Category Archives: pastoral preaching

Posted on

Ready for Another Year of Fast-Paced Weeks of Sermon Prep?!

by

Sunday’s come so quickly!
Suggestions to handle the pace

Are you ready for another year of preaching Sunday to Sunday?

If you are a preaching pastor, you know that Sundays come so quickly. It is tough to keep up this pace week after week. Here are some things I do to work effectively and efficiently each week:

  1. Keep improving your own exegetical skills. This takes time, but saves time in the long run when it’s time to consult commentaries (later in the post). The more quality exegesis you do, the less you need the help of scholars.
  2. Identify the big idea (or whatever you call it) and intention of the preaching portion on Monday morning. For years I have taught a Monday morning ritual to aspiring and accomplished expositors that reverses normal sermon preparation sequencing (begin by gathering exegetical fragments, but wait until the end of the week to put it all together). Try locating the meaning of the pericope and what it intends to do to the church early. Then you will know how the fragments fit. It addresses the ole, “I’ve got lots of notes but no sermon yet,” end of the week syndrome.
  3. Use the best commentaries efficiently. This implies that you know how to find them. Access copies of the two OT and NT commentary surveys by Longman and Carson, respectively. Since you’re improving your exegetical skills, you read the best commentaries to locate only what you’ve missed. You can read faster than you would if you were relying on the commentators to find meaning and intention.
  4. Write your sermon while you study. This is the best thing I have learned through the years. I never study for a sermon without creating the manuscript in real time. As I execute my method, I write as if I were preaching.

Sundays come so quickly. I hope you will consider these four tips and I know our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through your efforts (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

Posted on

Lessons from Listening to Student Sermons

by

Two Observations and Suggestions from Watching Another Round of Student Sermons.

No offense to my recent students, but my mentor and long-time homiletics professor, the late Dr. Haddon Robinson, once said:

“I’ve listened to so many bad sermons in my lifetime, it’s a miracle that I am still a Christian.”

I’m pretty sure he was only half joking.

Last week I had the privilege of listening to many good sermons preached in my Advanced Homiletics class. Here are a couple of observations and suggestions:

  1. Introductions usually are too long in proportion to the number of sermon minutes. Novice preachers tend to create sermon introductions that are too long. This tendency might be caused by a failure to think carefully about what introductions must do. It also appears that preachers think introductions are more valuable than they really are. A sermon introduction must do two things: (1) introduce the subject of the sermon and (2) tell why listeners need to hear that subject matter [a bonus (3) could be telling them the worship response: “We worship this morning by ____________.” In light of what I just experienced, my suggestion is to shorten your sermon introductions.
  2. The segment between the introduction and the first point is too long. Again, the more inexperienced preachers seem bent on spending precious sermon minutes on contextual or background information. Part of the reason might be what the students are used to hearing from their professors or from reading commentaries. My standard rule in class is, only supply contextual/background-type information that is critical for interpreting your preaching portion. My suggestion is before placing contextual or background information in the sermon, ask yourself, “Could I understand the meaning of this text without this piece of background information?” If the answer is, “yes,” then leave it out of the sermon.

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of saving sermon minutes for the theological interpretation of Scripture. And that clock sure moves quickly on Sundays!

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as a result of our evaluations and striving to preaching well.

Randal

Posted on

Why BAGD Is Important For Preaching

by

The standard Greek Lexicon is extremely helpful for the definition of key terms.

I currently have the privilege of teaching another Advanced Homiletics class to Masters level students at Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School.

During a recent residency I warned the class that an annual complaint of mine is that students at this level are rarely using the best sources for conversation partners (commentaries, etc.).

One of those quality sources is an old standard lexicon I call BAGD.

I wrote it out that way when I was in seminary in the ’80’s after the order of the last names of the four authors listed on the front cover of the book. Many called it, BDAG (pronouncing it “bee-dag”). As you can see from the image, only half as many authors are listed now.

