Continuing the list of ten characteristics of Jesus’ preaching, as observed by a chapter in Preach the Word: (6) Visual in its Appeal - Jesus painted word pictures.  He didn’t speak in abstractions, but he helped his teaching to form in the minds of the listeners (whether they were inte...

Haslam’s book, Preach the Word, has a chapter entitled “Learning from Jesus.”  To some it is obvious that we should look to Jesus, who was, after all, the finest of preachers.  But I suppose some would overlook Jesus as a model of preaching since, well, we’re not Jesus.  I...

You’ve probably heard it said that good preaching comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable (or something similar).  While this may be true, it is also possible to make listeners uncomfortable in the wrong way.  Here are a couple of examples: 1. Pushing naturally unresponsive peopl...

There is a lot of discussion about whether preaching is anthropocentric or theocentric (man or God-centered).  Some like to get into the theocentric versus christocentric debate (God or Christ-centered).  I am not getting into that one in this post (although I will mention a helpful category I hea...

I’d like to share another post in light of the chapter by Leland Ryken in the book he co-edited entitled Preach the Word (in honor of Kent Hughes).  In writing of the importance of understanding the Bible literarily and not just theologically or historically, he states the following: A biblic...

I’m enjoying Preach the Word and will add a full review in due course, but I’ll share some highlights along the way.  This is the book of essays intended to honor Kent Hughes of College Chapel in Wheaton.  This morning I enjoyed a chapter by one of the editors, Leland Ryken, on the Bib...

Some of the Christmas carols contain phenomenal truths.  Yet they can easily be sung mindlessly - familiar tunes, familiar lyrics and some unfamiliar words mixed in.  As we preach or lead services in this Christmas season, let’s not miss the opportunity to highlight the glorious truths conta...

The first moments of a spoken message are critical.  In the first moments your listeners will make a lot of sub-conscious and conscious evaluations of you as a speaker, your apparent integrity, likeability, authority, etc.  One small but effective piece of advice is don’t jump right in.  Be...

I’m scheduled to preach on of those tricky ones.  You know, one of the crux interpretum of the New Testament.  There’s the end of 1st Timothy 2, the end of 1st Peter 3, the end of James, the end of 1st John, Hebrews 6, etc.  A passage that begs every exegetical skill you possess, or i...

Last week I wrote about the importance of stopping when you get to your sermonic destination.  I just want to add an important principle.  After an ideal landing is missed, extra minutes are not neutral, they are negative.  Once listeners sense that you are circling and extending the sermon, good...