Category Archives: pastoral preaching

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Think Twice Before Purchasing Someone Else’s Sermon Outlines

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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.

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The One Sermon We Should Preach To Ourselves Every Day

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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

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

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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?

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

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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

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Preaching’s Not That Hard

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Sometimes it’s helpful to simplify what appears to be a very complex action.

Two recent events created this post.

First, I saw this golf teacher, Gavin Flo, on Instagram and heard him say with perfect inflection: “Golf’s not that hard.”

Since I only play golf maybe three times a year at most, I don’t consider myself to be a golfer. My son, Michael, is an excellent golfer and we’ve been able to get out to the driving range a couple of times and play a round or two. That means I am well aware of my weaknesses. Gavin simplifies the action of swinging a golf club and I find it a helpful way for me to learn.

Second, I received an email from a pastor whose wife heard a presentation I gave that combined hermeneutics and homiletics. The wife knew sermon preparation was posing some problems so she handed her husband the notes she took and said he might want to get in touch with me. He did and I offered to meet and talk about the process.

As the pastor described his frustration, he highlighted the fact that textbooks describe so many steps that the process of sermon preparation becomes overwhelming.

So, in the spirit of Gavin Flo, I say: “Preaching’s not that hard.” (with his perfect inflection, of course)

[I need to be honest: golf is hard and if you’ve tried it, you know that. And preaching? But effective teachers of golf and preaching have a way of simplifying the processes. Here’s my attempt to simplify…]

First, as you head into each Sunday sermon, complete this sentence based on your preaching portion: “We worship this morning by ______________.” This is your attempt to show how God designed your Text to function for the church.

Second, allow the structure of your preaching portion to determine the structure of your sermon. This is your attempt to trace the argument or flow of thought in your Text. God conveys theology through structure that may vary from genre to genre.

Third, while you are preaching, from start to finish talk to your listeners about them from the Bible. That’s different from talking to them about the Bible. God is addressing them and so are we.

Finally, while you are preaching, communicate in a way that conveys that this is life and death. This involves genuine-for-you passion, intensity, conviction. This makes the preaching authentic and real.

See. Preaching’s not that hard. And our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus as we keep working hard at this incredible privilege and responsibility (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. Just like golf, you and I will spend a lifetime trying to improve our skills so let’s keep this concept of “simplify” in perspective.

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Our Listeners Really Haven’t Changed

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You can decide whether this quote is encouraging or discouraging; same with the following post.

Back in March I introduced you to the multi-volume set, Theoretical-Practical Theology, by Petrus Van Mastricht. The title is a strong hint as to why I believe the set holds tremendous promise for preaching.

Van “Mastricht argued that the TPT was to be used in the preparation of preaching” (p. xxxix). That’s what makes this volume a special part of my reading this year.

Preachers and homileticians will also be interested in an early chapter, The Best Method of Preaching. Now, remember that the following quote was written in 1682. Tell me whether this sounds familiar…

“I did not produce those disputations in haughtiness, for I cheerfully and frankly confess that they do not possess anything from their learning and erudition that could comment them to anyone–especially not in this most self-indulgent age…” (emphasis added, Preface, p. 3).

Imagine that: Mastricht described his day as a “most self-indulgent age.”

When I read something like that it gives me courage. At times I find myself thinking that all of our technological advances make it more difficult to minister in this day. Mastricht’s description fits our day. Back then people respected ministers more than they do today, but the age of self-indulgence marches on.

One of our responsibilities as preachers and teachers of God’s Word is to continue to call Christ-followers toward self-denial. That sounds like something Jesus taught, more precisely as a prerequisite for following Him.

I asked earlier whether this post would be encouraging or discouraging. Either way it hits you, it potentially keeps us focused on our task. And as we work at this each weekend our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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Theological Depth By Implication

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Theological Depth Is Often Found Through Implication.

I have the privilege recently to be preaching through the early chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. In verses 13-16, Jesus teaches His listeners that they are salt and light.

Explicitly this teaches us about ourselves and how Christ has transformed us into new creations with new spiritual properties.

Implicitly this teaches us about our world.

One sermon segment then can focus attention on what our being salt and light implies concerning the condition of the world in which we live. The logic goes like this:

if we function as salt and light in the world this must imply something about what the world is made of.

The world must need salt and the world must need light. The world needs salt because the world’s substance is subject to decay, let’s say. The world needs light because it is in darkness (I found that one easier).

My point is that as you prepare for this coming Sunday, you can add some theological depth to your sermon by observing implications. God may be stating some things explicitly and you are able to draw conclusions even though God didn’t state that conclusion explicitly.

