Category Archives: Preaching

Humour: no laughing matter?

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Laughter has not always been prized as a wholly positive phenomenon.  In the 18th century Lord Chesterfield wrote to his son: ‘there is nothing so illiberal, and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.’  John Ray called laughter ‘the hiccup of a fool’, and Oliver Goldsmith thought that it spoke of ‘the vacant mind’.  As recently as 1964 a specialist psychology dictionary characterised laughter as an ‘emotional response, expressive normally of joy, in the child and the unsophisticated adult.’ …

Dare to be a…..Nehemiah?

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In my study of the book of Nehemiah, I came across the following thought, which I thought was worth passing on:-

Nehemiah…is a man to admire and to imitate—but be careful! The theme of imitating Bible characters is often mishandled. Bryan Chapell has written of the “deadly Be’s” (“killer Be’s” would have been more vivid), of which the first is sermons that require us to “be like” some figure in the Scripture story. Such sermons summon us to a treadmill life of perpetual role-play that is bound in the end to prove self-defeating, for, as Chapell rightly comments: “Simply telling people to imitate godliness in another without reminding them that anything more than outward conformity must come from God forces them either to despair of spiritual transformation or to deny its need.”…

Caution: expository preachers at work

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Iain H. Murray, associated for so many years with the Banner of Truth Trust, has a very wide knowledge of reformed theology and biography.  His cautions about some aspects or perceptions of expository preaching are well worth noting.

If, says Murray, expository preaching is defined as preaching which seeks to explain and apply the text of Scripture, then there is no argument.  But expository preaching has come to mean, for many, consecutive preaching through a passage, or book, of the Bible. …

Preacher, guard your character

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There is, as Bryan Chapell points out, no shortage of scriptural teaching on the necessity of the minister of the word to be a man of good character (2 Cor 6:3-4; 1 Thess 2:3-8, 11-12; 2 Tim 2:15-16, 22-24; Titus 2:7-8; James 1:26-27; 3:13).

Those who preach Scripture should take care that their lives are under the rule of Scripture.  John Wesley once explained to a young preacher why his ministry was ineffective: “Your temper is uneven; you lack love for your neighbors.…

The components of sermon application

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Bryan Chapell suggests that preachers should ask four questions if they are to offer faithful application:-

1. What does God require of us? (Instructional specificity)

Preachers answer the question, What does God now require of me? by providing instructions that reflect the biblical principles found in the biblical text. This instructional specificity translates the text from ancient history to present guide. For the guidance to reflect accurately the Bible’s intent, a preacher must discern the biblical principles reflected in the text that were directed to the people of that time and then apply them to the people of this time.…

Every sermon needs a ‘ministry statement’

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So says Peter Adam, in his book Speaking God’s Words (p131).

A ministry sentence is a summary of the sermon, its main point.  It summarises my ministry to the congregation, is expressed in terms of the expected response, and includes an element of appeal or challenge.  It is characteristically expressed in terms of doing, rather than just knowing.  If my sermon is on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, for instance, I do not just want people to know that sexual immorality is wrong. …

Thoughts on sermon structure

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Structure is of the essence in communication. According to Haddon Robinson, a good sermon structure (a) helps the speaker to see the relationships between the various parts of the sermon; (b) enables the speaker to see the sermon as a whole; (c) ensures that the hearer will receive the ideas in the appropriate sequence; (d) identifies those places in the sermon where additional supporting material is needed to develop the points.

1.  What are the qualities of an effective structure?

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The importance of witness-bearing in preaching

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Michael Green puts it well, I think:-

I miss this note of witness-bearing in contemporary Christianity. Many preachers bring carefully prepared scripts which they read with greater or less skill and conviction. But rarely do they let you know that this stuff is their very life blood. Rarely do they allow their own discovery of Jesus, their own profound convictions about him, the difference he has made tot heir own lives, to surface in their address.

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How to end a sermon

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I’m probably not the only preacher who sometimes finds it difficult to know how to end a sermon.

Bryan Chapell has some helpful hints.  Here’s a summary.

1.  Poems and quotations have limited value

The modern hearer tends not to appreciate high literature.  And, in any case, why give the final word to someone else?

‘Unless the poem says precisely what you intend, says it better than you could, and touches a deeper chord than you can reach, frame your own final words.’…

John Stott on sermon preparation

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‘There is no one way to prepare sermons’, writes John Stott in I believe in preaching.  ‘Every preacher has to work out his own method, which suits his temperament and situation.’  Nevetheless, there are skills that can be learned and habits that can be acquired.  The following outline of the relevant chapter (6) in Stott’s book is taken largely from Xenos.

Choose Your Text

Of course, there must be a text, ‘for we are not speculators, but expositors’. …