10 Commandments for Preachers

Some moments from Sinclair B. Fergerson's Themeolios article, 'A Preacher's Decalogue' (Vol 36, issue 2, Aug 2011):

systematic exposition did not die on the cross for us; nor did biblical theology, nor even systematic theology or hermeneutics or whatever else we deem important as those who handle the exposition of Scripture. I have heard all of these in preaching . . . without a center in the person of the Lord Jesus. 

And later on imagination in preaching:

Imagination in preaching means being able to understand the truth well enough to translate or transpose it into another kind of language or musical key in order to present the same truth in a way that enables others to see it, understand its significance, feel its power—to do so in a way that gets under the skin, breaks through the barriers, grips the mind, will, and affections so that they not only understand the word used but feel their truth and power.

Luther did this by the sheer dramatic forcefulness of his speech. Whitefield did it by his use of dramatic expression (overdid it, in the view of some). Calvin—perhaps surprisingly—did it too by the extraordinarily earthed-in-Geneva-life language in which he expressed himself. So an overwhelming Luther-personality, a dramatic preacher with Whitefieldian gifts of story-telling and voice (didn’t David Garrick say he’d give anything to be able to say “Mesopotamia” the way George Whitefield did?), a deeply scholarly, retiring, reluctant preacher—all did it, albeit in very different ways. They saw and heard the word of God as it might enter the world of their hearers and convert and edify them.

And J. C. Ryle's, "preach as though you has asthma" made me smile!

J. C. Ryle’s counsel: “Have a clear knowledge of what you want to say. Use simple words. Employ a simple sentence structure. Preach as though you had asthma! Be direct. Make sure you illustrate what you are talking about.”

Something for a rainy day

Panel Discussion on Preaching from the Old Testament, Featuring Tim Keller, John Piper, Crawford Loritts, Don Carson, and Bryan Chapell - TGC 2011 plenary session

Pulpit Plagiarism: an acknowledgement

Mmm. I'm not sure I really buy this from the great Prof Don Carson on the wickedness of pulpit plagiarism. I tend to think that what we want is the best possible sermons. The sermon is not an academic essay. It seems to me that citing sources or flagging up "borrowings" might detract from the whole thing. It doesn't seem to me that the preacher is claiming originality for his outlines, forms of expression etc. Sure, you shouldn't tell other people's personal stories as if it happened to you on the way to the church: that would ammount to lies. Save your footnotes for the blog, I reckon.

Revd Dr Tim Keller talks sense on the subject when, whilst warning against plagiarism and especially failure to grapple with the text for yourself, he says:

we must be careful not to over-react. I don’t think anyone expects oral communication to have the same amount of detailed attribution as we expect in written communication. To cite where you got every allusion or basic idea or general illustration in a sermon would be tedious. A certain amount of leeway must be granted. Also, if you take a basic idea or illustration and “make it your own,” I don’t think you have to give attribution. Often the preacher you fear you are stealing from got that idea from some Puritan author and re-worked it into more contemporary form. And the Puritan might have gotten it from someone else. In fact, in the act of preaching, we often say something that we know we heard somewhere, but we can’t even remember where we got it. Again, I think we need to be charitable to preachers and not charge them with plagiarism for every un-new idea. Brand-new preachers, especially, are going to do a lot of copying of preachers that have influenced them.

Preaching Questions for "Us"

Some of these may be (!) leading questions and I ask them to myself too!

Do we contemporary British Conservative Evangelicals generally believe, with Luther and Calvin and the Reformed tradition, that the Minister's preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God?

How does our preaching compare to the preaching that is preserved in the written Word of God? Does our preaching tend to over emphasise instruction and application over and against the Bible which speaks the Word of God of Christ? Do we tell people about Christ (or indeed other things) or do we aim for them to see / hear / meet / taste Christ?

How is it that in the past preachers seem to have given fewer specific applications and instructions concerning marriage in their sermons, and yet many hearers had better marriages?

Does our preaching tend to produce an effect at the time, to be affecting there and then? Are we over concerned that our preaching should be memorable or helpful later rather than moving?

Do we preach to the heart, mind, will, affections, conscience, inner / whole person?

Is our preaching mainly thought of as a natural or a supernatural event?

Is preaching basically teaching with application or a visitation of Almighty God?

