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July 7, 2010

Evangelistic Preaching

When Iain Murray gave several warnings regarding today’s resurgence of “expository preaching”, one of his concerns was the general demise of the “evangelistic sermon”. Remembering this, when I saw David Murray’s series, “What’s happened to Evangelistic Preaching?” I immediately download it. In that series David Murray addresses four key points:

The Rarity of Evangelistic Preaching
The Reasons for Evangelistic Preaching
The Range of Evangelistic Preaching
The Results of Evangelistic Preaching

This subject has been on my mind since Iain Murray first raised it, so David’s subsequent words have been extremely helpful in understanding what it is they were on about. I confess, I’d never considered anything within the Church besides a “teaching sermon”. I think I would fall into David Murray’s a “teaching sermon with an evangelistic PS” category. That said, I always aim to preach Christ and bring the Gospel forth throughout the sermon as the Gospel is for Christians too; however, if you read the series you’ll realise that “evangelistic preaching” is different again.

I’ve been challenged by this and I’ll continue to pray and read in this area. May I encourage you to read David Murray’s series, and I’ll leave you with a fascinating quote by Martin Lloyd-Jones (quoted in David’s series):

“If I am asked which sermons I wrote, I have already said that I used to divide my ministry, as I still do, into edification of the saints in the morning and a more evangelistic sermon in the evening. Well, my practice was to write my evangelistic sermon. I did so because I felt that in speaking to the saints, to the believers, one could feel more relaxed. There, one was speaking in the realm of the family. In other words, I believe that one should be unusually careful in evangelistic sermons. That is why the idea that a fellow who is merely gifted with a certain amount of glibness of speech and self-confidence, not to say cheek, can make an evangelist is all wrong. The greatest men should always be the evangelists, and generally have been; and the idea that Tom, Dick and Harry can be put up to speak on a street corner, but you must have a great preacher in a pulpit in a church is, to me, the reversing of the right order. It is when addressing the unbelieving world that we need to be most careful; and therefore I used to write my evangelistic sermon and not the other…”

Tagged as // David Murray, Evangelism, Homiletics, Iain Murray, Martin Lloyd-Jones, Preaching
Filed in // General

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June 29, 2010

More Discussion On Preaching

I have appreciated the articles that have been posted of late challenging preachers in the area of preaching. Iain Murray offered some cautions, and then Anthony Selvaggio asked, “Are You Preaching To People?” Well today, Iain Campbell gives some thoughts on pulpit methodology and prods at the ‘sacred calf’ of consecutive preaching in the style of Calvin or Lloyd-Jones.

I’ll say again as I’ve done in my other posts. I appreciate that men are writing on the subject of preaching. You may disagree with some of their conclusions, but these men are not advocating a lower form of preaching; they’re genuinely calling their fellow labourers to better preaching in the pulpit.

Campbell concludes with two things that he is firmly committed to, and I’ll quote him in full.

At last, I know that I am committed to two things: to a stand-alone sermon, and to a Christ-exalting sermon. The first is necessary because it is just possible that someone may wander into church, not having heard the gospel before, and hearing it now for the first and last time. In that case, it will not do simply to refer to last week’s sermon, or anticipate next week’s. Each sermon must be a study in itself, a complete unit, which can be transported out of the church and into the life of the hearer.

But the second is equally necessary, because Christ is the theme of every part of Scripture. If my sermons do not exalt and speak of him, then no methodology will remedy that most glaring omission of all.

Be sure to read all of Iain Campbell’s thoughts on pulpit methodology.

Tagged as // Homiletics, Iain Campbell, Preaching
Filed in // General

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June 11, 2010

Anthony Selvaggio Asks, “Are You Preaching To People?”

I welcome Anthony’s thoughts on the subject and appreciate yet another call to biblical preaching. I’ll go ahead and quote Anthony’s challenging introduction but be sure to read his whole piece to learn the three things that prompted him to write the article and his concluding exhortation.

