Saving Eutychus

This is a good book on preaching: Saving Eutychus by Millar and Campbell. When DA Carson and Alister Begg say a book is a "must read," I'm reading it. It is full of very practical tips and very weighty ideas. I highly recommend it for all those who preach God's Word.

Give us Dependent Preachers

One of the gifts of God we should pray for is dependent preachers. I would rather sit under the preaching of a man who understands his dependence on the Spirit than 10,000 preachers who just go through the motions. You can tell the difference. God, make me desperate.

"How utterly dependent we are on the Holy Spirit in the work of preaching! All genuine preaching is rooted in a feeling of desperation. You wake up on Sunday morning and you can smell the smoke of hell on one side and feel the crisp breezes of heaven on the other. You go to your study and look down at your pitiful manuscript, and you kneel down and cry, “O God, this is so weak! Who do I think I am? What audacity to think that in three hours my words will be the odor of death to death and the fragrance of life to life (2 Cor. 2:16). My God, who is sufficient for these things?”"

John Piper, The Supremancy of God in Preaching, pp. 41-42.

Tips for Preaching Through Books of the Bible

Yesterday I posted 8 reasons why I normally preach through books of the Bible passage by passage. I thought it would be helpful to also provide some tips for those not familiar with systematic exposition or those who want to implement this approach in their own preaching. Here are some random tips for preaching through books of the Bible.

1. Make sure each sermon stands on its own. I’m not a fan of the type of verse by verse preaching where the preacher just moves through the text until the time is up and then says, “Well, we’re out of time. I’ll pick up with verse 6 next week.” Each sermon should have its own introduction, main point, and conclusion. Someone should be able to walk into your church on any given Sunday and not feel lost because they haven’t heard any of the previous sermons. Yes, we want our sermons through a book to build on one another. But, we must be conscious that not everyone has been there for all 86 sermons on Ephesians.

2. Plan ahead but don’t be afraid to alter the plans. You should obviously outline the book and have a general idea of how fast or slow you are going to move through it. So, you should know about how long it will take you. But, I like to be flexible (build some margin into the preaching schedule) so that I can slow down when I sense it would be helpful. Just one example: When I was preaching through Mark 10, I planned to just preach one sermon on Mark 10:35-45. But, a few weeks ahead of that sermon, as I was meditating on the next few passages, I felt the need to preach 2 sermon on that passage (one focusing only on verse 45). If my plan had been “set in stone,” I would have missed that opportunity to slow down and hammer on that truth a little more.

3. Pay attention to the seasons of the year. Preaching through books doesn't mean you have to ignore the “church calendar.” You can certainly pause the current series to preach a special sermon for a special occasion. Or, you can work the schedule so that it coincides with the season or holiday. For example, when I preached through the Gospel of John, I worked the schedule so that we were focusing on the cross leading up to Easter and so that we were in John 20 on Easter Sunday. Also, January and September are the best times to start a series. The summer is a good time to do a book that will only take around 10 weeks. Don’t be a slave to the calendar, but its OK to pay attention to it.

4. Feel free to take breaks in the middle of a longer book. If you are preaching through a longer book, it is fine to break it up into smaller sections. This would be especially helpful for a church that is not used to long series through whole books. For example, you could preach through Mark 1-7, take a short break, and then come back to Mark 8-16.

5. Alternate between Old and New Testament books. This is a helpful tip I learned from Mark Dever. If we are committed to preaching the whole counsel of God, we need to make sure we are preaching from all of Scripture. If we only preach through New Testament books, we are teaching our people to neglect the Old Testament. Alternating forces me to study and preach from both testaments.

