Category Archives: purpose

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Moving From Stated Reality to Application: What I’m Learning From Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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Edwards never let his listeners forget the goal of the sermon!

One of the things I’ve benefited from by reading Edwards’s early sermons is his emphasis on application. If you read his sermons you’ll see a balanced presentation of deep theology and practical exhortation.

In his sermon, The Way of Holiness, on Isaiah 35:8 (“And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.”), Edwards concludes with an application section containing three elements. Here are the first two:

  1. By inference, Edwards reasons, “how many poor creatures are there that think they are in the way to heaven who are not?” (p. 476). I will never forget hearing veteran pastor, Chuck Swindoll, announce that the longer he pastored his church, the more he felt that less of his parishioners were saved.
  2. If this verse is true, then it is critical that his listeners “examine [them]selves by this doctrine to see whereabouts [they] are, and see whether or no [they] are in the way to heaven…” (p. 477). Under this point, Edwards exhorted: “Meditate on the holiness of God, and see if you cannot see a conformity, a likeness in your mind….It is not supposed that ever any copy comes near to this original, nor ever will; but yet they may perceive whether the same spirit, the same temper and disposition, in a lesser degree be in them, that was manifested by the life and conversation of Jesus Christ.” (p. 477)

Notice that Isaiah only presents stated reality. Edwards teaches by example that our job is to move from stated reality to the application inferred by that reality.

If you read this before tomorrow (Sunday), or early next week, see if your Scripture contains a stated reality that requires the same hermeneutical/homiletical move as Edwards.

And our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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“Beyond Words to the Heart”: Guest Post by Dr. Ron Gannett

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A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting up with Dr. Ron Gannett. I met him back in the early 90’s when I was pastoring in New Brunswick, Canada. Ron was our keynote speaker for a special conference. Back then he was the Senior Pastor of Park Bible Church in Burlington, ON, Canada. As I young pastor, I remember learning so much from him. So, I was delighted when he contacted me about being in the area (we’re both DTS alumni).

I asked Ron if he would write a guest post for me and here it is. Enjoy!

“Beyond Words to the Heart

I recently attended a funeral where most of the family members, as expected, read their prepared memories about their lost loved one. But, when the pastor did the same by reading his sermon from a manuscript, it communicated to us that it was more about what he was saying than what we were feeling or needing at that moment. As he missed this strategic opportunity to speak from the heart, it reminded me that it is not about what I am saying, but what they are hearing.

Of course, manuscripts are helpful, and I often use bullet points written in my Bible to keep me focused. The issue I am addressing is whether we are too concerned about our presentation at the expense of the listener. Am I trying to give them the whole wheelbarrow of information I learned or equipping them to respond to God’s Word?

When I first started teaching at a Bible College just out of seminary, my dean required that I write my course objectives around three simple directives: what do I want my students to know, feel and do after taking this course. That stretching exercise has shaped my teaching and preaching to this day. It structured the course around the student’s needs, not me.

I have discovered through the years that these three objectives add fulness to the sermon. Sadly, content alone may glorify the preacher or make the listener feel inadequate. But truth that is clear and memorable, encouraging and motives the heart and provides tools and resources for the listener to practice will help produce the spiritual formation we crave for our people.

If you think about it, all three are essential since the emphasis on one without the others will only lead to unhealthy spirituality. So, lets proclaim the glory and grace of God to help hearts know, love and follow Him.”

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How Do You Know What A Preaching Portion Means?

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Adding a Meaning Element from Speech Act Theory

Yesterday I had the privilege of joining Dr. Mark Meyer, Hebrew specialist at LBC|Capital, at their D.C. location (Greenbelt, MD) for a workshop, Unpacking Sacred Scripture. We worked together in Psalms 1 and 2, the introduction to the Psalter, to show the combined exegetical and homiletical process. Our goal was to help close the gap between finding meaning and application.

One of my responsibilities was to introduce the participants to a new kind of meaning summary. You can see that in this slide:

Consider this kind of meaning to be your goal as you begin sermon or lesson preparation this week.

I call our target meaning, illocutionary intent-infused meaning (II-M). I’ll spare you the boring details and only say that this fancy language originates from Speech Act Theory and their concept of illocution. Illocution describes what a person is doing by what they are saying.

My favorite illustration of the illocutionary element of communication is my wife, Michele, saying, “Ran, the dog needs to go out.” If I respond with, “That’s nice, Dear,” and go back to my very important job of writing a blog post, then I missed what she meant. In saying, “The dog needs to go out,” she’s really asking me to take the dog out. That’s what she was doing in what she was saying.