Relatively early in my preaching career I had the opportunity to preach the opening sermon at a conference. The main conference speaker was a man that I consider to be one of the finest preachers of our times. After hearing me preach he paid me a compliment that I did not fully appreciate or understand at the time. He said to me something like, “You are one of the few young preachers in the denomination who actually recognizes that he is preaching to people.” At first, I did not understand what he meant, but then I proceeded to listen to him preach over the subsequent days of the conference and as my heart was moved by God’s Word preached through him I began to get it.

Unfortunately, as I matured in my ministry I soon forgot that early lesson and drifted into a practice of “wikipreaching” in which I provided people with biblical facts rather than the Word preached. I preached at people rather than to people. I gave them research papers that proved my knowledge of the original languages and systematic theology, but tended little to their souls. I forgot that I was supposed to be preaching to people. How about you? Are you preaching to people?

Continue reading it here.

Tagged as // Anthony Selvaggio, Homiletics, Preaching
Filed in // General

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May 25, 2010

Cautions on Expository Preaching

…are offered by Iain Murray; five in fact.

His cautions are timely and challenging for any preacher. Here is a quote Murray ends his article with taken from R. B. Kuiper:

“A simple and conversational, yet forceful delivery commands both respect and response. Enthusiasm inspires. Logic is convincing, the illogical confusing. As preachers let us have a heart. Let us stop wearying our audiences. Let us make our preaching so absorbingly interesting that even the children would rather listen to us than draw pictures and will thus put to shame their paper-and-pencil-supplying parents. But we may as well make up our minds that an absolute prerequisite of such preaching is the most painstaking preparation.”

Even if you don’t agree with all his conclusions, be sharpened as you seriously consider Murray’s five cautions.

Tagged as // Homiletics, Iain Murray, Preaching, R. B. Kuiper
Filed in // General

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April 29, 2010

I Just Read “Why Johnny Can’t Preach” by T. David Gordon

It’s a short read but one you should undertake if you’re a minister or seminarian. If time permits I’ll post some thoughts / excerpts in the future.

Tagged as // Books, Culture, David Gordon, Homiletics, Preaching, Reading
Filed in // General

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March 30, 2010

Drama in the Pulpit

You won’t find me sitting in a theater watching a live show very often–largely due to cost and a lack of time–however, this past weekend I was afforded the opportunity to do just that. Side-stepping the content of the production, I came away largely refreshed. Why? Well the set and props were minimal and despite there being monologue, I was totally engrossed. It was refreshing to be captured in communication away from the multimedia saturated world I live in. You know what? I never found my mind wandering once, even without CGI or a PowerPoint presentation.

As I walked away I couldn’t help reflecting on the state of the pulpit. Many churches are incorporating multimedia everywhere throughout their service to tailor to this multimedia saturated culture I referred to. However, what I observed though this past weekend was that there need not be an appeal to multimedia to capture people’s attention if the communication is done well.

Aiding this move away from preaching, or at least a disdain for preaching, comes from those who have neglected the art of preaching. Preaching is much more than simply disseminating information. For example, if the actors in the production I saw simply read their lines, I would have walked out. Yet, a form of this is acceptable in our pulpits.

Lets just say, my reflections have left me challenged and convicted!

With these thoughts rolling through my mind the last few days, providentially, I found myself reading an article by R. C. Sproul in The Preacher and Preaching: Reviving the Art in the Twentieth Century. Sproul touched on the subject of drama in the pulpit.

“Preaching calls forth an emotional response. It is not merely an exercise in the transfer of information. The pulpit is the setting for drama. The gospel itself is dramatic. We are not speaking of the sense of drama as a contrived performance or as a make-believe world of play-acting. We are speaking of dramatic truth, truth that shatters the soul, then brings healing and sends the human spirit soaring. It must grieve the Holy Ghost when His dramatic Word is recited dispassionately. The preacher doesn’t make the gospel dramatic–it already is. To communicate the gospel dramatically is to fit preaching with the content. Dispassionate preaching is a lie–it denies the content it conveys.” (p. 113)

Sproul continues by giving tips on how to effectively bring drama into the pulpit, that is, into the preaching of God’s Word.