Would our people call our preaching powerful or rather faithful and clear? What do we pray for? If God were specially to bless your preaching one Sunday, what would that look like / how would you know?

Do people call your preaching somewhat engaging and interesting? Do people call our sermons "nice"? Are you satisfied with that? Would people say the same of the Sunday papers? What are your great aims and ambitions for your preaching?

Do people love to hear your preaching because it is the voice of heaven on earth? Does it contain the deep and infinite or is it rather light and breezy, even at times frivilous?

Does your preaching ever batter or break or thunder?

Is it clear from your preaching that you can see far more than you can express and that you know there is much more that you cannot see?

Is our preaching a tedious, pedantic, dull Bible class? How concerned are we to show our workings or to do the work?

How much warning, promise, encouragement, comfort and rebuke is there in your preaching? What replaces them?

Do we tell jokes and entertain and lighten it up or rather is our preaching basically a serious, solemn business? Is our preaching terrible, awesome and wonderful? Does it have a gravitas without pomposity or pretense?

When did someone (including you) last cry or cry out durring one of your sermons? Are people (ever) heart-broken or over-joyed when you preach? Are people appreciative of your sermons or rather silenced and awestruck by Christ as a result? Does our preaching tend to produce love, joy, faith, sorrow, zeal or rather smiles and nodding heads and better informed sinners?

When preparing our sermons do we hunt great game and make sure that we roast it and serve it up?

Is prayer the chief part, or indeed hardly part at all, of your preparation? Could it be said of your preaching that you "have not because you ask not"?

When you preach do you realise that you stand between your hearers and God on the brink of eternity? Do you preach as one who has the 4 Last Things (heaven, hell, death, judgement) in view or as someone looking at the prospect of some grand and beautiful scene to which he invites his hearers?

Do we read the great preaching of the past who move you?

Is your preaching consistent with your life? Do you ever speak of Christ outside of the pulpit as you seek to in the pulpit? Do your people sense that you have a moment by moment sense of what you try to say on a Sunday and that it moves you yourself?

Do your people want to hear 2 of your sermons on a Sunday? Why not? Would your people come to hear you midweek?

You are concerned for people to come to your church, but would it be worth their while?

First Sermons

If you were soon to become the Vicar of some churches, what would some of the early topical sermons you'd want to preach be?

Perhaps:

A Vision For Ministry

What is the Christian Gospel?

What is a real Christian?

How can I do to heaven?

What on earth is the Church for?

Communion confusion

Why does the Vicar keep going on about the Bible?

A Vision for The Good Life

Then maybe your sermon series on The 10 Commandments, The Apostles' Creed, The Lord's Prayer and the systematic exposition of Bible books - then retirement.

How long does it take you to prepare a sermon?

That all depends on lots of things, not least how much time and engery I have. Preparation can be lots of fun and it can sometimes expand to fill the time available. On the other hand, it can also be hard work and one can tend to hide from it.

One has to decide how much time and engery one can spare and what one's other duties are. There's no set time that one must spend on any one sermon. In a way, all of life is sermon preparation anyway! In some situations it would be possible to work too long and hard on a sermon, when one should be resting, or spending time with the wife and kids, or evangelising the many unconverted people of the parish who ought to be there to hear the sermon but wont be unless you persuade them to come.

It also depends on how well I know the passage or subject in question. There are some sermons I could probably preach to you now without a single note that I hope you would find at least moderately helpful. That's cos I've preached them once or twice before, so I don't feel I desperately need to do much extra preparation.

It also depends on to whom I'm speaking and in what context and for how long. For example, if I know the hearers are likely to be well taught keen Christians with a similar background to me who will come desperate to hear the Word of God, there is less need to worry about being very engaging and accessible. If I'm going to speak in a pub to people who don't even know that Jesus died on the cross, I'm going to think a bit more about a way in and a way of getting it accross.

It also depends what helps I have available. If there's a Vaughan Roberts sermon online on that passage then maybe I might as well just preach that: one hour, sermon ready. I'm kidding. Kind of!

So there are no hard and fast rules. We mustn't be too hung up about it. Adequate preparation is adequate. You will never preach the perfect sermon and its probably sinful to attempt to!

I would say that generally I would want two "sessions" (i.e. mornings, afternoons or evenings - or nights!) to work on a sermon: so something like 8 hours all together. If I couldn't say something true and useful and reasonably engaging after that, I'd think something had gone badly wrong.

What do you reckon? Is 8 hours about right? That amount of preparation would make the typical traditional free church pattern of ministry of 2 sermons on a Sunday and a mid-week meeting do-able alongside a rule like "never be out of your study in the morning, never be in it in the afternoon", allowing for some other stuff too.

In the name of God and to his glory

I would be a happy man if I preached like this.

Preaching The Psalms

God-willing, I'm going to share some thoughts on preaching the Psalms with my little preaching group at The Sussex Coast Ministry Training Course on Tues 27th. All hints and tips gratefully received.

Preaching Plans

I'm trying to work on my Sunday preaching plans for the next quarter. God-willing it might go something like this:

9^th May PM – John 10 – The Good Shepherd

6^th June AM – Holiday Club All Age Family Service – Merciful Rescue - Jonah

13^th June PM – John 11:1-47 – Dead Man Walking

4^th July PM – John 11:45-12:11 – Destined to Die

11^th July AM – Ecclesiastes 3 – What’s the time?

8^th Aug AM – Ecclesiastes 4 - Better & Worse

22^nd Aug PM – John 12:12-36 – Strange Glory

How to use a map

C. S. Lewis' very brief Preface in The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature is suggestive.

He complains of a certain kind of scholarship that can tend to lead people out of the texts themselves rather than into them.

There can be a similar problem with commentaries, theological works, Bible reading notes and sermons. The aim must be to open up the text and let it speak.

Lewis warns that we must not be like a traveler who is so absorbed with the map that he fails to enjoy the scenery before him. In other words, the text itself must be primary: it is the goal, the destination, the real object of attention. Any other helps should be just that: helps, not ends in themselves. We do not want to stumble into lamp-posts because our noses are stuck in some A to Z.

Yet, Lewis suggest, there can be usefulness in consulting a map or guidebook before a journey. It may lead us to admire and appreciate the landscape more easily or fully and we may notice some prospects that we might have ignored if we simply followed our noses.

If we tend to consult a commentary only when we come to an apparent problem, we may not notice depths in that which is deceptively simple.

96.6% of Christians look forward to sermons!

According to research for the College of Preachers, Durham University, as reported in Times Online.

HT: IC on Facebook

Top 33 Preaching Topics

I wonder how our preaching priorities compare to the topics covered in the sermon in The Books of Homilies?

This nicked from Wikipedia:

The 'Former Book' of homilies contains twelve sermons and was mainly written by Cranmer. They focus strongly upon the character of God and Justification by Faith and were fully published by 1547.

The homilies are:

I. A Fruitful exhortation to the reading of holy Scripture.

II. Of the misery of all mankind.

III. Of the salvation of all mankind.

IV. Of the true and lively faith.

V. Of good works.

VI. Of Christian love and charity.

VII. Against swearing and perjury.

VIII. Of the declining from GOD.

IX. An exhortation against the fear of death.

X. An exhortation to obedience.

XI. Against whoredom and adultery.

XII. Against strife and contention.

The 'Second Book' contains twenty-one sermons and was mainly written by Bishop John Jewel. It was fully published by 1571. These are more practical in their application and focus more on living the Christian life.

This volume includes:

I. Of the right use of the Church.

II. Against peril of Idolatry.

III. For repairing and keeping clean the Church.

IIII. Of good works. And first of Fasting.

V. Against gluttony and drunkenness.

VI. Against excess of apparel.

VII. An homily of Prayer.

VIII. Of the place and time of Prayer.

IX. Of Common Prayer and Sacraments

X. An information of them which take offence at certain places of holy Scripture.

XI. Of alms deeds.

XII. Of the Nativity.

XIII. Of the Passion for good Friday.

XIIII. Of the Resurrection for Easter day.

XV. Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament.

XVI. An Homily concerning the coming down of the holy Ghost, for Whitsunday.

XVII. An Homily for Rogation week.

XVIII. Of the state of Matrimony.

XIX. Against Idleness.

XX. Of Repentance and true Reconciliation unto God.

XXI. An Homily against disobedience and wilful rebellion.

Calvin's preaching style

As I recall Revd Dr Joel Beeke describing Calvin's preaching style (at JOC / LTS Calvin Conference) it went something like this:

Continuous sequential exposition of the text of the Bible.