6. Alternate between different types of Biblical genres. This is another tip I learned from Dever. The Bible is full of different types of literature. Honestly, Paul’s epistles are the easiest to preach through. So, alternating helps me expose my people to the full scope of God’s revelation. I actually have a chart called, “Big Picture Preaching Schedule,” that lists the broad categories of genres in the Bible (Law, Prophecy, Wisdom, History, Gospel/Acts, Paul, General Epistles). I have listed each Bible book under its appropriate genre and I highlight the ones I've already preached on. Before I select the next book we are going to study, I consider where we have been and try to choose something different.

7. Don’t be afraid to make the same main point over and over again. When you go through a book of the Bible, you are going to encounter the same truths multiple times. In fact, there are some books in which every passage is making the same point (the Gospels). Sometimes I feel like I’m a broken record on Sunday morning. I've said this before and I know I’ll say it again. But, I have to remind myself that we need to hear the same great truths over and over again. We are so prone to forget the most important realities. So, don’t try to be clever or novel. Just be faithful to the text (even if it says the same thing last week’s text said).

8. Start with a shorter book and get some feedback. If you are just starting out, it probably wouldn't be wise to preach 182 sermons on Job. Start with something that will take 2-3 months max, and then evaluate how it was received. Teach your people the value of consecutive expository preaching by easing them into it and being patient with them. If you do it well, they’ll lose their taste for anything else.

Why I Normally Preach Through Books of the Bible

I think working through books of the Bible, passage by passage, is the best method for preaching and the most healthy diet for the church. I don't think this the only way to do God-glorifying expository preaching. It is entirely possible to preach on unconnected passages and do it faithfully (see Charles Spurgeon). The most important thing is to preach the text (that the point of the passage be the point of your sermon). But, there are some good and wise reasons to preach consecutively through books of the Bible. Here are a few of the most important to me:

1. Preaching through entire books is a clear way to honor the Spirit's inspiration of the Bible. The Bible is not a random collection of passages with no order or context. The Bible consists of 66 separate books that were all breathed out by God and recognized by the church to be the authoritative Word of God. Each book has a purpose and flow. Thus, if our normal practice is to just preach on unconnected passages Sunday after Sunday, are we not subtly saying, "Holy Spirit, I know a way to put these truths together that would have been better than what you inspired"? God knows better than we do what our people need to hear. And He knew what He was doing when He inspired the human authors to write the books they way they wrote them.

2. Preaching through entire books is the best way to ensure that difficult passages don't get neglected. If its up to me to decide which passage to preach Sunday, I'm going to lean toward passages that are familiar and free of difficult truths. God's Word is sufficient for the heath and growth of His Church. There are no passages that are unhelpful for God's people. 2 Tim 3:16 says that ALL of God's Word is designed to equip and mature the people of God. Therefore, no passage should be intentionally neglected.

3. Preaching through entire books ensures that I'm growing in my own grasp of God's Word and not just preaching things that I already understand and embrace. These past 6 years of systematic exposition have been incredibly sweet to my soul. I look forward to moving into the next passage every week. God's Word is like a treasure chest full of rich delights. Forcing ourselves to honestly come to the text each week is a way to expose ourselves to the full scope of sanctifying Biblical truth.

4. Preaching through entire books is the best way to model how to study the Bible. Our people are going to follow our example in their own personal Bible study. If they see us skipping around, they'll be tempted to do the same. But, if they see us dealing with the context, tracing the main point, outlining the key movements, and bringing out the big idea, they'll be better equipped to do the same.

5. Preaching through entire books ensures that no one thinks I've chosen a topic in order to address their particular situation. When I'm preaching through a book, there is only one reason I'm preaching this particular text on this particular Sunday: It is the next passage in the book. It's amazing how many times people say things like, "I felt like that passage was meant especially for me." God knows when His people will be ready to hear particular passages. If they feel like we are snooping into their lives to find passages/topics that address their particular sins and struggles, they'll be listening to us, not God.

