Preachers and their preaching

Preachers and their preaching – Simon Ponsonby

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‘A fourth generation preacher, Simon Ponsonby came to personal faith in his late teens. He worked as a butcher, then became an evangelist and church planter, before preparing for ordination at Trinity College, Bristol, where he gained his BA & MLitt in Theology. After serving a curacy in Bradford, he became Oxford Pastorate Chaplain in 1998. Simon took up the position of Pastor of Theology at St Aldates in 2005, a role that combines teaching, travelling and writing.’…

Preachers and their preaching – John Stott

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John Stott (1921 – 2011) was rector at All Souls, Langham Place (London) from 1955 until 1975.  After that, he became Rector Emeritus, and was thus released more fully for world-wide ministry and writing.

Formative influences included his family background and education (he was son of an eminent London physician and was educated at Rugby School and at Cambridge University).  He was one of a number of talented young men to have been nurtured by Eric Nash at the so-called “Bash Camps”.…

Preachers and their preaching – Fred Craddock

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Fred Craddock (1928-2015) was was pastor, preacher, and teacher of homiletics.  He wrote influential books, including As One Without Authority (1971) and Preaching (1985).  I have recently been working my way through this latter book, and also listening to some online discussion with, and sermons by, Craddock.

Michael Jeffress has written a paper entitled, ‘Fred B. Craddock’s Contribution to Preaching: The Revolution of the Inductive Method’, in which he helpfully summaries the key themes of Craddock preaching method.…

Preachers and their preaching – Phillips Brooks

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Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) famously defined preaching as ‘the bringing of truth through personality’.

I have long considered this definition to be pregnant with meaning, for it seems to suggest a number of important corollaries.  It suggests that in addition to the non-negotiable truth content that is fundamental to the preacher’s message:-

  • the preacher is not ‘anonymous’, but is a real person, speaking to real persons
  • each preacher should have something distinctive (unique, perhaps) to offer by way of style and emphasis that arises from the distinctive (unique, perhaps) aspects of his own personality
  • it is proper (desirable, perhaps) for the preacher to draw on his personal characteristics and life experiences while shaping his message
  • Christian truth which has not been, and cannot be, ‘lived’, is mere theorising
  • this seems to confirm John Owen’s dictum that, ‘no man preaches that sermon well to others that doth not first preach it to his own heart.’
…

Preachers and their preaching – the Puritans

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J.I. Packer, who has done so much to revive interest in the Puritans, identifies the following characteristics of Puritan preaching:-

1. It was expository in its method. The preacher’s task was to extract meaning from the text, rather than to impose meaning on it. The preacher seeks the mind of God as revealed in Scripture, and then seeks to express it faithfully. In ‘opening’ a text, the Puritan preacher would explain it in context, extract from it one or more doctrinal observations, and then amplify, illustrate and confirm from other scriptures the truths thus derived.…

Preachers and their preaching – D.M. Lloyd-Jones

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Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was one of the most influential British preachers of the 20th century.  His impact on the revival of reformed evangelicalism was incalculable.  He stood firmly within the Puritan tradition: he modelled in his preaching both their painstaking analytical expository method and also shared their commitment to what might be called ‘experientialism’ – a passionate desire that through preaching men and women might be brought into vital contact with the living God.

The centrality of preaching

At the beginning of Preachers and Preaching Lloyd-Jones stated his conviction that preaching was the greatest need both of the church and the world:

‘To me the work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.…

Preachers and their preaching – J. Sidlow Baxter

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Any sign of eloquence in public speaking is apt to be regarded with deep suspicion.  As a result, many preachers have become lazy, and neglectful of even the basics of oral communication.  The mood of the day may be very much against rhetorical skill.  But it is disrespectful both to our message and to our audience to fail to communicate as clearly, interestingly, and persuasively as we can.

But perhaps there are a few signs today of a renewed interest in rhetorical skill. …

Preachers and their preaching – Charles Simeon

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Charles Simeon (1759 – 1836) was converted to faith in Christ while he was a student at Cambridge University.  He became the minister of Holy Trinity, Cambridge, where he overcame resentment and prejudice to exercise an influential evangelical ministry.

Simeon’s approach to preaching has been discussed by J.I. Packer in an essay entitled ‘Expository Preaching: Charles Simeon and Ourselves’.  This was first published in Churchman in 1960, is reprinted in Packer’s Collected Shorter Works (Vol 3), and is available online here.…

Preachers and their preaching – C.H. Spurgeon

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) is widely regarded as the ‘Prince of Preachers’. Converted at the age of 15, he began preaching soon afterwards. In 1854, at the age of just 19, he was called to the pastorate at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, London. Throughout his life – and well beyond – a weekly sermon was published. These were bound up in annual volumes – The New Park Street Pulpit, and then (following a move to purpose-built premises) the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit.…

Preachers and their preaching – John Calvin

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I plan, in this series of posts, to explore different approaches to preaching taken by some of the leading figures (mainly) in the evangelical tradition.

First up, John Calvin (1509-1564).

The Reformers laid great weight on preaching, and the reason for this is found in their concept of the Word of God.  When God’s word is faithfully preached, God himself is speaking.  The preacher is an envoy, an ambassador, of God.  He is called by God and he preaches only what God in Holy Scripture commands him to preach.…