits to rule and reign with Christ, forevermore exalting God. Oh, happy day!
Top 5 Reasons to Use MORE Video in Your Church Services
By Barry Whitlow
Barry Whitlow is a church communication activist that is passionate about communication as it relates to the mission of the church. He believes media is the language of today and when combined with creativity and excellence is a powerful tool that can be used to touch the heart of a congregation, community, or the world.
Barry Whitlow is a church communication activist that is passionate about communication as it relates to the mission of the church. He believes media is the language of today and when combined with creativity and excellence is a powerful tool that can be used to touch the heart of a congregation, community, or the world.
1. Video is the #1 information delivery tool in the world today.
With over three billion videos viewed on YouTube every day and 80 million hours of videos being watched daily, the impact of video on the mission of the church is immense. Video is no longer just about entertaining; it’s a proven information delivery tool.2. Video holds attention better.
Video is visually interactive; this helps hold the attention of the
viewer, resulting in greater retention and application of what is being
communicated.
3. Video helps your church stay relevant.
What will people in your audience be thinking about this coming
weekend? Would you like to illustrate a point using a football video
clip? Want to inspire people to invest their life in something that will
outlive them by using a clip about Steve Jobs? Video helps you
intersect with where your people already are emotionally, in order to
speak life-changing truth into their lives.
4. Video content is plentiful and inexpensive.
Engaging your audience with a video that relates to your topic has
never been easier, and YouTube has proven time and time again that video
content does not have to be Hollywood quality to
communicate effectively and impact the human heart. Instead of thinking
about which verbal illustration you can use, think about which video
illustration would be appropriate.
5. Video shapes your demographic.
Like worship song choices, the regular use of video over time helps to
shape your audience and attract a younger demographic, especially young
families in the 30-something and under demographic.
Tear Your Sermon in Half
By JohnMcClure
John McClure blogs about preaching and theology at Otherwise Thinking. You can read more about these "places" in McClure's book, The Four Codes of Preaching.
OK, maybe not exactly in half. But I’ve listened to lots of sermons over the years, and I’m worried about the way we begin sermons. I have to say that about three-fourths of these sermons would be dramatically improved if the preacher started about two pages (or about 3-5 minutes) into the sermon. I don’t know what it is, but most of us love the “wind-up,” not realizing that we are not baseball pitchers; sermon wind-ups are usually sermon “wind-downs.” Here are the most common “wind-ups/wind-downs.”
Anton Chekov’s famous advice to writers comes immediately to mind: “Tear out the first half of your story; you’ll only have to change a few things in the beginning of the second half and the story will be perfectly clear.” This is serious and solid advice for many preachers. Once we’ve written the sermon, or organized it and preached it through a few times extemporaneously, it is a good idea to ask ourselves whether, in fact, the sermon would be better if we started it further in—on page two or three. If we did this on a regular basis, I believe we’d avoid many of the “wind-ups/wind-downs” that currently sap the energy at the beginnings of our sermons.
John McClure blogs about preaching and theology at Otherwise Thinking. You can read more about these "places" in McClure's book, The Four Codes of Preaching.
OK, maybe not exactly in half. But I’ve listened to lots of sermons over the years, and I’m worried about the way we begin sermons. I have to say that about three-fourths of these sermons would be dramatically improved if the preacher started about two pages (or about 3-5 minutes) into the sermon. I don’t know what it is, but most of us love the “wind-up,” not realizing that we are not baseball pitchers; sermon wind-ups are usually sermon “wind-downs.” Here are the most common “wind-ups/wind-downs.”
1. Re-hashing the biblical text.
The preacher in this mode drags the listener through a long, expanded, or “imaginative” re-hashing of the text. No. This is not an exposition or interpretation. I’m speaking about a non-interpretive re-hashing of the bits and pieces of the text. Sometimes this never ends and lasts the entire sermon. The preacher forgets to have anything to say to us—or what is commonly called a “message”—and seems to assume that we’ll “get it” if we hear the old, old story reiterated.2. The sermon “set-up.”
In this mode, the preacher spends a few minutes exegetically framing the biblical text and providing what he or she considers useful background information—some interesting tidbits, mostly exegetical by-products.3. Touring the cutting room floor.
In this approach, the preacher tells us how he or she arrived at this message—strolling us around the room and pointing out all of the fascinating options left behind on the cutting room floor.4. Climbing to higher ground.
In this mode, the preacher tells the listener all of the ways she or he has heard this text preached in the past—leading us to the superior ground of their own interpretation.5. The rapport story.