As you can see from the slide, II-M is the combination of biblical content and biblical intent. The intent part is critical because this contains the seeds of valid application derived from the meaning of the text.

So, before Sunday, see if you can detect your pericope’s intent. Answer this question from your text:

What does God intend for this Scripture to do to the listener?

If you can add intention to your meaning summaries, you will always keep primary application tied directly to meaning. And, I am suggesting that we really do not know what a Scripture means until we have identified how God intends for it to function for the church.

So, as you begin to identify the meaning of your upcoming Text, complete the meaning summary by adding: “____________ with the intent of_________”

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we communicate both content and intent.

Randal

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Applicational Angles for Holy Week Sermons

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Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about how to approach preaching this coming Resurrection Sunday.

The applicational angles are limited to the degree that Scripture provides the raw theological material. For instance, the Gospels record the fact of the resurrection, but if I am not mistake, do not provide any theological commentary.

So, what are some angles we can pursue in preparing to preach and teach on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ?

  1. You can spend some time proving that Jesus was raised from the dead. There were, for instance, people who saw the resurrected Lord. This provides an apologetic or defense of the resurrection.
  2. Because of the possibility–do the unchurched still attend Easter morning?–you will want to urge faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We want our listeners to place their faith in this critical element of the Gospel.
  3. Finally, you may want to preach and teach on the implications of the resurrection. My own readings of Scripture tell me that this is the angle that is found most often, especially in the NT epistles.

This final angle is where I am planning to address Easter morning from Ephesians 1:15-23, especially the resurrection part of Paul’s prayer.

Your own message may have another angle. The important thing is that we continue to exegete at the level of what resurrection preaching portions are designed to do to the church.

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we faithfully proclaim the Gospel to those who have been resurrected with Christ for new life.

Randal

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

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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).

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Revisiting that First Reason We Might Lose our Listeners

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He couldn’t take any more of my fascinating biblical history lesson! Go figure.

In the previous post I talked about how the loss of emotional and logical connections can contribute to listener fallout. This weekend I want to elaborate on the first one.

My main preaching mentor, the late Haddon Robinson, taught us a major difference between preaching and lecturing. My own students each year are reminded of the difference between two stances: historical lecturer vs. theological preacher.

Haddon’s words were: the lecturer talks to people about the Bible, while the preacher talks to people about people from the Bible.

It is difficult to find balance, but ideally we want the sermon to sound like we’re talking to our listeners about them throughout the message. In the sermon, the Lord is addressing them and expecting them to respond to His Word.

That means that even those minutes devoted to explaining historical background, for instance, must quickly be reeled back into the preacher’s stance. The historical data, or exegetical data for that matter serves the purpose of theology–Scripture functioning for the Church.

Too many minutes of the lecturer’s stance–talking to them about the Bible–creates a lull in our emotional connection with our listeners.

If you had the courage to listen to a recent sermon, listen to which stance you’re in most of the time. You might find that you’re conditioned to be a lecturer. And you might try to reframe your delivery so that you talk to your listeners about them from the Bible. It will be more difficult for them to fall asleep on you if you’re talking to them about them and, as always, our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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What Kind Of Meaning Do You Preach?

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The statement means much more than is being said!
Introducing Illocutionary Intent-Informed Meaning (II-M) and Why it Matters

This past Monday I was privileged to present some of my more important Ph.D. dissertation findings to the Alcuin Society of Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School. Many thanks to faculty and guests who were extremely gracious.

Here are a few things that are pertinent to preachers:

  1. Learn to think about application early in the sermon development process. The old school approach was to wait on application because if entertained too early, the process had the potential to skew exegesis.
  2. In order to think about application earlier, the search for application must be a part of the search for exegetical/theological meaning.
  3. In order for that to happen your exegetical method must include the search for what I call, Illocutionary Intent. This involves looking for clues as to what the biblical author wants to do to the readers.

If you like, try to create a meaning summary, II-M, for Luke 15. In other words, your one-sentence meaning summary must include an element of what the author intends to do to the reader. Or, to put it another way, make sure your meaning summary includes the intended application or response of the church to Luke 15.

Try it and see how you do.

Also, if, like me, you’re already looking at a Text for this coming Sunday, see if you can detect the illocutionary intent of the author. This will give you a sneak peak at your primary sermon application and worship response of your congregants.

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. I trust you enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebration!

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Me and God in the Study (part 2)

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If you’re hungry, go to moonpie.com!