As is always the case when providing extra-textual data, the way to remain theologically sound is to be sure your implications can be substantiated in the broader context of Scripture. The case above, the implication might not be in Matthew 5:13-16, but it could be in other places in Matthew or in other places in the Canon of Scripture. This gives implication the same authority as the information in our preaching portions.

As you study this week look for strong implication and may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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An Example of the Second Reason We Might Put our Listeners to Sleep (the Beatitudes)

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We Could Be Losing our Listeners with our Well-crafted (yawn) Outlines.

A couple of weeks ago I suggest that we contribute to that glazed look (the Steve Carrel pic) by (1) allowing gaps in the emotional connection between our sermon data and our listener’s response and (2) allowing gaps in the logical connection between our sermon data–even main points–and our listener’s response.

In both cases I am talking about responses in terms of worship responses: what God intends for Scripture to do to the Christian.

An example of the second phenomenon is a sermon on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.

There are nine “Blessed are’s…” in the section (vv. 1-12). I chose to spend two sermons on all nine (I covered the first three and then the final six).

This type of list can easily cause slumber in the seats because of how easy it is to allow gaps in the logical connection between the individual Beatitude and a worship response.

That means we have to work hard at each Beatitude, each main point if you will, to keep the worship response intact.

I did not do a very good job at this because I chose to cover the final six together: how the blessed ones are described.

Then, it was time to play catch up and connect the dots between Beatitude and God’s intention for announcing such blessings: Kingdom-Made Christians…

  • believe the blessing
  • stabilize their hope in this upside down world
  • assess the degree that they mirror these characteristics

I hope you can see that too many minutes between those bullet points and each Beatitude can create the yawns or blank stares.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as work hard to keep strong emotional and logical connections with our listeners who have ears to hear.

Randal

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Two Reasons We Might Lose Our Listeners

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At times, we might contribute to this classic parishioner, blank stare.

One advantage of experiencing a couple of surgeries to extract a 6mm kidney stone from my right kidney was the opportunity to listen to a couple of sermons.

Preachers can relate to this. I was sincerely wanting to worship, not critique the sermon. But while I was worshiping, the homiletician in me thought, “Try to figure out the cause of the blank stare syndrome.”

I came up with two things over the past few weeks. They may help you as you prepare to preach.

First, I help create the blank stare when there is a lull in the emotional connection. There are sermon minutes filled with minutia that do not engage the listener. The data is not connected to any worship response. Many listeners who take God’s Word seriously will endure these minutes until the impact returns. But it’s painful for them and I don’t wan to cause this.

Second, I also help create the blank stare when there is a break in the logical flow of the subject matter. Too many minutes elapse as too many details are disconnected to the main worship response. And this can all happen within a well-crafted outline. Listeners easily lose their place in a sermon. Sometimes we lead them down this path of inactive learning by not connecting the individual concepts to their worship.

The two reasons I’ve listed cover the emotional and logical components of listening. Both are equally important for communication.

When you’re on vacation this summer and you’re a worshiper, play the reason-for-the-blank-stare game. God knows why you’re doing it. You want to be a better preacher. See if you experience what I did and for similar reasons.

And He will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) because of His gift and your extra effort to improve.

Randal

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Preaching With A Kidney Stone

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Preaching While Dealing With A Kidney Stone! Yikes!

First, I have been out of commission for a couple of weeks due to fighting a kidney stone. To make a long story short, the first surgery was unsuccessful and the second surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.

The first surgery left me with a temporary stent in my right kidney. That stent prevented me from having another painful attack, but left me with nasty UTI-like symptoms. My main concern, apart from the occasional pain and discomfort, was whether or not I could preach yesterday without feeling like I had to go to the bathroom. And, trust me, with a stent in the ole saying, “When you gotta go, you gotta go,” is reality.

All that to say, this was one of those rare times in my 30 plus years of preaching that I had to preach not knowing whether I was up to the task physically.

If you’ve experienced something similar, then you know what that meant: I had to trust God more than normal.

I don’t like admitting that, but it’s true. I would rather write that I always trust God to the same degree for every sermon. But there is something about suffering for a couple of weeks that elevates the need for God’s help.

[I am keeping the past two weeks in perspective because I have parishioners who have been battling far greater suffering for much longer.]

Yesterday was a good reminder that God is merciful and I need His mercy, sometimes to a greater degree. The great thing about preaching is that it is God’s work. We do have a part to play in it, but I know He knows how much we need Him, especially when we’re struggling.

God was very gracious to me yesterday. I was able to preach a full-length message without having to run to the bathroom mid-sentence.

I hope you never have to preach with a kidney stone, but if you do our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you entrust the sermon to His care.

Randal