Author Archives

Randal Pelton, Ph.D., D.Min., Th.M.

Senior Pastor, Professor

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If Ever Local Churches Needed Theologians, It’s Now!

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That’s Thomas Aquinas by the way.

I don’t know if you sense this, but it seems like the folks entrusted to our care need theologians more than ever. The circumstances of the past several months and now leading up to the inauguration of President-Elect Biden have created a kind of perfect storm in the country and in the Church.

As I’ve read the news and listened to some pulpit plans, including some actual sermons, I was feeling tempted to become something other than a theologian for the faith-family.

The topics being discussed were relevant for the day–COVID-19, severe racial, and political tension. Most parishioners were hearing and talking about it. However, I was struggling to prepare sermons in such a way that I could say, “This is what the Lord is saying…” At least to the degree that some parishioners wanted to hear.

For instance, one sermon I heard on politics began:

“You are welcome to disagree with me.”

So much for “Thus saith the Lord.”

It was important for me to keep focused in another direction. I quickly realized I wasn’t smart enough to sort through varying opinions about all these volatile matters. I was and remain convinced that the Holy Spirit could provide insight into what our faith-family needs to hear in order to flourish spiritually during turbulent times.

First, I set out to record the way in which the elements creating the perfect storm were affecting Believers.

Second, I set out to select the best Bible pericopes to address how the church was being affected.

By the grace of God may we continue to flex our God-given theological muscles at a critical moment in our church histories so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. I am praying now for you as you communicate God’s Word this coming week.

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Has the pandemic created any new preaching series?

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Don’t we wish!
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

This morning was my second in a relatively short, but still-being-planned, preaching series that is the result of crazy times. My wife, Michele, created this title slide for the series:

Last Sunday the pollutant was unpredictability and we anchored ourselves in the sovereignty and providence of God. So many of our plans last year were disrupted by the virus but not His.

This morning we adjusted our focus away from physical health, the talk of virtually every day’s news, and onto our relationship with God who, according to Psalm 73 is the “strength of our heart” which may indeed fail, virus or no virus.

Never in my lifetime have I seen the quality of the air we breathe so poor. While I’m tired of remembering to take a mask everywhere I go and putting one on, the mask reminds me that there are toxins in the air attacking my faith. So, before resuming our Psalms series, I thought it best to address the church with such things.

How about you? I was wondering if you have already preached or plan to preach some kind of series based upon the unique context in which we’re walking with God.

May our Lord continue to give you wisdom to navigate more-difficult-than-normal times so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. I’d love to hear from some of you, but know your lives are extra busy too!

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“everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live”: Preaching Through Numbers

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When you preach through Numbers you’ll get a chance to preach about the fiery serpents!
Scary stuff, I know, right?!

Numbers 21 is famous for the fiery serpent scenes, culminating in the odd instruction from the Lord: “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” (21:8)

The instruction from the Lord to Moses is the result of God’s people becoming impatient during their journey (v. 4). One of the most rewarding things about preaching through Numbers is the opportunities to address our common emotional reactions during our faith-journey in a badly broken world. Verses 4-5 describe our tendency to be short on patience.

This functions as one of those, “Go and do otherwise,” examples.

The Lord’s reaction to impatience seems excessive, don’t you think? I mean, the sin is only impatience. But, we’ve already seen in Numbers how the Lord feels about our grumbling and complaining. We shouldn’t be surprised by v. 6,

“Then the Lord sent fiery serpents…and they bit the people, so that many…died.”

You and I know the sequence all too well: we sin, God chastises us, and…

we confess our sin to the Lord (v. 7).

You’ll want to continue to allow your listeners the opportunity to think through the OT concept of a mediator–in this case Moses. They know God will listen to Moses. We know God hears our prayers.

Finally, the Lord’s answer and our hope is in vv. 8-9. As I said above, the Lord’s instruction is odd. Your favorite commentators will help you with the details and significance of the “bronze serpent.”

John 3:14-15 will show you how John reads those scenes and your parishioners will hear the call to faith once again as the key to their own daily spiritual healing and victory. Take a quick look at the immediate context before and after the famous scene and you’ll see victory for God’s people. God gives victory over sin and grace when we sin.

Our Christian experience, like that of our forefathers, is like that. May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you encourage your listeners every day to look and live.

Randal

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Ask a Lot of Great Questions: What I’m learning from reading Jonathan Edwards’s earliest sermons

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If you want to keep your worshipers engaged during the sermon, then…

I can’t remember the source and it’s been years. But someone rated the best sermons and discovered that one thing that they shared in common was a noticeably greater number of questions than lesser rated sermons.

Jonathan Edwards’s sermon, Value of Salvation, could qualify for an effective sermon that effectively uses questions to keep listeners engaged.