6. Preaching through entire books is the best way to ensure that I'm not neglecting the context of the passage I'm preaching. Every passage has a context. Preaching through books is the best way to understand that context so that we can correctly interpret the author's meaning. In fact, I always feel like I understand a book better after I've preached through it passage by passage. Sometimes I think I understand it sufficiently before I start preaching through it. But, when I'm done, I wish I could go back to the beginning and preach it again. If you preach from a different book every Sunday, you've got to do a lot more setting up of the context.

7. Preaching through books frees my mind to be meditating on the next passage instead of looking for what the next passage will be. This is one of the most practical benefits of systematic exposition: You don't have to spend so much time wondering what passage to preach on next. God's already got it picked out.

8. Preaching through books helps people know what is coming so that they can study throughout the week on their own and with their family. If you preach on different passages each week, people come on Sunday with no idea what to expect. If you preach through books, they come prepared to listen to the next passage in the book.

Sermons Full of Christ

This is a longer quote, but worth taking the time to read:

"I believe that those sermons which are fullest of Christ are the most likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers. Let your sermons be full of Christ, from beginning to end crammed full of the gospel. As for myself, brethren, I cannot preach anything else but Christ and His cross, for I know nothing else, and long ago, like the apostle Paul, I determined not to know anything else save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. People have often asked me, "What is the secret of your success?" I always answer that I have no other secret but this, that I have preached the gospel,—not about the gospel, but the gospel,—the full, free, glorious gospel of the living Christ who is the incarnation of the good news. Preach Jesus Christ, brethren, always and everywhere; and every time you preach be sure to have much of Jesus Christ in the sermon. You remember the story of the old minister who heard a sermon by a young man, and when he was asked by the preacher what he thought of it he was rather slow to answer, but at last he said, "If I must tell you, I did not like it at all; there was no Christ in your sermon." "No," answered the young man, "because I did not see that Christ was in the text." "Oh!" said the old minister, "but do you not know that from every little town and village and tiny hamlet in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, 'There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.'" "Well," said the young man, "but suppose you are preaching from a text that says nothing about Christ?" "Then I will go over hedge and ditch but what I will get at Him." So must we do, brethren; we must have Christ in all our discourses, whatever else is in or not in them. There ought to be enough of the gospel in every sermon to save a soul. Take care that it is so when you are called to preach before Her Majesty the Queen, and if you have to preach to charwomen or chairmen, still always take care that there is the real gospel in every sermon."

-CH Spurgeon, The Soul Winner, p. 35

The Word Preached

Thomas Watson:

"The Word preached is the engine God uses to effect repentance. It is compared to a hammer and to a fire (Jer. 23:29), the one to break, the other to melt the heart. How great a blessing it is to have the Word, which is of such virtue, dispensed! And how hard they who put out the lights of heaven will find to escape hell."

"The Word written is a repository in which God has laid up sovereign oils and balsams to recover sick souls; and the Word preached is the pouring out of these oils, and applying them to the sick patient."

Ten Reminders for Preachers

Here is a post with some great quotes supporting these ten reminders:

1. Effective ministry consists not of fads or gimicks, but of faithfully preaching the truth.
2. Preaching is a far more serious task than most preachers realize.
3. Faithfulness in the pulpit begins with the pursuit of personal holiness.
4. Powerful preaching flows from powerful prayer.
5. Passionate preaching starts with one’s passion for Christ.
6. The preacher is a herald, not an innovator.
7. The faithful preacher stays focused on what matters.
8. The preacher’s task is to make the text come alive for his hearers.
9. The preacher is to be Christ-exalting, not self-promoting.
10. Faithful preaching requires great personal discipline and sacrifice.

Read the post here, including the quotations.

Preach: Theology Meets Practice

I want to grow as a preacher. Therefore, I love books on preaching. So, when I saw that Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert wrote a book on preaching, I was excited.