But, what is more important is how useful this tool is for foundational exegetical work. Here’s an example…

This past Sunday I was preaching Colossians 1:9-11 which contains the concept of God’s will. Listen to the precision of BAGD’s definition:

“What [God] wishes to bring about by the activity of others, to whom [He] assigns a task.”

I think many of us could have gotten the part of God’s will reflecting what He wants to do. But notice how BAGD includes the thought of what He wants to do through an assigned task. It was a simple step for me to recite this definition and then ask all of us if we are aware of the task God has assigned to us. Then, one step further, of course, to accomplishing that task.

You might be one of my readers who regularly uses such lexicons like this. You know how valuable it is. If you are not in the habit of using it, consider it. The Logos version is helpful because of how everything is linked to biblical texts. The search-ability is priceless.

And you will be rewarded with precise definitions that will add clarity to your preaching. That, in turn, will help ensure that God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

Posted on

At the Start of a New Homiletics Class I Am Reminded That…

by

There’s nothing better than studying preaching together!

I am extremely fortunate for another opportunity to meet a class of preaching students at LBC|Capital. We are just completing week #2 and are headed into residency week. It will be great to see everyone face-to-face.

Gearing up for the course and evaluating the work being turned in provides a chance for me to review some of the more important aspects of preaching. So, at the beginning of this new Advanced Homiletics class I am reminded that…

  1. it’s extremely helpful to think about intention as a part of your exegesis. That way you don’t separate your exegesis from your application and application doesn’t have to come last in the process.
  2. the amount of verses you select for preaching can either help or hinder your ability to identify the theology of a preaching portion. Cutting the text too short or too long can create problems.
  3. your method of sermon preparation should include a way for you to distinguish between big and little ideas in your text. And, then, of course, you need to be able to show how all sized ideas interrelate to make meaning.
  4. finding the meaning of a passage begins, not by searching for what the meaning is, but how the meaning is made (how the structure of the particular genre of your preaching portion communicates).
  5. when Christ-centered preaching is done well, your listeners will never leave church as good moralists.

That’s probably enough for now, but I do love thinking about some of the key elements to developing a sermon that represents God well.

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus as a result of the way in which you read and communicate the sacred Scriptures (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. If you’re free this coming Friday or Saturday, whether for the day, half-day, or even an hour or so, find PAS 513 Advanced Homiletics in LBC|Capital’s Lancaster campus (2nd floor of the academic building).

Posted on

How What Evangelicals Currently Believe Affects Our Preaching

by

The current State of Theology helps us know the doctrines in danger.

In preparing for some new disciple-making initiatives in the coming year, a colleague of mine at church and I have been collecting some data on what Evangelicals believe. In the process of skimming some of the findings, I realized how important this data can be for our preaching.

[For years, I have watched the survey results reveal a slow, but steady movement away from orthodox beliefs. This has caused me to see at least part of my preaching ministry as an attempt to keep my listeners from losing important aspects of the Christian faith.]

If you’re interested, I suggest you look at what Ligonier and Lifeway present about the State of Theology (thestateoftheology.com).

What you will find is that Evangelicals are moving away from traditional beliefs about Christology, including things as foundational as whether or not Jesus was created by God.

When I presented some the findings to our Wednesday night crowd, two folks quickly replied: “Well, I wonder how the survey defined ‘Evangelical’?” That’s a very common Fundamentalist reaction. My reply was that it doesn’t matter. Even if the word wasn’t defined as tightly as some of us might want, the stats still show that some of our parishioners might be experiencing a similar shift.

If you’ve used such info before, then you know that the survey answers help us know what doctrines we need to highlight in our preaching. For instance, in one recent survey I saw, three of the five questions/answers involved the Person and work of Christ.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we accurately preach Christ as God portrays Him in His Word.

Randal

Posted on

“The Power of the Office and of the Minister”: Preaching and Pastoral Ministry

by

Is it only me, or does the thought of the power of the pastoral office/ministry seem out of step these days?

I regularly read ancient confessions to help me think theologically. The goal is to add theological depth to my preaching in order to feed the flock well as we read Scripture together each Sunday.