In the Doctrine section, Edwards’s second particular is: “The whole world shall have an end with respect to every particular person at death…all worldly pleasure…come[s] to an end.” (p. 313 in Kimnach’s volume 10 of The Works of Jonathan Edwards)

After stating that particular doctrine, Edward bombards his listeners with seven straight questions. He leads off with, “To what advantage, then, will be bags of gold and silver?” (p. 313). Then, six more questions follow, often a variation of, “What good will it do him then that…?” (p. 314). The seventh and final question ends the second particular doctrine and comes directly from Luke’s parable in chapter 16 about the rich man who built more barns to store all his goods: “…then whose shall those things be…?”

Each question drives home the point of doctrine. And if you and I ask the right questions at the right time, we are forcing our worshipers to engage.

There’s a reason why the best sermons contain the most questions. Engaging preachers and teachers engage their listens with great questions.

Lord willing, tomorrow many of us will begin preparing for the fourth Advent Sunday of this year. As you write your orascript, think about the kinds of questions you can ask your listeners to force them to think along with you about the greatest gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And may our God receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) by our attempts to bring our listeners into heartfelt worship.

Randal

P.S. And one more thing, when you ask questions during the sermon, ask them in a way that lets them know you really expect an answer. I actually expect them to answer, but whether you do or not, it’s critical to ask the question so they know you want them to think with you.

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Learning the Goodness of God in Joining Happiness to our Duty: What I’m Learning from Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Earliest Sermons

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What obeying God’s commands feels like unless we consider…

It still surprises me that Edwards’s first recorded sermon might be, Christian Happiness. That’s the last thing I expected out of such a serious Puritan!

What I now do expect from Edwards is rigorous theological thinking that urges me to love God supremely for all the right reasons.

Since God says in Isaiah 3:10 that it shall be well with the righteous person Edwards reasons, “They certainly are the wisest men that do those things that make most for their happiness.”

Makes perfect sense. When temptation strikes and I feel the pull toward unrighteousness, I am headed for unhappiness. Obedience to God–righteousness–seems very difficult. Edwards’s fourth inference is:

“Hence learn the great goodness of God in joining so great happiness to our duty” (p. 303, emphasis added).

It’s one thing to be motivated to right living by eternal happiness or it’s opposite, eternal torment. But Edwards says God has motivated us in a number of ways pertaining to this life now including…

“…but the thing required of us shall not only be easy but a pleasure and delight, even in the very doing of it. How much the goodness of God shines forth even in his commands!” (p. 304)

And, finally…

“All that he desires of us is that we would not be miserable, that we would [not] follow those courses which of themselves would end in misery, and that we would be happy” (p. 304).

Edwards has helped me see the importance of following God’s example of motivating obedience from the angle of our own happiness. And may our Lord use our efforts so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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Thinking With Jonathan Edwards: What I’m Learning From Reading Edwards’s Earliest Sermons

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Jonathan Edwards certainly could have been called, The Thinker!

Quite often as I’m reading Jonathan Edwards’s sermons I come across the magnificent fruits of his capacity to think. Like this…

“…though they ben’t safe from those things that are in themselves evil, yet they are safe from the evil of those things” (Kimnach, vol. 10, p. 453, note 1).

The quote is from the sermon, Christian Safety, an exposition on Proverbs 29:25 “But whoso putteth trust in the Lord shall be safe.”

Our faith-family has heard this quote a few times in the past few years. I will probably mention it again tomorrow morning, Lord willing, because Psalm 48 highlights the protective power of God with all its imagery of citadels, fortresses, towers, and ramparts.

What I love about the quote is how succinctly and precisely Edwards stated what has been difficult for me to articulate. During COVID-19 times, think about how powerful this logic is. Though God’s children are not safe from the virus that is in itself evil, yet they are safe from the evil of that thing.

Last Sunday I tried my best in the pre-sermon–which, by the way, doesn’t technically count against my sermon time!–to ask the faith-family what they think about God being stronger than the virus. As expected, they got it. They said things like: God is strong enough to keep me from getting it, strong enough to get me through it, strong enough to take me home because of it. And if He chooses that route, He receives me unto Himself where we worship and await the new heavens and new earth.

“…though they ben’t safe from those things that are in themselves evil, yet they are safe from the evil of those things

In that sermon on Proverbs 29:25 Edwards said to his hearers:

“how happy it is to be so safe. Who would not get into that tower that will defend us from every evil thing?” (p. 462).

May God help us to think hard like Edwards did so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Three Ways Preaching Can Be Improved

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This is a guest post written by Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs. Jeff is Professor of Preaching and Communication at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. We team up together each year to instruct Doctor of Ministry students in Preaching the Literary Forms of the Bible. He is the author of Preaching with Variety and Devote Yourself to the Public Reading of Scripture. I hope your enjoy and profit from his insights. I always do.

As a teacher of preaching for more than twenty years, I have listened to thousands of student sermons. Most of those sermons were biblically accurate, and most were theologically grounded. (I’m glad to see a growing trend toward Christ-Centered preaching). About half were interesting; about a third were clear; and about a quarter were applied with insight and specificity.