It is a good book. The middle section on how to prepare a sermon is full of gold nuggets. You'll find all sorts of encouragements like this one:

"A pastorate is made up of a lot of sermons, and the fact is, most of those sermons are going to be singles rather than triples or home runs. But that's fine. If the Lord is so kind as to give you even a long string of singles, that's purely of His grace, and your congregation will benefit and grow from that. You score runs with a string of singles. So don't worry if you haven't hit a home run in a while--and if you hit one today, don't get cocky! Either way, go home, rest, thank God for the grace He gave you to teach and encourage His people again, take some time off, and then start the whole process over the next week. Our God is a good God, and week after week, sermon after sermon, He will give grace and strength and insight to the men who preach His Word."

Well, sometimes I don't even hit singles. Sometimes I'm hit by the pitch and take first base with a bit of a bruise.  Anyway, that's the kind of encouragement a preacher needs.

And, the conclusion to this book is fantastic. Dever and Gilbert both include a sermon manuscript peppered with comments and questions for each other about the sermon. I commend it to those who want to grow in their preaching. You can find more info about this book here.

On Bringing a Physical Bible to Church

Do you still bring a physical, "ink and paper" Bible to church on Sundays? With the popularity of the iPhone and iPad, many people are leaving their bonded leather at home in favor of their Bible app. It is very convenient to have the whole Bible in your pocket and not have to keep track of a heavy physical Bible. But, I've got a few concerns about this growing trend.

One concern is that iPhones and iPads carry an irresistible temptation to do something other than concentrate on the Bible. You can listen AND see what others are doing on Facebook or Twitter. You can listen AND shoot a text to a friend. Which of course, seriously reduces one's ability to actually listen and concentrate on God's Word.

However, my main concern is another subtle temptation: The temptation to turn the device off during the sermon.  For example, I preach for about 45 minutes and I usually refer to particular words, phrases, and verses all the way through the sermon. Each and every point I make is hopefully tied to the passage I'm preaching from. I don't want people to assume I'm saying true things, I want them to see it in the text itself. I do not just read a text and then tell unrelated stories for 40 minutes (if this were the case, I'd encourage you to bring your iPhone and read a good expository sermon instead).

But, iPads and iPhones turn themselves off after a few moments to preserve battery life. Or, they are intentionally turned off by the user to preserve the quickly fading battery. What this means is that the Bible is not "open" during the whole sermon. The listener cannot just look down to an open Bible and see where the preacher is getting his point from. He's got to turn the device back on, be distracted by the picture on the welcome screen (tempting him to daydream about the beach from the family picture), and then "slide to unlock." By this time, you've probably missed the life-changing point the preacher just made about the word, "therefore."

Now, please don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying you are more spiritual or a better listener if you bring your Classic Reference Bible to church. I'm positive you can listen well with a fully-charged electronic device (I hope so because I hear they are the wave of the future). I'm simply asking you to evaluate whether it helps you listen and follow along or whether it tempts you to "check out."  If you are a person who does everything on your iPad all week, it may be a wise idea to bring your physical Bible to church as a reminder that what is about to happen is different than everything else in my life (you are going to hear God speak). It may help you engage with the text and listen attentively if you have nothing else to distract you.

But, if you can remember to charge your device up on Saturday night, and if you can set it to not power down every few moments, and if you can keep the Bible on your screen so that you can quickly reference the text itself, go for it. I'm your biggest fan.

The Power of God's Word

I am absolutely loving Jonathan Leeman's new book, Reverberation. Here is a small taste from chapter 2:

5 Reliable Statements:

1. God's Word is an Extension of God - you can measure a person's opinion of God by his or her opinion of God's Word.

2. God Acts Through His Word - it is the way He accomplishes His purposes.

3. God Acts Through His Word by His Spirit - God's words have power because they move by God's Spirit and do exactly what the Spirit wishes.

4. God's Word and Spirit Act Together Efficaciously - When God speaks, some kind of change always happens (it is effective).

5. God Speaks Through Human Preachers and Human Words - God uses the means of human communication to speak.

"There is no greater power a church has at its disposal than preaching the Father's Word of the Son working through the Spirit."