Begin with a reminder of where we got to last time.

Exegesis and application. Repeat till time runs out. Stop. Resume next time!

Normallt Calvin's sermons would last maybe 40-60 mins and would cover 4 or 5 verses from the OT or 2 or 3 of the NT.

Beeke said we may have a sense that Calvin rushes to application and short-circuits some of the exegetical / theological / hermeneutical work we might want to see. Calvin wanted to get to the point!

No set piece introduction, funny stories or "illustrations" as such. Not usually a well worked out structure or honed points, just following the text - sometimes a main theme would be stated.

(Calvin did, however, make an effort to use lively vivid language).

Now, it is another question to what extent Calvin was a model in all this, but it did make me feel a bit better about my preaching which I sometimes feel should have more of a single purpose, tighter structure, honed points that make a pleasing whole, more brilliant introductions, illustrations and conclusions etc.! There is something to be said for here are some things I wanted to say from God's word this week. The flexibility to cover more or less in one go is very appealing.

Questions for the Preacher

These may not be the only or even the most important questions to ask in assessing a sermon but they are good ones, it seems to me.

Here is Mark Meynell drawing on T. David Gordon, Why Johnny Can't Preach?

All in all, we should strive for a combination of all 5 of these preaching hallmarks (which Gordon distils from the 7 ‘Cardinal Requisites’ in Dabney’s ‘Lectures on Sacred Rhetoric’):

1. Textual Fidelity: does the significant point of the sermon arise out of the significant point of the text?
2. Unity: if 10 people are asked after the sermon what it was about, will at least 8 give the same (or similar) answer?
3. Order: could hearers compare notes and restate how the sermon progressed from point to point?
4. Evangelical tone: Is the sermon Christ-centred? Do hearers get the impression that the preacher is for them or against them?
5. Instructiveness: does the sermon significantly engage the mind, or is the sermon full of commonplace clichés, slogans and general truths? Is the hearer likely to rethink his/her views of God, society, church, or self, or his/her reasons for holding current views?

No apology

After a couple of drafts and one or two challenges and suggestions from friends, here's how I began my sermon on "You shall not murder" today:

(The real thing may have differed a bit from these notes. The whole sermon should appear on our church website this week d.v.)

I'm going to say some difficult and controversial things today.

I know that.

I don't mean to be nasty or to over simplify or generalise or exaggerate.

You might not agree with everything I say.

You may not always understand quite where I’m coming from or what I'm getting at sometimes.

That's okay.

I'm just trying to say what I reckon the Bible says or implies about some very important and very topical subjects.

Please do feel free to come and put me right at the end.

Or ask me any question.

And if you're a guest or a visitor, it’s not quite like this every week.

Why not come back another time and give us another go?!

So, my text today is this:

The 6^th of the 10 Commandments:

God said: "You shall not murder."

This is a very short command: “No murder” with very deep and wide ranging implications.

If there’s were time, I'd deal with war, capital punishment, abortion, suicide, euthanasia, assisted-suicide, self-harm, character assassinations, keep-fit, food, drink, drugs, health and safety and the environment and a few other things beside.

Many of us will have been personally affected by these things.

Perhaps you’re struggling with one of them at the moment.

I’m not trying to make your grief or trauma worse but to bring God’s loving, holy word to bare on some of the darkest places of life today.

If you’d like to talk or pray with someone about any of the issues raised today, we can arrange that: come and have a word with me, or the vicar, or our pastoral worker.

Brave Sermon Feedback

Apart from the usual "excellent"s, "thank you"s and "lovely sermon"s (no one said this latter one today), many people told me today that my sermon was "brave". I wasn't sure how to take that! I had a couple of relevant intelligent questions. One person said it was 10 mins too long and one person said it would have been better as two sermons; these people may well be right.

(The whole sermon on "You Shall Not Murder" with an emphasis on abortion will appear on our church website in due course this week d.v.)

Apology

I'm going to say some difficult and controversial things today. I know that. I don't mean to be nasty or to over simplify or generalise or exaggerate. You probably wont agree with everything I say. You may not understand quite what I'm getting at sometimes. That's okay. I'm just trying to say what I reckon the Bible says or implies.

Please do feel free to come and put me right at the end. Or ask me any question.