Here are my top three observations on how to improve:

(1) Think yourself clear. Our job is to “package” in 30 minutes what it took us 10+ hours to prepare. This demands ruthless simplicity. I’m not talking about dumbing it down. I’m talking about having your idea(s) so well in hand that you could deliver the gist of your sermon in 60 seconds or less.

(2) Be concrete in application. Come down the “ladder of abstraction” with real life examples. Show what the truth of the text looks like in actual situations for the actual people who sit before you. If the text urges us to be patient, ask yourself: when, where, with whom, how, and what hinders our patience? Read the Sermon on the Mount and notice how much time our Lord spends at the bottom of the “ladder of abstraction” with concrete application.

(3) Model. Be an example of speech, life, love, faith, and purity. Don’t be afraid to illustrate the text from your own life, either “positively” or “negatively.” To be sure, there are risks with each, but when done with humility, and when done in the context of pastoral ministry where you are more than just a talking head on Sunday morning, God’s truth through your personality is powerful. This is part of the way you can watch over their souls—by pointing out how you yourself are being saved through preaching.

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Fighting the Temptation to Copy Cat the Temptation of Jesus in Luke 4

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The picture above from tumblr.com is a fitting reminder of the temptation we face to copy the actions of Jesus in the Gospels. Luke 4:1-13 records the devil tempting Jesus to sin. First, notice the link between Luke 3:38 (“the son of God”) and Luke 4:3, 9. Luke is showing us how the Son of God handled temptation, not primarily how we should handle it. Luke shows us a Savior who defeated Satan in Luke 4 and would ultimately defeat him at the end of the Story on the cross. It is because we have such a Savior that we have any hope of defeating temptation, too. We don’t defeat temptation because we can quote appropriate verses from Deuteronomy (just think how helpless a brand new Christian is until they build up enough Scripture memory to tackle a variety of temptations!). No, first, we defeat temptation when we trust our Savior to do what we cannot do. Then, we can copy Jesus by living out the Scripture we know to be truer than temptations’ lies.

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Connecting Pulpit and Pew: You Need to Read

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I just completed reading Bellinger’s, Connecting Pulpit and Pew: Breaking Open the Conversation about Catholic Preaching. You can look for my review in a future issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society (JEHS).

Here’s why. The author surveyed over 500 Catholic high school students to ask them how well sermons connect with them. I don’t know if I’ve ever read any homiletics material devoted to how teens hear sermons.

We know it’s important to connect with our listeners and this book helped me want to do that even better. Bellinger’s surveys of young people and clergy will provide an opportunity for you to evaluate your own preaching.

Especially convicting was the thought that many preachers are winging it and allowing other pastoral duties to squeeze out sermon preparation time.

So, if you want to spend some time thinking about audience analysis, this is a helpful little read. If you preach to young people or you have a youth pastor in your church, you will certainly benefit from reading the book or telling your colleague about it.

One of the values of reading outside my own church culture is the exposure I get to other authors. For instance, Bellinger introduced me to a book written in 1942, How to Make Us Want Your Sermon: by a Listener (O’Brien Atkinson). Speaking of our listeners, he writes, “We have one advantage. Whoever you are, wherever you preach, however lowly or lofty the occasion, the prosperity of your sermon will rest with us. If we say it was over our heads, or hard to follow, or dull and wearisome, there will be no appeal from that verdict. You may think us stupid, and we may be stupid, but our verdict will be final” (p. 55).

Enjoy. And preach a good sermon this Christmas Sunday, will ya?!

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Preaching the Ugly Pictures of Human Nature in Judges

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Studio portrait of mid adult woman looking into broken mirror --- Image by © Harry Vorsteher/Corbis

The picture of God’s people in the book of Judges is not pretty. For instance, in Judges 8:1, 4-6, and 8 there are three examples of insubordination. One commentator, Block, says “Even in victory Israel remains her own worst enemy.”

And often, even Israel’s best leaders, like Gideon, paint an ugly picture of our spiritual condition. Friction abounds in these stories and Gideon often flies of the handle, as they say (whoever “they” are?).

So, if and when you preach on Judges, be prepared to show your flock how difficult it is for God’s people to experience peace among themselves. Both leaders and laity have to work hard at being Spirit-controlled so the work of God can flourish among them.

In the case of the latter part of chapter 7 and into chapter 8 self-centeredness and rage are on display. It’s not a pretty sight. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, Gideon pulls the stunt recorded in 8:27 “And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city….And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare…”

Well, you’d think God would fiercely judge them all for this. But instead, we read of His grace in 8:28 “…And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.”

I don’t understand this, but I’m sure glad God is patient with us. I am so thankful He gives us victories in the midst of our spiritual ineptness.

Anyway, be prepared to get some pretty nasty-looking looks of our condition in the Judges, but also of God’s grace. And preach it all so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal