Category Archives: sermon development

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How To Balance Saint-Sanctifying, Seeker-Sensitive Preaching (Part 8)

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Work-Life-Balance

In this series, I’m presenting my findings from studying the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Timothy Keller. I selected those three because of their effectiveness in speaking to both saints and sinners with the same sermon. The trio seems to have had success through the grace of God in accomplishing what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 (the unmasking of the man). I gravitated towards this trio of preachers because their sermons, though seeker-sensitive, were and, in Keller’s case, are heavy on theological insights.

So far we’ve looked at the following aspects of their method:

  1. Categorizing your listeners according to their spiritual condition
  2. Searching the hearts with probing questions
  3. Motivating listeners through both love for God and fear of God
  4. Attack the sin behind the sins
  5. Speak the thoughts of sinners (both the justified and unjustified)
  6. Identify our idols

Next: Show how the Gospel works to recreate the human heart.

One reason why I do not believe the typical seeker-sensitive sermon, “Five ways to (fill in the blank),” (please forgive the stereotype) is the best way to read the Bible is because the application is disconnected from the Gospel. In other words, the sermon gives me five ways to manage my anger, but it is not connected at all to my Christianity. That can lead to the moralistic sermon you’re well aware of.

A friend of mine recently argued against always mentioning the cross. He gave two reasons: (1) The biblical writers didn’t do this. However, a careful read of both Testaments shows God giving the grace-based indicative before the grace-based imperative. You’re probably familiar with Paul’s structure of beginning his letters with the indicative (our position in Christ) and then moving to the imperative (our practice as Christians).

(2) Can’t we assume that faith is intact and that the desire and ability to do God’s will will be there? My answer is “no.” My own experience talking to myself and listening to hundreds of others  over the years tells me that we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day (cf. the writings of Jerry Bridges). My reading of Scripture understands the Bible’s purpose to urge Believers to believe in the promise of God to save through Christ in the power of the Spirit.

I find it extremely helpful to follow the example of our three model pastor/theologians and show how the Gospel transforms the human heart. So, for instance, how does the Gospel create humility? Lord willing, this Sunday I’m preaching on Galatians 5:24-26 which includes avoiding becoming conceited. How does the Gospel create humility? It’s a great way to explain how Christianity is different from self-help or other religious options; it’s a great way to accomplish faith-driven application. Check your Sunday sermon’s application and see if you can explain how faith in Christ’s sacrifice creates the particular response.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation…

Randal

 

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How To Balance Saint-Sanctifying, Seeker-Sensitive Preaching (part 7)

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Work-Life-Balance

For those that have been reading this series, I thought you might enjoy a different image this time. Pretty incredible balance and power too!

In this series, I’m summarizing some of the things effective preachers do to hit both outsiders (unbelievers) and insiders (saints who entered the building with ears to hear) with an insider-directed message (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 for an example).These are ways in which men like Jonathan Edwards, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Tim Keller (of Redeemer Presb’ in NYC) reach both audiences.

So far we’ve noted the following effective rhetorical devices:

  1. Categorizing your listeners according to their spiritual condition
  2. Searching the hearts with probing questions
  3. Motivating listeners through both love for God and fear of God
  4. Attack the sin behind the sins
  5. Speak the thoughts of sinners (both the justified and unjustified)

Today’s tip is: Identify our idols.

There are times in our sermons where we can highlight the false gods we tend to worship. This is one way to attack the sin behind the sins (#4 in this series). It’s a way to analyze our sins in more detail. Identifying our idols is a way of uncovering the kinds of things that have captured our affections. Someone has said that the human heart is an idol factory. Preaching that uncovers idolatry effectively matures the saints, while also showing unbelievers that they too are worshiping something or someone other than God.

One effective way I’ve found to help identify my particular idolatry is to ask myself two questions: (1) What brings me greatest joy? (2) What brings me greatest sadness? Usually, the answer to either question helps me see what has captured my affections. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend Keller’s book, Counterfeit Gods.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation…

Randal

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How To Balance Saint-Sanctifying, Seeker-Sensitive Preaching (part 6)

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finding_balance_news_625x430

 

In this series, I’m summarizing some of the things effective preachers do to hit both outsiders (unbelievers) and insiders (saints who entered the building with ears to hear) with an insider-directed message (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 for an example). These are ways in which men like Jonathan Edwards, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Tim Keller (of Redeemer Presb’ in NYC) reach both audiences.

