Category Archives: Preaching

Key preaching types

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In chapter 14 of The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, Michael Quicke, while acknowledging the difficulty of classifying preachers and preaching types, suggests that a fourfold structure may be helpful.  What follows draws on that chapter, but includes my own thoughts as well.

1. Teacher preachers aim to impart scriptural instruction. They stay close to the biblical text, and seek to explain it and apply it. They will often preach consecutively through a book of the Bible, taking one section (such as a paragraph) at a time.…

Positively charged?

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There is great pressure on today’s preacher to be ‘positive’.  “Don’t criticise me, judge me, accuse me,” hearers seem to be pleading.  “Uplift me, inspire me, encourage me.”

To what extent should preachers give in to this pressure, and to what extend should they resist it?  This question is addressed by Craig Brian Larson in chapter 68 of The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching.

As Larson says,

One of our most important decisions when crafting a sermon is whether to frame it positively (what to do, what’s right, our hope in God, the promises) or negatively (what not to do, what’s wrong, the sinful human condition).…

Gladstone clever, or Disraeli clever?

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The following story was recounted by Princess Marie Louise, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, and is recorded in The Faber Book of Anecdotes:-

A young lady was taken to dinner one evening by Gladstone and the following evening by Disraeli.  Asked what impressions these two celebrated men had made upon her, she replied, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone I thought he was the cleverest man in England.  But after sitting next to Mr.
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That’s not what I call preaching 4

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I wanted to check a few details about Philip Pullman’s book, ‘The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ’.  In that book, Pullman imagines ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christ’ were brothers: ‘Jesus’ was godly and moral, but ‘Christ’ was something of a Judas-character, whose physical likeness to ‘Jesus’ led, after the death of his brother, to a belief in the resurrection and the founding of the Christian Church.

I was intrigued to read this transcript of a sermon by the Reverend Robert Reiss, who at the time was Canon in Residence at Westminster Abbey.  …

Why preachers cannot ignore the New Perspective on Paul

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To talk of a ‘New Perspective on Paul’ (NPP) is to imply that there is an ‘Old Perspective’ that has now come under scrutiny.

It might be tempting to respond by saying, “A curse on both your houses! I shall ignore them both and simply read and preach the text itself.”

An understandable aim, no doubt, but one that would be unwise to attempt, and impossible to achieve.

Unwise to attempt, because we would then be elevating what we think the Holy Spirit is telling us about what God’s word means, above what others, possibly more insightful than us, think he has told them.…

Christmas is coming, preacher

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Peter Mead suggests some starting points from which the creatively-challenged preacher might approach the message of Christmas:-

Prophecies from the Old Testament such as Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, or Jeremiah 31:15.

People from Matthew’s genealogy – the women, for example (each of whom has an interesting story to tell!), or the Gentiles (suggesting the greater scope of the Christmas hope).

Themes – the ‘Immanuel’ (God with us) theme, for example, beginning with Isaiah 7:14-9:7), continuing with Matthew 1, and then moving on to Matthew 28:20.…

Preaching Christ

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We do so when we:-

  1. represent him as a living person as distinct from an historical character.
  2. remind the hearers that he is present in the gathering.
  3. represent ourselves as his ambassadors bringing a message from him.
  4. press his claim upon the hearers.
  5. tell of his finished work and testify that his blood cleanses from all sin.
  6. preach Christ as a present deliverer from the power of sin.
  7. warn sinners that to reject him is to perish.
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New Testament preaching

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Robert Mounce, in his 1960 book The Essential Nature of New Testament Preaching, explains that the in outline form kerygma consisted of three parts-

1. A historical proclamation of the death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus, seen as the fulfilment of prophecy and involving man’s responsibility.

2. A resulting theological evaluation of Jesus as both Lord and Christ.

3. An ethical summons to repent and receive forgiveness of sins.

This summary is derived from an analysis of Peter’s five speeches recorded at the beginning of Acts.…

Paul’s homiletics

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‘Paul underlined the need for careful attention to principles of communication in preaching. While he refused to adopt some of the cunning word craftiness of the secular rhetoricians of his day, (2 Cor 4:2 1 Thess 2:3,5) nevertheless, he adapted his preaching well to a variety of audiences and needs. In the synagogue Paul spoke to Jews about the special dealings God has with his people; (Ac 13:16-41) but to the Greek philosophers he presented a living God as a challenge to their love for fresh ideas, quoting from their own writers as he did so.…

Contemplations from Corinth’s pulpit

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  1. Gospel preachers are not the only ones preaching, 1 Cor 1:20).
  2. In Christian preaching, substance is far more important than style,1 Cor 1:17f.
  3. Preachers should be wary of gaining a response by mere human eloquence; far less by emotional manipulation., 1 Cor 2:4.
  4. No preacher worth their gospel-salt will shy away from preaching the ‘crude’ subject of the crucified Christ, 1 Cor 1:23).
  5. Unbelievers will demand other things from the preacher instead of the gospel, 1 Cor 1:22f.
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