I am also near completion of my first full-length e-book, Preacher As Soul-Watcher, which contains a section on Hebrews 13:17 and the preacher’s authority.

The Second Helvetic Confession (“Helvetic” is Latin for “Swiss” and this confession grew out of the context of Swiss-German Reformed Protestantism in the mid-sixteenth century) contains chapter 18:

“Of the Ministers of the Church, Their Institution and Duties.”

After the section on our Lord’s absolute power is,

“The Power of the Office and of the Minister” (p. 93, The Book of Confessions). It reads…

“Then there is another power of an office or of ministry limited by him who has full and absolute power. And this is more like a service than a dominion….In virtue of this power the minister, because of his office, does that which the Lord has commanded him to do; and the Lord confirms what he does, and wills that what his servant has done will be so regarded and acknowledged, as if he himself had done it” (p. 93)

When we preach God’s Word with accuracy, we’re doing what the Lord commanded us to do. According to the confession, the Lord confirms what we do and wants our listeners to regard our preaching as if He Himself had preached.

I don’t know from Sunday to Sunday who will think of my preaching like this, but I do know that this thought encourages me as I prepare for another Sunday.

I hope you are encouraged too by the thought of our derived pulpit power bringing glory to God in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

Posted on

Think Twice Before Purchasing Someone Else’s Sermon Outlines

by

It is very appealing to hear that purchasing someone else’s sermon outlines can save tons of time, but…

I love Logos as a tool and believe in using lots of tools. 99.9% of the time, I draw the line by refusing to use someone else’s sermon outline for my own preaching.

So, when I saw this ad by Logos, I thought I should send a caution. The product is:

Sermon Outlines For Busy Pastors (11 Volumes).

It is advertised this way:

“Today, pastors are busier than ever, with more time spent in ministry activities and less time spent in sermon preparation. Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors: Sermons for All Occasions gives the busy pastor a head start on sermon preparation.

Pastors can save hundreds of hours a year, with the base research and layout for a year’s worth of sermons already in place.”

I have no doubt that this is true, but I believe it will cost most preachers way more than the cost of the product itself in terms of their preaching quality. I am not primarily thinking of plagiarism.

The reason is because of how important it is for preachers to identify their own style of outlining that works for them.

Whether preachers formally announces the main points or not, outlining shows how the preacher understands the logic of a text. That logic is critical for helping the sermon hold together for the listener.

Years ago, research showed that one common complaint from our listeners is that our sermons contain too many ideas. More than one thing contributes to this, but one important thing is whether or not we have presented a unifying logic. Outlines present that.

And one critical part of sermon preparation is identifying your own sense of the text’s interior logic.

Study other preacher’s outline if you can and you will see various ways in which outlines are done. But work hard at your own outline so that it works for you and your listeners. Let them see how the major thought blocks of your preaching portion hold together and our God will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. My outline from yesterday’s sermon on Matthew 7:15-20 was:

  1. “Beware of false prophets…” (v. 15a)
  2. Here’s what to look for” (vv. 15b-18, 20)
  3. The implied warning to all of us (v. 19)

It worked for us. I felt I owned the logic of it. It made sense to me as a pathway to the theological interpretation of this part of the Sermon on the Mount.

Posted on

The One Sermon We Should Preach To Ourselves Every Day

by

Or, at least, I think I’m preaching to the choir about preaching the Gospel to ourselves.

Two things contributed to this post about preaching the Gospel to ourselves.

First, after taking a 4-plus year writing rest due to research for a Ph.D. degree, I am back to putting some finishing touches on a writing project that is several years in the making. The working title is,

Preacher as Soul-Watcher: Why You and Your Parishioners Need Your Sermons.

One key Scripture that presents a theology of preaching in the local church is 1 Timothy 4:16 which instructs us:

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (emphasis added)

Second, a couple of times within the past two weeks I have quoted Jerry Bridges who taught that we should preach the gospel to ourselves every day. I recently learned that Bridges was quoting former professor, Dr. Jack Miller.

Bridges had a profound influence on pastor Milton Vincent who wrote a little paperback, A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love.

