Bo @ 4 Peculiar People » Preaching

5. What Is the Result of Preaching?

Bo — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 12:00:02 +0000

The final question that we need to answer on the topic of preaching is the result of everything we have earlier discussed. What should preaching accomplish? Although what preaching accomplishes is the result of everything we have already discussed, understanding what it should accomplish will lead to a commitment to the preferred style of preaching…expository. There are several things that I think we need to acknowledge as not being goals of preaching.

Preaching should not be done with the goal of getting people to walk the aisle during the invitation. This may end up taking place, but it is not the sole goal.
Preaching should not be done with the goal of entertaining. There is nothing wrong with being entertained, but it should not take the place of preaching.
The goal of preaching is not to stir the emotions. As I stated yesterday, emotion never initiates a lasting response. Emotion is the results of a knowledge-based response.

When these are the goals of what preaching is to accomplish the focus is taken away from the main thing…the Word of God. The goal of preaching is to clearly and accurately explain and apply the true meaning of Scripture. We have to ask ourselves; am I just being challenged or also taught? Changed lives comes through knowledge and applying that knowledge in our lives. Decisions that are made solely on the basis of emotion never last. It is the knowledge and understanding of God’s Word that brings about a changed life. If preaching is done in order to help people mature in Christ, then it must help people to know and understand the Bible. That is the goal of preaching, and if that is not taking place, then it is wrong.

4. So What Is "Good" Preaching

Bo — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:00:01 +0000

The answer to this question is really rooted in the previous two posts. But to restate what I said on Monday, most of what people consider to be good preaching really isn’t good preaching at all. A preacher simply entertaining a congregation isn’t preaching. A speaker that is able to move an audience emotionally doesn’t mean that he is a good preacher.

The problem is that we have associated good preaching with being entertained. We think the faster the time goes by during the message, the better the preacher; the more interesting the stories and illustrations, the better the preacher; the more I am stirred emotionally then the better job that the preacher did. We have even taken it as far as comparing one preacher to another and judging who is better based on entertainment more than accurate biblical content.

An even more dangerous way of determining good preaching is basing it on the response at an invitation. Just because a lot of people respond during the invitation doesn’t mean that a biblical message has been preached. I have been in services where no Scripture has been used but many people went forward during the invitation as a result of a sad and emotional story being told at the end of the message. Emotion never initiates a true spiritual decision, it is the result of a knowledge-based decision.

So what is ‘good’ preaching? The answer is found in the definition of expository preaching that we used yesterday. Let me highlight the main points plus add a few of my own. Good preaching is:

A comprehensive explanation of the Scripture
Making the passage clear and understandable
Exposing the meaning of the Bible, verse by verse
Using the Bible passage as the topic, not as support material for the topic
Preaching the true message of Scripture, not using the Bible to preach your own message

Some of these points are very closely related but together they provide the basis of what is ‘good’ preaching. If a pastor never comprehensively explains a passage of Scripture, if he does not make the passage clear and understandable, if he does not expose the meaning of the Bible verse by verse, if he uses the Bible as support material, and if he uses the Bible to preach his own message; then I would have to say that he is not a good preacher. This is not based on entertainment value, how fast the time goes by, or how many people respond. It is based on content, and the 5 points listed above is what leads to good, accurate, and biblical content.

What is Preaching?

Bo — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:55:06 +0000

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Preaching Is Expository

Expository means that preaching aims to exposit, or explain and apply, the meaning of the Bible. The reason for this is that the Bible is God’s word, inspired, infallible, profitable—all 66 books of it.

The preacher’s job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people’s lives.

The preacher should do that in a way that enables you to see that the points he is making actually come from the Bible. If you can’t see that they come from the Bible, your faith will end up resting on a man and not on God’s word.

The aim of this exposition is to help you eat and digest biblical truth that will

make your spiritual bones more like steel,
double the capacity of your spiritual lungs,
make the eyes of your heart dazzled with the brightness of the glory of God,
and awaken the capacity of your soul for kinds of spiritual enjoyment you didn’t even know existed.

Preaching Is Exultation

Preaching is also exultation. This means that the preacher does not just explain what’s in the Bible, and the people do not simply try understand what he explains. Rather, the preacher and the people exult over what is in the Bible as it is being explained and applied.

Preaching does not come after worship in the order of the service. Preaching is worship. The preacher worships—exults—over the word, trying his best to draw you into a worshipful response by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My job is not simply to see truth and show it to you. (The devil could do that for his own devious reasons.) My job is to see the glory of the truth and to savor it and exult over it as I explain it to you and apply it for you. That’s one of the differences between a sermon and a lecture.

Preaching Isn’t Church, but It Serves the Church

Preaching is not the totality of the church. And if all you have is preaching, you don’t have the church. A church is a body of people who minister to each other.

One of the purposes of preaching is to equip us for that and inspire us to love each other better.

But God has created the church so that she flourishes through preaching. That’s why Paul gave young pastor Timothy one of the most serious, exalted charges in all the Bible in 2 Timothy 4:1-2

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word.

What to Expect from My Preaching and Why

If you’re used to a twenty-minute, immediately practical, relaxed talk, you won’t find that from what I’ve just described.

I preach twice that long;
I do not aim to be immediately practical but eternally helpful;
and I am not relaxed.

I standing vigilantly on the precipice of eternity speaking to people who this week could go over the edge whether they are ready to or not. I will be called to account for what I said there.

That’s what I mean by preaching.