So far we’ve noted the following effective rhetorical devices:

  1. Categorizing your listeners according to their spiritual condition
  2. Searching the hearts with probing questions
  3. Motivating listeners through both love for God and fear of God
  4. Attack the sin behind the sins

Today’s tip is: Speak the thoughts and reasoning of sinners (both the justified and unjustified)

In describing Edwards’ approach, Carrick highlights the need to try to put your finger on “the secret language” of the hearts of our listeners (The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, p. 302). This involves trying to figure out what the non-Christian and Christian might be thinking about the particular theology being communicated.

Apart from Keller’s unique, Christ-centered hermeneutic/homiletic, the one thing I’ve benefited from from Keller’s approach is his ability to articulate how his listeners are thinking about the preaching portion. This involves, of course, reading and listening to commentaries about our culture (newspaper, news reports, magazines, books, films). It involves listening to what people are saying whenever they declare their thoughts about life.

Carrick described Edwards as having “an incisive knowledge of the human heart” (p. 269). Add to that the ability to put words in our listener’s mouths, the things they should be saying. It’s an effective combination that helps “unmask the man.”

I must admit that this is the one area I’ve had to work on the most and am still working on. I find it much easier to exegete the Text than the pew. I’ve also found that the more I study my own depraved heart, the easier it is for me to speak the secret language of the hearts of my congregants.

Preach well for sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in the world.

Randal

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How to Balance Saint-Sanctifying, Seeker-Sensitive Preaching (part 5)

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finding_balance_news_625x430

In this series, I’m summarizing some of the things effective preachers do to hit both outsiders (unbelievers) and insiders (saints who entered the building with ears to hear) with an insider-directed message (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 for an example). These are ways in which men like Jonathan Edwards, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Tim Keller (of Redeemer Presb’ in NYC) reach both audiences.

So far we’ve noted the following effective rhetorical devices:

  1. Categorizing your listeners according to their spiritual condition
  2. Searching the hearts with probing questions
  3. Motivating listeners through both love for God and fear of God

Today’s tip is attacking the sin behind the sins.

In Murray’s introduction to Lloyd-Jones’, Old Testament Evangelistic Sermons, he writes, “Sin must never be preached as though it were primarily a matter of actions. Sinfulness is a graver problem than sins” (p. xxiv).

It’s easy to preach against sin-as-a-matter-of-action because that is what the preaching portion is often doing. In order to reach both kinds of listeners, effective preacher/theologians attack the sin behind the sins. That means talking about one’s unbelief and alienation from God.

So, for instance, think about the common, “Five ways to manage your anger”-type sermon. It’s important to delve into a discussion of what’s in the human heart that’s causing the anger. Then, if you feel the need to offer the five ways, you’re not only addressing the sin, but the sin behind the sin. As you’ve probably heard before, we don’t only want to address the symptoms, but the cause too. In the following example, the first Q & A deals with the symptom; the second with the cause:

Why are you angry? Because I didn’t get my way.

Why are you angry? Because getting my way is what makes me happy. Now we’re onto something that can be addressed by the Gospel. As you develop your sermon for this weekend and, if your preaching portion pinpoints a particular sin to be avoided, ask yourself is you are attacking only that sin or the sin behind the sin.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in the world.

Randal

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How to Balance Saint-Sanctifying and Seeker-Sensitive Preaching (part 4)

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finding_balance_news_625x430

This series of blog posts is built off the premise that seekers can be reached with messages that are designed for the saints (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 and the outsider that is reached with an insider-directed message). What follows is another way in which effective preachers, ancient (Jonathan Edwards), past (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones), and current (Tim Keller), reach both kinds of audiences with the same message.

They motivate their listeners through both love and fear.

Edwards, for instance, writes: “No other principles will ever make men conscientious, but one of these two, fear or love….Hence, God has wisely ordained, that these two opposite principles of love and fear, should rise and fall, like the two opposite scales of a balance; when one rises the other sinks” (p. 376 in Carrick’s, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, quoting Edwards’ Religious Affections).

First, motivating through love means inquiring about our listeners’ love for God (not God’s love for us). Motivating through fear does refer to our being afraid of the wrath of our holy God.

You’ll notice in Edwards’ quote that he is arguing for both of these elements being included in our sermons. It caused me to look at my preaching and ask, first, if I am motivating my listeners to respond appropriately to the Text and, second, how I am motivating my listeners to respond to the Text.

