I rarely speak to politics in this arena and I am rarely moved to tears. However, the following video simultaneouosly brought tears to my eyes and provoked me to bring politics to the fore in this post. I publicly support no candidate, but this video should be seen by every person in America. I do …
Preachers should always consider humility a must and not an option. Though preaching with power and conviction is a necessity, that does not necessitate a prideful attitude about our preaching or the knowledge we presume to possess. Mark, over at www.seminarysurvivalguide.com has written a great post on why a little seminary is a dangerous thing. …
Spirit-filled preaching is not a new concept.It was in the power of the Holy Spirit that Peter preached the great Pentecost sermon recorded in Acts.However, I fear that the prominence of faith-healers and health and wealth preachers that often appeal to miraculous signs and wonders and power from the Holy Spirit has caused many to shirk away from seeking the filling of the spirit in preaching.
Modern era preachers ranging from Spurgeon to Lloyd-Jones and even Vines speak of this power using terms like “unction” of the Spirit.The book of Acts records that the apostles’ preaching was accompanied by signs and wonders.Those signs were not intended to draw attention to the preachers, but rather to validate the message from God.We have become so leery of the frauds in our society that many preachers have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
Preaching is one of my greatest passions, and as such, reading on the subject is of great importance to me.In Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, Graeme Goldsworthy has proven himself an apt writer and theologian.The book is an attempt to show that, on the basis of careful biblical theology, the entire Bible is effective and necessary as a medium through which God speaks to his people.Goldsworthy shows the absolute importance of preaching the whole Bible through the cross and conversely preaching Christ from the whole Bible.Through this book, Goldsworthy not only argues for the magnitude of preaching Christ-centered sermons, he also gives concrete examples and references to how that task can and should be accomplished.Goldsworthy’s commitment to redemptive-historical preaching is a wonderful reminder that the Bible is one Book about one God with one major purpose of redemption in history that is realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
SUMMARY
Following his introduction, Goldsworthy opens his book with a chapter titled Nothing but Christ and Him Crucified that sets the theme for the entire volume.Goldsworthy shows a serious commitment to the task and science of biblical theology, but that theology and subsequent preaching with biblical theology as its basis must begin, not in the Garden of Eden, but with Christ.Goldsworthy gives a reminder that the preacher has the task of communicating the whole counsel of God in light of the gospel, but not in a way that takes away from the historical-redemptive perspective of either the text in hand or the gospel itself.Goldsworthy notes, “The gospel is central to our thinking in an experiential sense” (5), but that does not mean that the gospel is the only thing we preach.
Joe Godwin has posted a nice little article on preaching with passion. He makes this statement concerning the preacher:
Those who come to hear him preach and teach will not remember everything he preaches and teaches. What they will remember is the passion of his heart which will come through in his preaching and teaching.
The passion will be remembered. This shouldn’t surprise us, passionate people are always remembered. The Brett Favre situation shows us this perfectly. It is the passion of Brett Favre that makes him who he is. His passion is for the game of football, and that is evident in everything that he does; that’s why football fans love Brett (and for the record, regardless of what happens with that situation, dont’ bet against Brett).
In preaching, the same thing is true. Your passion will come through in your preaching. So, if you are most passionate about missions, that will bleed through in all of your teaching and preaching, and that wouldn’t be so bad. However, if your passion lies baseball or in a specific theoligical issue (calvinism, premillinialism, arminianism, etc…) then that will come through as well.
This book review is also found on the Book Review page, but I have found it to be so beneficial to me in my preaching, that I thought it was worth bringing a little extra attention to it here. I hope you find this brief review helpful. I love to read, but I do not …
How does one practice expository preaching in light of one’s understanding of the larger biblical-theological story of redemption? The answer to that question, of course, relies largely on one’s understanding of the larger biblical-theological story of redemption. In other words, the conclusions drawn by any preacher’s particular views of biblical theology will have a profound impact on the expository preaching practiced by that man. For the sake of this paper then, it is necessary to identify the one theme that the author believes to dominate the story of redemption in the Bible, and that theme is Christ. All of Scripture before the cross builds to that climax and all of Scripture written after the cross looks back to it as the centerpiece of redemption and salvation. The Bible is essentially a book about one thing, Christ and the cross. The purpose of this paper, then, is to show that since Christ on the cross is the climax and centerpiece of Scripture, it must also be at the center of all truly expository preaching.
Richard Baxter once said, “A preacher must be oft upon the same things, because the matters of necessity are few.”[1] Jesus said something similar when asked about the greatest commandment. In reply, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”[2] Preaching was once a respected calling, but in recent years, the art of preaching has come under much scrutiny and attack. The calls from many are to make preaching more needs based and consumer driven. However, in response to this call for variety and application, the preacher would do well to remember the words of Baxter and of Christ; for God’s word is a book that testifies to one great thing, and that great thing is the crucifixion of Christ.