Sermon Duds

Tony Reinke has a most helpful post with meditations on what John Newton said about how to respond when your faithful pastor preaches a dud sermon. Please take the time to read it.

I found myself resonating with Tony's reflection on something Newton said. He writes that in many instances, "the pastor carries within himself a greater desire to serve you than he has the gifts to make it happen."

That's where the people of Christ Baptist Church live. They have a pastor with limited gifts and unlimited desire to care for them. Each week their pastor falls short of serving them as he desires. Please pray for him and them.

Preach Christ for Christ's Sake

On July 8, 1836, Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in his journal:

"Today missed some fine opportunities of speaking a word for Christ. The Lord saw I would have spoken as much for my own honour as His, and therefore shut my mouth. I see a man cannot be a faithful minister until he preaches Christ for Christ's sake until he gives up striving to attract people to himself and seeks only to attract them to Christ."

Quoted in Awakening, p. 105.

Preacher: There is no Substitute for Hard Work

"Good sermon preparation always involves hard, prayerful work on the text--the work of translating and thinking and reflecting and turning up other passages and asking the hard questions and wrestling to understand what God wants to say. If you're afraid of hard work, then you shouldn't be preaching regularly."

Phillip Jensen, The Archer and the Arrow, p. 59.

Encouraged

I received some specific and helpful encouragement after Sunday's sermon. I am a blessed pastor with people who love me and love to hear God's Word proclaimed.

And, the most meaningful encouragement came from my 5 year old daughter in the form of this picture she drew of me preaching (Christ Baptist folks will immediately recognize the stage and red curtain behind me). When I asked her why I had a rainbow over my head, she replied, "Because you are the best preacher."

And, no, I don't preach from a yellow Bible (just in case you wondered).

He is Not Silent

He is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World by Al Mohler is now one of my top 3 favorite books on preaching. Honestly, I wasn't that thrilled about reading it but put it in my "to-read" pile anyway. So, I started reading it and couldn't put it down. This is a powerful call for expository preaching. Mohler does a fantastic job of laying out the importance of preaching.

Also, I would recommend non-preachers to read this book. It will encourage anyone to see to it that Biblical preacing is happening in our churches.

The Privilege of the Preacher

"What a high privilege it is to be a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Lord has given us the honor, the calling, the stewardship, and the commission of preaching a saving gospel to a world that is in desperate need of salvation -- and all to the end that Jesus would be worshiped as Savior in every tongue, from every tribe and people and nation."

-Al Mohler, He is not Silent, p. 143.

The Simplicity of the Preacher's Task

"In the end, our calling as preachers is really very simple. We study, we stand before our people, we read the text, and we explain it. We reprove, rebuke, exhort, encourage, and teach--and then we do it all again and again and again."

-Al Mohler, He is Not Silent, p. 64.

Preachers: Do You Expect Power?

"Seek Him always. But go beyond seeking Him; expect Him. Do you expect anything to happen when you get up to preach in a pulpit? Or do you just say to yourself, 'Well, I have prepared my address, I am going to give them this address; some of them will appreciate it and some will not'? Are you expecting it to be the turning point in someone's life...? That is what preaching is meant to do...Seek this power, expect this power, yearn for this power; and when the power comes, yield to Him."

-Lloyd-Jones, quoted in He is Not Silent, p. 47.

The Audacious Claim of Preaching

"The audacious claim of Christian preaching is that the faithful declaration of the Word of God, spoken through the preacher's voice, is even more powerful than anything music or image can deliver."

-Al Mohler, He is Not Silent, p. 17.

Praying with Whitefield and Piper

I'm praying today with Whitefield and Piper for God to raise up these kind of preachers and that I'll be one of them.

Whitefield wrote:
Yea…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.

Quoted in Piper's "Why Expository Preaching is Particularly Glorifying to God."