This morning I had the privilege of reading 1 Thessalonians 5:14 with our faith-family. It is an excellent test case to continue our discussion in the previous post about how much original material we put into our sermons.

The reason is because it is a short verse that needs a heavy dose of explaining:

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

This means that much of the sermon contains the most precise, effective definitions we can get our hands on from Greek lexicons. Nothing original there.

So, what exactly do I bring to the equation with a text like this?

  1. I selected the text because of our current mini-series on our faith-family’s core values.
  2. That means I bring congregational purpose to this sermon, a purpose that, I hope, matches God’s purpose for this verse.
  3. Part of my job is to convince our listeners that this is critical (“…we urge you…”) and that they all have this responsibility (“…brothers…”), not just the leadership. These are implications of the explanations of meaning. Definitions alone won’t go there, but we need to.
  4. Then, I needed to help everyone see how important it is for us to care for each other like this. God decided to give us these four instructions at the end of the little letter. They must help a faith-family flourish spiritually. I helped them see the importance of these instructions by asking them what a local church would look like that didn’t treat each other like this.
  5. I wanted to make sure everyone realized that there are times when they might find themselves in one of the categories and in need of someone else’s assistance. Otherwise, we need to be ready to add real ministry to our small talk because it’s possible that whoever we’re fellowshipping with is in one of the categories and needs the appropriate response.
  6. Finally, I wanted to connect v. 14 with the the early part of the letter where the gospel and its transforming power is mentioned. This helps us see that God’s salvation in Christ creates the desire and capacity for us to respond well to each other. That way applying these instructions is a matter of genuine faith-at-work in a faith-family.

There may have been more, but this is a good amount of material that is more or less my doings. Before this coming Sunday, consider what kinds of things you contribute to your sermon and may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) through your efforts.

Randal

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Me and God in the Study

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Thinking about what I actually bring to the equation for a given Sunday Sermon

This weekend I am thinking about what I actually bring to the equation with respect to sermon development. I had the privilege to preach Luke 14:25-35 this morning where Jesus explains the high cost of following Him.

Sometimes I feel that I contribute very little except for the ability to read the best material that other scholars have provided. It is an important part of preaching, but I thought we might give this some thought.

First, is this feeling true? To what degree do I add original material to my sermons? Second, if it were true, is that okay?

So, first, it is not true. Each week I select my preaching portion, trace the argument of that Scripture, and begin my analysis without consulting any of the best exegetes and theologians I can access. Being able to read Hebrew and Greek help me use excellent lexicons to get to critical definitions-in-context. Oh, and God’s Spirit operates in answer to my prayers for insight: “Lord, grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret…”

But, more than that, each Monday provides an opportunity to also identify the big idea and intention of that passage. I now know what God intends to do to those in our faith-family that have ears to hear. And I know enough of the flock to know this is going to be a very important act of watching over souls.

Second, if it were true that I brought very little to the sermon equation, it would not be okay. God has called me and is equipping me to help shepherd a little flock. Not someone else. So, while I might benefit from Marshall’s fine treatment of Luke 14, it can’t be Marshall’s sermon.

As we head back to work tomorrow morning and begin preparing for our next sermon, let’s enjoy our time with God and His Word so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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The Critical Move from Meaning to Application

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Okay, maybe not “Good Results,” but, certainly, “Good Intentions.”

Not good results because we can’t guarantee “ears to hear.” We can’t guarantee that our listeners will respond to God. But we can guarantee that each Sunday we will supply God’s intention for the preaching portion.

Tomorrow, as you begin working on your Sunday sermon, be prepared to complete the following sentence:

“This morning, we worship our Lord by _______________________________.”

You and I fill in the blank with God’s intention for the passage of Scripture. This is the foundation for all expressions of application.

So, as you begin to practice your exegetical method this week, include the search for the intention of the passage. You will have to look for clues provided by the biblical author. It’s easiest usually in the epistles; toughest usually in OT narratives.

The main thing is to ask yourself what God intends to do in what He has written. Or, you might ask it this way: “How does God intend for this Scripture to function for the church?”

If done correctly, the way you fill in the blank above will be determined by the big idea of your preaching portion. The meaning and application are organically related through God’s intention.

So, while you can’t guarantee good results (actual worship), you can guarantee you will communicate good intentions, God’s intentions for the passage.

And He will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. I practice trying to complete the worship response as early as possible in my work week. That way, I do not have to wonder how the exegesis is functioning all week long. I am thinking about application early on in the process. And since God’s intention is the focus, I don’t have to worry about the search for application tainting the exegetical process (kind of an ole school approach!).