Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel.” Jerry Vine and Jim Shaddix wrote: Without a doubt, something mysterious is at play when the Holy Spirit attends to the preaching event. This fact can make any attempt to describe the work of the Spirit in preaching very difficult. But in the area of speech communication—even among Christians—it seems that the gospel preacher has an advantage that separates him from all other public communicators. Even secular public speakers can be passionate about their subject matter, but one particular ingredient is reserved solely for those who speak the words of God. This ingredient enables the preachers’ words to be pointed and powerful. This ingredient has been called anointing. Some homileticians and preachers do not believe the anointing actually exists, contending it is an unnecessary and unbiblical notion that often weighs the preacher down with guilt (Vines is referring to Alex Montayo in his book Preaching with Passion, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2000, 35). I agree Alex Montayo. (Jerry Vines; Shaddix, Jim. Power in the Pulpit: How to Prepare and Deliver Expository Sermons (p. 76). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition).
Read moreNEW Review of Kenneth Langley's "Theocentric View" of Preaching
Kenneth Langley’s Theocentric View of Preaching is found in Scott M. Gibson’s and Matthew D. Kim’s Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today. I agree with Bryan Chapell, Abraham Kuruvilla, and Paul Scott Wilson, who note that Langley makes many good points in his view. For example, Bryan Chapell states “The sound principles of biblical interpretation in Ken Langley’s work make it rich reading. For example, he begins with a statement that I would hope all believers would endorse: ‘Preaching should be God centered because God is God centered and wants us to be God centered in everything we do’ (81). That healthy summary of 1 Corinthians 10:31 should elicit a loud ‘Amen.’”[1]
Read moreHow to Plan to Preach a Series of Sermons
It is important to start early in your planning. Six months in advance will give you time to start reading through the book and even having your devotions from the book from which you will be eventually preaching. This is the method of Jim Rose. Haddon W. Robinson features twelve preachers in Biblical Sermons. Robinson provides a sermon by each speaker. Next, Robinson gives his commentary on the sermon. Finally, Robinson interviews each speaker. The first question in the interview with Rose was: How long does it usually take you to prepare a message? Rose answered:
Read moreMust a Pastor's Devotions be Separate from his Sermon Preparation?
“I had such a sweet time in my devotions this week that I decided not to prepare a sermon and share with you what I learned in my devotions,” one pastor said. [1] I rejoice with this pastor. However, can not the pastor have the same sweet time in his sermon preparation? Let me restate this question: Should not the pastor have the same sweet time in his sermon preparation?
Read moreReview of Paul Scott Wilson's Law-Gospel Hermeneutic
In Scott M. Gibson’s and Matthew D. Kim’s Homiletics and Hermeneutics (Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, 2018) Paul Scott Wilson presents his view of interpreting and preaching called the Law-Gospel view. Wilson’s one text, one theme, one doctrine, one need, one image, and one mission is just another way of saying what many homileticians describe as one preaching unit or the text (one text), one MPS (one theme), Argumentation (one doctrine), Interest Step in the Introduction (one need), Illustration (one image), and Application (one mission).
Read moreReview of Kenneth Langley's Theocentric View of Preaching
Kenneth Langley’s Theocentric View of preaching is found in Scott M. Gibson’s and Matthew D. Kim’s Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four views on Preaching Today.
The Theocentric view is like the Christocentric view in some ways. Some who hold to the Christocentric view advocate preaching Christ from every. The Theocentric view advocates preaching God from every text. Both are not using exclusively the historical/grammatical method of interpretation and preaching or teaching only what is in the text. This was the essence of my post “Text-Driven (Grammatical-Historical Hermeneutic) Preaching.”
Read moreIs There a Difference between Preaching and Teaching in the Pulpit?
There is an intermural debate among Christan preachers as to whether a pastor is preaching or teaching or a combination of both when he is in the pulpit.
R. C. Sproul in The Difference Between Preaching and Teaching (click to open), makes little distinction between preaching and teaching in the pulpit:
Typically, we distinguish between preaching and teaching. Preaching involves such things as exhortation, exposition, admonition, encouragement, and comfort, while teaching is the transfer of information and instruction in various areas of content. In practice, however, there is much overlap between the two. Preaching must communicate content and include teaching, and teaching people the things of God cannot be done in a neutral manner but must exhort them to heed and obey the Word of Christ. God’s people need both preaching and teaching.
Sproul acknowledges that the element of persuasion is essential to teaching. Teaching like preaching includes persuading the listeners “to heed and obey the Word of Christ.”
Read morePreaching through Books of the Bible
W. A. Criswell was pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas from 1944-1991. He demonstrated the importance of preaching through books of the Bible. In Why I Preach That the Bible is Literally True W. A. Criswell wrote that “Soon after coming to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, I made an announcement that I would preach through the Bible. It was my first intention to go through the Book much faster than I finally did. In fact, at first, I did preach rapidly through the books of the Old Testament. But as the days multiplied, I found myself going slower and slower and slower. Finally, I came to the place where I preached for several years on some of the sections of the New Testament. In all, from Genesis to Revelation, I spent seventeen years and eight months going through the Book. where I left off Sunday morning, I began Sunday evening; where I left off the previous Sunday night, I began the following Sunday morning.
Read moreJack Hyles verses Mark Dever on Expository Preaching
Jack Hyles wrote an article entitled The Science of Calling a Pastor. In this article intended on instructing churches on how to call a pastor he wrote:
Choose someone who is not a Bible expositor. There is not one expository sermon in the Bible. All of them are topical. I am not fighting expository preaching, but that kind of preaching will destroy a great church. Do not be swayed by their suave teaching. The great soul-winning churches have been pastored by topical preaching. I am not talking about evangelistic churches; I mean soul-winning churches! If you want a soul-winning church, you must call a pastor who preaches topical sermons. Many of our once great soul-winning churches fell prey to the popular notion of expository preaching. They decided that they wanted more Bible, but when they got it, it cost them their effective soul winning.
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