In this mode, the preacher decides to tell a personal story. This is not a story told about someone or something else, narrated through the lens of the preacher’s experience, but a story about the preacher’s experience (of self, other, family, sports, memory, life, etc.). This story might contain a catchy thematic hook designed to capture our interest. Often, the story goes on interminably. No matter what they are supposed to be illustrating, these "wind-up" stories seem to be saying something else, namely: “Welcome to my world—please like me and be my friend while I preach this sermon.” When this occurs over and over, genuine sermon content is sacrificed to a rather contrived rapport-building exercise.6. The message grope.
In my experience, this is the most common “wind-up/wind-down.” When beginning to write the sermon the preacher didn’t really have a clue what to say. He or she just started writing or speaking, hoping a message would pop out. By the time a message finally arrived, several minutes had been wasted groping one’s way toward it, and most of the energy of the sermon had evaporated. For whatever reason, rather than removing this material, it is kept.Anton Chekov’s famous advice to writers comes immediately to mind: “Tear out the first half of your story; you’ll only have to change a few things in the beginning of the second half and the story will be perfectly clear.” This is serious and solid advice for many preachers. Once we’ve written the sermon, or organized it and preached it through a few times extemporaneously, it is a good idea to ask ourselves whether, in fact, the sermon would be better if we started it further in—on page two or three. If we did this on a regular basis, I believe we’d avoid many of the “wind-ups/wind-downs” that currently sap the energy at the beginnings of our sermons.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
12 Preaching Tips Learned from Haddon Robinson
By Dean Shriver
Dean obtained his M.Div. from Western Seminary and his D.Min. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dr. Shriver is founding pastor of Intermountain Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah where he has ministered for 20 years. Dr. Shriver lives in South Jordan, Utah with his wife Nancy and their three children.
The assigned passage was 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. I felt good about my three-point outline. It was perfectly alliterated with words like “courage,” “conquering,” and some other “C” word I felt certain would impress. I was so confident I volunteered to go first—to expose my sermonic offering to Haddon Robinson’s scrutiny in front of our Doctor of Ministry class. The Scriptures proved true. Pride really does come before a fall.
“That looks like something you pulled out of Simple Sermons for Sunday Evenings,” Haddon chided. Astutely, I sensed that the good doctor did not consider this book to be a classic in the field. He continued, “Nobody talks like that anymore—except in the pulpit!” Duane Litfin, Haddon’s co-teacher for the week, chimed in, “What Haddon’s saying is that he’s afraid you might actually go out and try to preach that thing!”
That was more than ten years ago. I never alliterated a sermon again. It was the first lesson I learned about preaching—and about life and ministry—from Dr. Haddon Robinson, the Harold John Ockenga Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. It wasn’t the last. During the past decade I’ve been privileged to sit under Haddon’s teaching—first in his Doctor of Ministry program and later during annual preaching seminars (for alumni of the program). His instruction and his life have greatly impacted me. God has used him to help me grow as a preacher, a pastor, and a follower of Jesus. Here are a few of the lessons he’s taught me:
Don’t make preaching more complicated than it is.
As a preacher, there are only three ways I can approach a biblical text: 1) I can explain it by answering the question, “What does it mean?”; 2) I can prove it by answering the question, “Is it true?”; 3) I can apply it by answering the question, “What difference does it make?”
In some sermons I might answer only one of these “developmental questions.” In other sermons I might address all three. For instance, when I read a passage like Matthew 21:21-22 (“I tell you the truth, if you do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done...”), my heart cries out for answers to all three questions. I might address them all in one sermon or I might preach a three-week series on “Praying with Faith.”
Every sermon should have one central “big idea.”
In Haddon’s words, “A sermon should be a bullet, not buckshot.” He writes, “Ideally, each sermon is the explanation, interpretation, or application of a single dominant idea supported by other ideas, all drawn from one passage or several passages of Scripture.” He continues, “Three or four ideas not related to a more inclusive idea do not make a message; they make three or four sermonettes all preached at one time.”
It’s impossible to preach an effective sermon if we don’t specifically know what we’re preaching about. As another preaching professor was fond of reminding me, “Fog in the pulpit, fog in the pew.” In Biblical Preaching, Haddon quotes J.H. Jowett, “I have the conviction that no sermon is ready for preaching…until we can express its theme in a short pregnant sentence as clear as a crystal.” Each week I need to do the hard work of determining the central truth of my sermon text. Until I do, my sermon will not be relevant, nor can it be practically applied to the lives of my hearers.
Expository preaching—properly understood and practiced—is our calling.
Before I go further, please don’t miss the phrase, “expository preaching—properly understood and practiced.” Much of what goes by the name “expository preaching” amounts to little more than a running commentary on the ancient biblical text (“Last Sunday we got through chapter 7, verse 12. Today we begin with verse 13…”). Information without relevance. Knowledge without application. No central idea. If this is expository preaching at all, it is bastardized expository preaching! As taught and modeled by Haddon Robinson, expository preaching is as crisp and relevant as the Bible itself. An expository sermon can take many forms—inductive, deductive, narrative, and yes, even topical. So what makes an expository sermon expository? An expository preacher never brings his sermon idea to the text. He draws his sermon idea from the text. In other words, an expository preacher never imposes a topic on the text. He lets the text speak for itself and shapes his sermon accordingly.