And if you're a guest or a visitor, sorry you have to put up with this. I'm only going to speak until just after 11:30am at the very latest, so you can escape soon. If it gets to 11:45 I'll stop in the middle of a sentence if I...

And please don't write off Jesus or this church because of what I say today. I don't preach very often. It's normally the Vicar and he's a lovely man and an excellent preacher, so if you can, come back and hear him before you decide you don't want anything to do with those mad fascist bigot fundamentalists at Holy Trinity, Eastbourne.

Does that make sense? Okay?

So, my text today is this:

God said: "You shall not murder."

I'm going to deal with capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicude, self-harm, character assassinations and a few other things beside. So fasten your seatbelts, here we go.

Edwards on Preaching

Some quotes from Revd Jonathan Edwards culled from Revd Dr Steve Jeffery:

If it be so, that true religion lies much in the affections, hence we may infer, that such means are to be desired, as have much of a tendency to move the affections. Such books, and such a way of preaching the Word, and administration of ordinances, and such a way of worshiping God in prayer, and singing praises, is much to be desired, as has a tendency deeply to affect the hearts of those who attend these means.

The affections are no other than the more vigorous and sensible exercised of the inclination
and will of the soul.

Holy affections are not heat without light; but evermore arise from some information of the
understanding, some spiritual instruction that the mind receives, some light or actual
knowledge.

God, in his Word, greatly insists upon it, that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and our
hearts vigorously engaged in religion.

I am bold to assert, that there never was any considerable change wrought in the mind or
conversation of any one person, by anything of a religious nature, that ever he read, heard or
saw, that had not his affections moved.

The Holy Scriptures do everywhere place religion very much in the affections; such as fear,
hope, love, hatred, desire, joy, sorrow, gratitude, compassion and zeal.

He whom God send into the world, to be … the perfect example of true religion and virtue, for
the imitation of all … was a person who was remarkably of a tender and affectionate heart;
and his virtue was expressed very much in the exercise of holy affections.

‘The religion of heaven,’ where there is doubtless true religion, ‘consists very much in
affection; and therefore undoubtedly, true religion consists very much in affection.’

‘The nature and design of the ordinances and duties, which God hath appointed, as means and
expressions of true religion’ appear to be designed to stimulate the affections.

‘Tis an evidence that true religion, or holiness of heart, lies very much in the affection of the
heart, that the Scriptures place the sin of the heart very much in hardness of heart.
By a hard heart, is plainly meant an unaffected heart, or a heart not easy to be moved with
virtuous affections.

Preaching Ecclesiastes (plans)

I'm wondering about perhaps preaching Ecclesiastes on Sunday mornings when I finish my current series on the 10 Commandments. We learnt about honouring our parents on Father's day, by the providence of God or the contrivance of the Vicar, or both, but certainly not the careful planning of the curate.

Any thoughts? Tips? Resources? Esp. free online stuff?

I'm wondering how many sermons to go for. 3 might be good for the main thrust. But I'd like to get into some of the detail so I reckon maybe 6? Would 12 be too much for people / a bit samey / not a healthy balanced diet? (I'm preaching a long sermon series on John in the evenings. The Vicar is doing Philippians in the mornings and Amos in the evenings at the mo.)

At the moment I have Derek Kidner (IVP BST), Jeffrey Meyers and Barry Webb, Five Festal Garments on my shelf. I'm thinking of getting a couple more. I need one big technical commentary for help on details. I'm wondering about maybe Tremper Longman, Charles Bridges, Michael Eaton, James Limburg and or Craig Bartholomew. Any others?

The person to ask about all this is Dr Thomas Renz, of course, but it seems a bit cheeky to email him about it. He can't be expecting to bother with every former student who wants to know anything about the OT after all. He might have better things to do. Like write books about Old Testament Wisdom literature, for example....

Preaching Proverbs

If you are or are thinking of preaching or teaching the book of Proverbs, I suggest you get over to the Sussex Evangelical Ministry Seminars website and listen to Revd John Woods' excellent seminar on said subject, which he delivered this morning. If you go to the Lancing Tabernacle website you can apparently find 27 sermons on Proverbs that John preached in 2006. John also commended some thematic sermons by Revd Dr Tim Keller. He mentioned that Revd Vaughan Roberts is also due to do some preaching on Proverbs soon I believe.

Maybe some more nuggets sometime if I get round to blogging some of my notes.