Now I’m going to continue thinking on the art of preaching, but here’s where I’m at right now. I know Paul refers to the message we preach as foolish, but I think it may be wrong to say that the method is foolish too. Why? I can’t help but thinking that a man of God faithfully proclaiming God’s already “dramatic Word” may not be as counter cultural as some would have us believe, but that it may just be the very refreshment this multimedia saturated generation needs.

As a kind of footnote, I’m going to try and get a hold of and read Danny Hyde’s In Living Color: Images of Christ and the Means of Grace as I know he writes about the multimedia God has already ordained in the church.

Tagged as // Culture, Homiletics, Preaching, R. C. Sproul
Filed in // General

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March 15, 2010

Should Sermons Be Less Than 8 Minutes?

…according to Archbishop Nikola Eterovic they should be:

“The homily in general should not go over eight minutes – the average amount of time for a listener to concentrate…”

Father Andrew Headon offers his thoughts:

“There is a saying among clergy, If you haven’t struck oil in seven minutes, stop boring.”

Now I’ve heard my far share of “injurious” 3+ hour sermons back in my Pentecostal days. Those sermons really should have come with a health warning. I’m also aware that this media saturated generation has trouble sitting down and concentrating. But surely the answer isn’t cutting the sermon down to 8 minutes is it?!

I think when looking at the subject of sermon length it’s important to make a big distinction; length of sermon does not equate to quality of sermon. Believe me, I’ve suffered through sermons that were less than 8 minutes in length but were more painful (or as painful) as some of those 3+ hour sermons I mentioned before.

I’m not sure if this is original to him or not, but to paraphrase what a preaching lecturer once said to a class I was in:

“Every sermon should feel as if it were 25 minutes long. The sermon’s actual length may be much longer (or shorter if you’re not that skilled yet), but it should feel like only 25 minutes.”

Although it’s a painful job, if preachers forced themselves to hear recordings of their sermons I think we could really improve homiletic skill. A preacher may be surprised how unclear, confusing, repetitious (sometimes even contradictory) his sermons can be.

I don’t think 8 minutes is the answer. Let’s teach our congregations how to listen and concentrate longer instead of encouraging the problem. Yet at the same time, I’d much rather hear and understand God’s Word clearly in 25 minutes than sit there for an hour because an hour sermon is considered “solid” or “serious” or simply because the preacher likes the sound of his own voice.

Tagged as // Culture, Homiletics, Preaching
Filed in // General

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March 13, 2010

Some Interesting Thoughts On Redemptive Historical Preaching

…are being aired over at Reformation 21.

Carl Trueman begins:

“If the game is simply to get from Text A to Bethlehem, what do you do with a book like Judges? Preach 200 sermons which essentially say `This judge failed; but, surprise surprise, there is a judge who didn’t fail; let’s talk about him, shall we?’ ? This scarcely does justice to the richness of the text or produces the kind of preaching that equips the people of God to be the people of God.”

Sean Lucas responds:

“I’m pretty content to run week-by-week to Bethlehem and Calvary–whether I’m preaching Colossians or Exodus (as I’m right now). Because it is only as I preach Christ from whatever text I come across do I remain faithful to my calling as a Gospel minister.”

Oh, Carl Trueman doesn’t disagree with Sean Lucas’ response, but…

I’m finding this exchange particularity interesting as I’m currently in the study working away at a sermon on Genesis 27.

Tagged as // Carl Trueman, Homiletics, Old Testament, Preaching, Sean Lucas
Filed in // General

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February 21, 2010

Preaching Is No Easy Matter

…according to Richard Baxter; and I agree.

“It is no easy matter to speak so plainly, that the most ignorant may understand us; and so seriously that the deadest hearts may feel us; and so convincingly, that the contradicting cavillers may be silenced.”

Baxter, Richard. The Reformed Pastor (p. 117)

Tagged as // Homiletics, Preaching
Filed in // General

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