During my second-year D/Min seminar, I attended services at a well-known, rapidly growing church. The next morning at breakfast, Haddon mentioned how some preachers will essentially outline their sermons and then go fishing for Bible verses that support their outlines. He mentioned how some went so far as to search various translations until they found the wording that best supported each of their individual outline points. I pulled out the sermon outline from the previous day. Sure enough, the Bible verses quoted on the outline came from at least four different modern translations and paraphrases. Each was specifically selected to “fit” the preacher’s outline.
Whenever the biblical text becomes a servant to our ideas (or to our outlines) we miss our calling as preachers. In his book, Biblical Preaching, Haddon writes, “Whether or not we can be called expositors starts with our purpose and with our honest answer to the question: ‘Do you, as a preacher, endeavor to bend your thought to the Scriptures, or do you use the Scriptures to support your thought?’”
If you have doubts about the power and relevance of real expository preaching, I encourage you to purchase (or download) several of Haddon Robinson’s sermons. Listen to them. I promise you won’t be bored! And neither will the members of your congregation when you answer God’s call to properly practice expository preaching.
Without a definite purpose, no sermon is worth preaching.
Before I preach any sermon, I should be able to answer the question, “Why am I preaching it?” In other words, what do I want to see happen in the lives of my hearers? Haddon writes, “We do an assortment of things when we face our congregation. We explain, illustrate, exhort, exegete, and gesture, to list a few. But we are to be pitied if we fail to understand that this particular sermon should change lives in some specific way.”
How, then, should we go about determining the purpose of this week’s sermon? Haddon’s answer is that we should seek the purpose behind the passage we are preaching. “As part of your exegesis, you should ask, ‘Why did the author write this? What effect did he expect it to have on his readers?’”
When fleshing out the purpose of a sermon Haddon suggests the following in Biblical Preaching: “State in a rough way what you are asking the congregation to do as a result of what you have preached. Be as specific as possible. If someone came to you next week and said, ‘I have been thinking about what you preached last Sunday, but I don’t know how what you said applies to my life,’ would you have an answer? Picture the truth you have preached being acted on in some specific situations.”
Work hard on your sermon’s introduction, transitions, and conclusion.
Effective introductions capture attention, surface a need that the sermon will address, and introduce the body of the sermon. Good transitions review the major points of a sermon and show how the major and minor points of the sermon relate to each other. They introduce each new section or “move” in a sermon. Haddon writes, “…they enable your congregation to think your thoughts with you. Concerning conclusions he adds, “The purpose of your conclusion is to conclude—not merely stop.…Your congregation should see your idea entire and complete, and they should know and feel what God’s truth demands of them.” Each of these elements of a sermon is critical and requires special attention.
Dean obtained his M.Div. from Western Seminary and his D.Min. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dr. Shriver is founding pastor of Intermountain Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah where he has ministered for 20 years. Dr. Shriver lives in South Jordan, Utah with his wife Nancy and their three children.
The assigned passage was 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. I felt good about my three-point outline. It was perfectly alliterated with words like “courage,” “conquering,” and some other “C” word I felt certain would impress. I was so confident I volunteered to go first—to expose my sermonic offering to Haddon Robinson’s scrutiny in front of our Doctor of Ministry class. The Scriptures proved true. Pride really does come before a fall.
“That looks like something you pulled out of Simple Sermons for Sunday Evenings,” Haddon chided. Astutely, I sensed that the good doctor did not consider this book to be a classic in the field. He continued, “Nobody talks like that anymore—except in the pulpit!” Duane Litfin, Haddon’s co-teacher for the week, chimed in, “What Haddon’s saying is that he’s afraid you might actually go out and try to preach that thing!”
That was more than ten years ago. I never alliterated a sermon again. It was the first lesson I learned about preaching—and about life and ministry—from Dr. Haddon Robinson, the Harold John Ockenga Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. It wasn’t the last. During the past decade I’ve been privileged to sit under Haddon’s teaching—first in his Doctor of Ministry program and later during annual preaching seminars (for alumni of the program). His instruction and his life have greatly impacted me. God has used him to help me grow as a preacher, a pastor, and a follower of Jesus. Here are a few of the lessons he’s taught me:
Don’t make preaching more complicated than it is.
As a preacher, there are only three ways I can approach a biblical text: 1) I can explain it by answering the question, “What does it mean?”; 2) I can prove it by answering the question, “Is it true?”; 3) I can apply it by answering the question, “What difference does it make?”
