Vaughan Roberts (born 1965) has been rector of St Ebbes, Oxford, since 1998, and Director of the Proclamation Trust since 2009.

He is committed to consecutive expository preaching.  He and his associates will preach through a book of the Bible (or a significant portion of a book), taking between five and thirty verses at a time.

A fairly typical specimen is a sermon entitled ‘God’s merciful plan’, which is part of a series on Romans 9-11 headed ‘The Gospel and Israel’.

(This is the specimen discussed by Simon Vibert in his book Excellence in Preaching: Studying the Craft of Leading Preachers, IVP, 2011).  An audio of the sermon may be accessed here.

Length.  This sermon is about 30 minutes long (a little shorter than many of other the sermons from this preacher).

Text.  The sermon is an exposition of Romans 11:25-36 (not Romans 11:13-36, as the web site indicates, nor just verse 36 of that chapter, as Simon Vibert suggests).

Introduction.  Vaughan Roberts begins with a (slightly) comical story about an automatically-piloted plane.  This raises the question, ‘Is anyone in control?’ and leads into the leading theme of this section of Romans, which is that, despite appearances, God is ultimately in control.  ‘Nothing can go wrong’.  There is a plan.

Main points

1. The conclusion of God’s plan—all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:25–27).  Vaughan Roberts takes a conventional approach to the v26 – ‘And so all Israel will be saved’.  This means ethnic Israel, and it means that a the nation as a whole (but not every individual Jew) will be saved.

2. The goal of God’s plan—all people may receive mercy (Romans 11:28–32).  Salvation is by divine mercy, not human merit.  God’s mercy is extended to all, and is received by all without distinction (although not without exception, since some reject it).  The preacher uses this as an evangelistic opportunity, asking the congregation: ‘Have you received God’s mercy?’

3. The response to God’s plan—all glory goes to God (Romans 11:33–36).  The goal of Paul’s teaching is that we should glorify, praise and worship God.  God’s ways are unsearchable, so let us not presume to give him advice!  He is sovereign, so let us not imagine that we are doing him a favour when we believe!  God is the creator and sustainer of everything, so let us not suppose that he needs us!  Our place is not to display our own talents, but God’s amazing glory.

Application.  These truths should lead us to praise and worship.  They should also prompt us to pray for Jewish people to turn to Christ.  Let us be humble, since all we contribute to our salvation is the sin from which we need to be saved.  Let us make it the goal of our lives to glorify God, and not ourselves.

Simon Vibert suggests a number of lessons arising from the preaching of Vaughan Roberts:

Carefully interact with the Bible text in such a way that the passage is the controlling agenda for the shape and substance of the sermon. The mark of a good sermon is one that enables the congregation to leave with a clear understanding of the passage in their minds.

Have a clear, detailed structure for the sermon that supports your argument in the biblical text. But it is probably not ready to be written up, rehearsed and memorized until the sermon outline can be written on a single side of paper.

Be economical and precise with your use of words. Choose these carefully and sharpen the point you are making by being clear in your own mind about which words work best.

Mentor a new generation of preachers. As Vaughan has done at St. Ebbe’s Church and through the Proclamation Trust, give young preachers an opportunity to preach, providing training beforehand and feedback afterward.