Milton writes:

“Over the course of time, preaching the gospel to myself every day has made more of a difference in my life than any other discipline I have ever practiced.” (p. 6, where he also cites Bridges’ book, The Discipline of Grace, as the source of the concept)

That’s saying something.

In part 1 of the book, Vincent lists 31 reasons why we should preach the Gospel to ourselves every day. Thirty-one!

How about #9 for a sample:

9. Resting in Christ’s Righteousness

“On my worsts days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God’s unrelenting grace toward me. On my best days of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness and not mine.” (p. 20)

I’m thinking we can relate to both, can’t we?

One way we can keep a close watch on ourselves is to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day. I have no doubt that that spiritual discipline will help ensure that our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

Posted on

What An Odd Way to Preach the Gospel: Jesus’s Strongest Instruction, “Be perfect…”

by

Feeling the heavy weight of the command, “Be perfect…,” seems like anything but Good News!

If you have had or will have the privilege to preach through Matthew’s version of Jesus’s famous, Sermon on the Mount, brace yourself for having to explain His strongest instruction. It’s the last verse of chapter 5:

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Wow! No pressure there, right?!

Years ago I stumbled upon a commentary on Peter’s epistle–his name is Kelly, I think. I will never forget reading his take on New Testament commands. He referred to them as something like the Gospel in imperative form.

I am sure other authors have said similar things. And seemingly everybody quotes Augustine on similar matters. But this really has stuck with me through the years. And it is such a helpful preaching angle for our congregants.

I am enjoying reading Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s two volumes on the Sermon of the Mount. His understanding of this was also helpful. He calls Jesus’s command in Matthew 5:48 the best compliment Jesus could give His followers.

Isn’t that a great way to put it?

Can you see the Gospel in such a command?

So, when preaching any command, I am always thinking about how the command portrays some aspect of the nature of our salvation or transformation-in-Christ. And in the case of being perfect?

Along with telling our listeners how impossible it is–and depending on our theology, there is a sense that it is impossible on earth–tell them the great news that Jesus came to create followers who can obey His strongest instruction. If you can strike that wonderful balance or paradox, you will do justice both to our sinful selves and Christ’s marvelous power to save.

And you might notice that this prevents our parishioners from leaving church as good moralists, trying harder in their own efforts to be perfect Christians.

And while you explain how that is possible, our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. Do you have your preaching portion for Sunday? Does that preaching portion contain any imperatives? Can you see the Gospel in that imperative form?

Posted on

An Ancient Quote Connected to, Preaching’s Not That Hard

by

Kind of reminds me of all the steps in hermeneutics and homiletics textbooks!

Last week I took a chapter from leading golf instructor, Gavin Flo, and suggested that, “Preaching’s not that hard.” Let me follow that up with a quote from an ancient systematic theology textbook.

In volume 1 of Mastricht’s, Theoretical-Practical Theology, he begins with a chapter, The Best Method of Preaching.

I was relieved to discover that one characteristic of the best method is brevity. [Notice the method is brief, not their sermons!]

I thought you might enjoy hearing what preaching textbooks were like in the middle of the 17th century (Mastricht’s first four books in the TPT were published in 1682), especially in light of my attempt last week to say that preaching’s not that hard.

“To all these things is added the brevity of the method….For I have never been able to approve the practice of those who composed dense volumes concerning the method of preaching, the perusal and reading of which demands as much time of theology students as a proper syntagma [set] of theology” (p. 4)

In typical, ancient form, Mastricht’s explanation of the best method is detailed. If you can access it, you’ll enjoy the examples he provides from a text in Colossians.

If you’re interested in shorter and, possibly not as well-known textbooks on preaching, you might enjoy something like, The Four Pages of the Sermon, by Paul Scott Wilson. Or maybe an older book like, Preaching with Purpose, by Jay Adams.

As I wrote last week, if the Lord continues to allow me the privilege to preach, I will continue to work hard at improving the art and craft. But I hope to do so within the borders of a method that is relatively brief, especially in comparison to a systematic theology set.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you work your method to the max this week.

Randal