In some sermons I might answer only one of these “developmental questions.” In other sermons I might address all three. For instance, when I read a passage like Matthew 21:21-22 (“I tell you the truth, if you do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done...”), my heart cries out for answers to all three questions. I might address them all in one sermon or I might preach a three-week series on “Praying with Faith.”
Every sermon should have one central “big idea.”
In Haddon’s words, “A sermon should be a bullet, not buckshot.” He writes, “Ideally, each sermon is the explanation, interpretation, or application of a single dominant idea supported by other ideas, all drawn from one passage or several passages of Scripture.” He continues, “Three or four ideas not related to a more inclusive idea do not make a message; they make three or four sermonettes all preached at one time.”
It’s impossible to preach an effective sermon if we don’t specifically know what we’re preaching about. As another preaching professor was fond of reminding me, “Fog in the pulpit, fog in the pew.” In Biblical Preaching, Haddon quotes J.H. Jowett, “I have the conviction that no sermon is ready for preaching…until we can express its theme in a short pregnant sentence as clear as a crystal.” Each week I need to do the hard work of determining the central truth of my sermon text. Until I do, my sermon will not be relevant, nor can it be practically applied to the lives of my hearers.
Expository preaching—properly understood and practiced—is our calling.
Before I go further, please don’t miss the phrase, “expository preaching—properly understood and practiced.” Much of what goes by the name “expository preaching” amounts to little more than a running commentary on the ancient biblical text (“Last Sunday we got through chapter 7, verse 12. Today we begin with verse 13…”). Information without relevance. Knowledge without application. No central idea. If this is expository preaching at all, it is bastardized expository preaching! As taught and modeled by Haddon Robinson, expository preaching is as crisp and relevant as the Bible itself. An expository sermon can take many forms—inductive, deductive, narrative, and yes, even topical. So what makes an expository sermon expository? An expository preacher never brings his sermon idea to the text. He draws his sermon idea from the text. In other words, an expository preacher never imposes a topic on the text. He lets the text speak for itself and shapes his sermon accordingly.
During my second-year D/Min seminar, I attended services at a well-known, rapidly growing church. The next morning at breakfast, Haddon mentioned how some preachers will essentially outline their sermons and then go fishing for Bible verses that support their outlines. He mentioned how some went so far as to search various translations until they found the wording that best supported each of their individual outline points. I pulled out the sermon outline from the previous day. Sure enough, the Bible verses quoted on the outline came from at least four different modern translations and paraphrases. Each was specifically selected to “fit” the preacher’s outline.
Whenever the biblical text becomes a servant to our ideas (or to our outlines) we miss our calling as preachers. In his book, Biblical Preaching, Haddon writes, “Whether or not we can be called expositors starts with our purpose and with our honest answer to the question: ‘Do you, as a preacher, endeavor to bend your thought to the Scriptures, or do you use the Scriptures to support your thought?’”
If you have doubts about the power and relevance of real expository preaching, I encourage you to purchase (or download) several of Haddon Robinson’s sermons. Listen to them. I promise you won’t be bored! And neither will the members of your congregation when you answer God’s call to properly practice expository preaching.
Without a definite purpose, no sermon is worth preaching.
Before I preach any sermon, I should be able to answer the question, “Why am I preaching it?” In other words, what do I want to see happen in the lives of my hearers? Haddon writes, “We do an assortment of things when we face our congregation. We explain, illustrate, exhort, exegete, and gesture, to list a few. But we are to be pitied if we fail to understand that this particular sermon should change lives in some specific way.”
How, then, should we go about determining the purpose of this week’s sermon? Haddon’s answer is that we should seek the purpose behind the passage we are preaching. “As part of your exegesis, you should ask, ‘Why did the author write this? What effect did he expect it to have on his readers?’”
When fleshing out the purpose of a sermon Haddon suggests the following in Biblical Preaching: “State in a rough way what you are asking the congregation to do as a result of what you have preached. Be as specific as possible. If someone came to you next week and said, ‘I have been thinking about what you preached last Sunday, but I don’t know how what you said applies to my life,’ would you have an answer? Picture the truth you have preached being acted on in some specific situations.”
Work hard on your sermon’s introduction, transitions, and conclusion.
Effective introductions capture attention, surface a need that the sermon will address, and introduce the body of the sermon. Good transitions review the major points of a sermon and show how the major and minor points of the sermon relate to each other. They introduce each new section or “move” in a sermon. Haddon writes, “…they enable your congregation to think your thoughts with you. Concerning conclusions he adds, “The purpose of your conclusion is to conclude—not merely stop.…Your congregation should see your idea entire and complete, and they should know and feel what God’s truth demands of them.” Each of these elements of a sermon is critical and requires special attention.
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