Some of our preaching portions actually do motivate through one or the other, so when that happens, we simply urge everyone along just as God Himself does. Yesterday I preached on Hebrews 10:24-31 which contains the terrifying warning: “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries….It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” And that was meant for the Saints!

However, many, if not most, preaching portions do not contain explicit motivation from either angle. In those Texts, during the application segment(s) of our sermons, it is important for us to motivate through love for God and fear of God. According to Edwards, this is one way to unmask the listener and bring him or her to faith.

Preach well for the sake of His reputation in the Church and in the world.

Randal

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How to Balance Saint-Sanctifying with Being Seeker-Sensitive (part 3)

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finding_balance_news_625x430

This post is part of a brief series on how to create sermons that sanctify the saints and justify the sinners at the same time. I’m building off the foundation of Paul’s analysis of the effectiveness of prophesy recorded in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. The prophetic Word unmasked the man. An insider-directed message reached an outsider. Through my observations of the preaching of Jonathan Edwards (ancient), D. M. Lloyd-Jones (recent history), and Timothy Keller (current), I’ve started a list of ways these effective preachers reach both Christians and non-Christians with the same message. Here’s how they unmasked the man:

1. They categorized their listeners according to their spiritual condition (see previous posts)

2. Search the heart through questions.

In his book, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, Carrick cites Kimnach’s observation that Edwards was “perceived by the people of Northampton to be ‘a searcher'” (p. 304). All three preacher’s I read used searching questions to force their listeners to evaluate their spiritual condition. In one of Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Genesis 3:8-9, I counted 46 of these kinds of questions! That’s 46 searching questions in the span of less than 10 pages. Through these questions, the conscience is pricked. Or, at least that’s the goal.

Here’s one example from Edwards: “Examine yourself as to this matter, and ask what has been the nature of your anger….Has it not been of the nature of ill-will….Has not your anger been…” (Carrick, p. 308). It’s almost as if you are acting on God’s behalf in interrogating someone on His witness stand.

This is different from asking rhetorical questions, questions that don’t really ask for an answer. These questions are effective because the listener’s spiritual condition is being exposed. See if you have opportunity in your sermon this coming Sunday to probe the hearts of your listeners and force them to come face to face with their sin and need of Christ’s righteousness (both saints and sinners).

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation.

Your brother in Christ,

Randal

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How to Balance Saint-Sanctifying with Being Seeker-Senstive (part 2)

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finding_balance_news_625x430

For many of us preachers, Paul’s hypothetical situation recorded in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 brings us comfort and encouragement. It reads, “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.” The unbeliever takes the posture of a worshiper; he has become a Believer as a result of the insider-directed message.

However, did you notice what the preached Word did? “He is convicted…called to account…the secrets of his heart are disclosed.” The preached Word did that and this made me ask whether all exegesis and sermon preparation do this. In his commentary on 1 Corinthians, Conzelmann states, “The passage is important…for the Pauline understanding of prophecy: it is not prediction of the future, but unmasking of man.”

Do our sermons get to the point where God unmasks our listeners? I recently studied the methods of three effective pastors from three eras of history who addressed both saints and seekers through exegetical/theological/philosophical sermons: Jonathan Edwards, David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Timothy Keller. Here’s what I learned from them:

1. They categorized their listeners according to spiritual condition. They also spoke directly to these categories. Often we think about application by categories of gender, occupation, age. But what about: the genuinely saved; those who profess Christ, but are struggling dearly with sin; professing Christians who show no evidence of being saved (absolutely no fruit); and those who profess to be non-Christian.

Keller suggest, for instance, that you should speak to the skeptics or doubters as though they are there each Sunday. He says that’s one way to ensure that they will show up. Word will get around that your church is a place where such attitudes will be discussed and where such attendees are welcomed. Look for places in your sermon where God’s Word is addressing these categories of listeners. See if this doesn’t help you to begin to unmask the man.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation.

Randal

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Creating Saint-Sanctifying, Seeker-Sensitive Sermons: Working Towards A Balanced Approach

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finding_balance_news_625x430

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of conducting a preaching workshop at Lancaster Bible College. Our afternoon focused on creating saint-sanctifying, seeker-sensitive sermons: working towards a balanced approach. This post begins a short series on this important topic. Lord willing, I’ll be conducting this seminar in detail at LBC’s campus in Greenbelt, MD on the afternoon of April 3, 2014.

The topic is important because:

  • Seeker-sensitive approaches continue to be very influential and many of us feel some measure of pressure to adopt effective methods.
  • We are creatures of extremes which means some of us might be out of balance (too seeker focused or too saint focused). Or, to put it another way, maybe you have totally dismissed the seeker-senstive approach or you have bought into it whole-hog.

First, let me ask you to analyze your own approach and setting. Do your sermons and approach lean more towards being seeker-senstive or saint-sensitive? What percentage of your listeners on an average Sunday morning would declare to you that they are non-Christian (an important question as we search for balance)?

Alright, let’s look at areas of theology and ministry that are affected by this discussion.

Theology: What did Jesus mean when He said, “Anyone who has ears to hear, let him hear”? Does a certain kind of sermon create ears that can hear?

Hermeneutics: Is the standard approach to reaching seekers the best way to read the Bible? Is, for instance, the “five ways to manage your anger”-type sermon the best interpretation of Scripture selected to support such a sermon (yes, my selection of the word, “support,” is loaded).

Homiletics: Have we paid so much attention to the interest of our listeners that we have forgotten the listener’s spiritual condition and need for theology (as opposed to self-help [defined as moralistic improvement from Scripture apart from faith in Christ)?

That being said, it is not my intention in this series to debunk seeker-senstive, topical preaching. I do want to help bring some clarity to what it means to be seeker-senstive. I especially want to show from 1 Cor. 14:23-25 that we should be and can be more seeker-sensitive with an insider-directed message from God’s Word.

1 Cor. 14:24-25 gives us hope: “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.”

So, the only way to be seeker-sensitive is not creating an outsider-directed message and delivering it on Sunday morning. We know from v. 22 that these words were “for believers.” Be assured that your sermons aimed at the saints have the potential to reach the outsiders who join us each Sunday morning. More on how that happens in future posts.

Preach well for the sake of Christ’s reputation in the Church/world.

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What do you do in the first hour of sermon preparation?

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screenshot for blog post-1

One of the many pluses of attending the annual meetings of the Evangelical Homiletics Society meetings is the opportunity in between meetings to sit with excellent pastor/homileticians. One of them is Lee Eclov, author of Pastoral Graces. We were talking about the importance of answering this question: What do you do in the first hour of sermon preparation? We both felt that question revealed much about a pastor’s method.

I’ve provided a screenshot of what I do every Monday morning. I begin by getting the big picture of the preaching portion’s logic (how the author has chosen to communicate theology). In the example above, I’ve identified 10 thought-blocks that will be explored in the sermon, plus the final “gospel” section with which I close out every sermon (how Christ-crucified creates the desire and capacity for the Believer to do what God is commanding).

I believe this may be one of the most important actions of an expositor. I call it pre-exegesis, but that might not be accurate. Before doing any real study of the passage, I want to capture the logic or structure of the theology. It helps me see early on how sermon time on Sunday might be divided (will I divide the time evenly among the ten or eleven thought-blocks or give more time to some?).

While conducting a preaching workshop a few weeks ago, I realized again how often pastors begin their sermon preparation by straying from the logic of the Text. When that occurs, it’s difficult to relay God’s message from the passage. It’s not that you won’t be biblical, but, rather, you won’t be biblical enough.

I realize you’re busy, but I wouldn’t mind reading a brief summary of what you do in your first hour of study (I’m assuming that you are praying some kind of, “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law” type prayer).

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church/world.

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Make Them Feel The Disappointment

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disappointing-gift

 

In Luke 11:5-13 Jesus ends his teaching on prayer by stating: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (v. 13).

Certainly, one responsibility of an expositor will be to explain what it means for the Father to “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.” That will take a few minutes of sermon time for sure.

However, one effective way to preach this instruction is to make everyone aware of the disappointment most feel when they hear about this gift. Virtually no one listening to you preach would have guessed that the Holy Spirit would be the one gift identified. So, we need to spend some time addressing this slightly “disappointing” gift. It becomes a great time to remind everyone how important the Holy Spirit is for salvation (cf. Acts 2:38) and for service (Acts 6:8-10). The Holy Spirit was so important for Jesus (Luke 3:21f.) and the Church (24:49). Take the Holy Spirit out of our Christian experience and what do we have? Downplay His presence and power–sadly, the tendency in my Bible Church tradition– and what do we have?

So, making everyone feel the slight disappointment will go a long way toward giving the Holy Spirit His rightful place in our faith-families. Look for places in your preaching portion for these kinds of unexpected twists and turns.

Preach well for the sake of His reputation in the Church and in the world.