In Depth:  preaching

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How to start a preaching group (no prep required)
the pastor's toolkit

How to start a preaching group (no prep required)
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

Over the years I’ve been involved in a number of different preaching groups.

The format has often been quite similar. There might be half a dozen of us who get together in a room. One of us will stand up and deliver a recent or upcoming sermon, and then the rest of us will offer feedback. It's a good and helpful thing to do, though not without a few downsides.

Struggling with application in your sermons?
the pastor's toolkit

Struggling with application in your sermons?
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

A number of years ago I had the privilege of hearing American pastor and author Gordon MacDonald speak about application in preaching.

At the time Gordon would have been in his eighties, and had been a pastor for many decades. He encouraged preachers to think about the different seasons of life and their accompanying challenges, and what this means for the application of their sermons. Here are some of the things he drew out related to the different seasons of life:

My secret weapon for preparing a sermon
the pastor's toolkit

My secret weapon for preparing a sermon
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

I wonder what your favourite resources are in preparing a talk? Perhaps it’s a particular commentary series; or maybe a favourite preacher you like to listen to? Perhaps you have a piece of software which helps you dig deeply into the Biblical text.

Over the years I have discovered a resource that consistently helps me in preparing messages that really connect. You won’t find it on a bookshelf, and it can’t be found on the web. The good news is the resource is free and easily accessible, if you can spare a little time.

Preachers, turn your points into applications
the pastor's toolkit

Preachers, turn your points into applications
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

A number of years ago, I was given a piece of advice which has proven very helpful in my own sermon preparation. The advice was this: turn your ‘points’ into applications.

Let me explain what I mean.

Streamlining your sermon: what to keep, what to ditch
the pastor's toolkit

Streamlining your sermon: what to keep, what to ditch
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

'Friends, I’m sure you’ll agree that once a robust postmillennial eschatology is established, the implications for ecclesial and missional praxis become self-evident'... said no preacher ever – hopefully!

One of the challenges for many preachers is how we package up all the stuff we’ve learned into digestible communication. It’s easy for an excited preacher to forget that most of the people in front of us haven’t read Calvin’s Institutes and (weird I know) probably don’t want to!

Your sermons: all foam and no beer?
the pastor's toolkit

Your sermons: all foam and no beer?
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

I once heard a talk criticised for being ‘all foam, no beer.’

Obviously, no one wants a pint that is 75 per cent foam and 25 per cent actual beer. And so, a talk that’s all foam and no beer is considered lacking in substance, body, and nourishing goodness.

Wise words on preaching from a master

Wise words on preaching from a master
John Woods
John Woods

Book Review PROCLAIMING THE WORD: Principles and Practices for Expository Preaching

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Four mistakes to avoid in your Christmas message
everyday evangelism

Four mistakes to avoid in your Christmas message
Glen Scrivener
Glen Scrivener

As a preacher, I’m always trying to subvert expectations. I hate the kind of familiarity that might breed contempt or, worse, boredom! To a speaker, boredom is kryptonite. So I’ll often try to defamiliarise people with topics they think they understand. I find myself using the word ‘actually’ a lot.

But there’s a problem with this (actually)! Sometimes, in trying to offer fresh insights, we end up over-complicating or even undermining truths that are already profound. We subvert, but we subvert the wrong thing, or in the wrong way. This happens a lot at Christmas. We’ll consider four examples. First, the ‘Debunking The Nativity’ sermon.

Sermon introductions – so what and who cares?
the pastor's toolkit

Sermon introductions – so what and who cares?
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

'Good morning everybody. Please keep your Bibles open at the passage we’ve just read. John chapter 14 contains glorious truths about the gospel. Our first point is...'

Many sermons begin like this. It’s not wrong, but do you notice the assumption here? In opening the sermon this way, the preacher has assumed that everyone in the room is fully engaged, interested, and ready to listen. Yet the reality is many are not.

Is it ungodly to work on your sermon delivery?
the pastor's toolkit

Is it ungodly to work on your sermon delivery?
Martin Salter
Martin Salter

‘Just preach the word brother’, said the older preacher to his young apprentice. The younger man had expressed a desire to mature in the craft of communicating. The older man gently but firmly implied this was a waste of time – perhaps even an ungodly way to think about preaching.

The older man’s concerns are not unfounded. Preachers are not called to be stand-up comedians, slick rhetoricians or uber-charismatic vision-casters.

Why is some ‘sound’ expository preaching just so dull and boring?

Why is some ‘sound’ expository preaching just so dull and boring?
Jon Barrett
Jon Barrett

‘The preacher pulls the little cord that turns on his lectern light and deals out his note cards like a riverboat gambler. The stakes have never been higher.

‘Two minutes from now he may have lost his listeners completely to their own thoughts, but at this minute he has them in the palm of his hand. The silence in the shabby church is deafening because everybody is listening to it. Everybody is listening including even himself. Everybody knows the kind of things he has told them before and not told them, but who knows what this time, out of the silence, he will tell them?’

‘Refresh yourself constantly in knowledge of the glory of God...’

‘Refresh yourself constantly in knowledge of the glory of God...’
John Woods
John Woods

en reviews editor John Woods speaks to Michael Reeves. Reeves oversees the work of Union School of Theology, and teaches in the areas of systematic and historical theology and also on preaching and spiritual formation. He is a local church minister, Director of the European Theologians Network, and speaks and teaches regularly worldwide. Previously he has been Head of Theology for student organisation UCCF and an Associate Minster at All Souls, Langham Place. He is married to Bethan and they have two daughters.

JW: What do you do when you are not preaching, teaching or writing?

Is your sermon really done? Four final questions to ask.
the pastor's toolkit

Is your sermon really done? Four final questions to ask.
Phil Moon
Phil Moon

Finished! Or is it….?

We’ve all been there, and most of us still are. Writing a sermon or talk, and then the moment you click 'save' - if you’re anything like me - it’s downstairs for a coffee and the sermon doesn’t get another look-in before that final read through.

Remembering why we preach the Bible

Remembering why we preach the Bible
Robin Sydserff
Robin Sydserff

When a minister comes to the end of their time serving in a church, it is a time for reflection. For me, 15 years as Senior Minister of Chalmers Church in Edinburgh is coming to an end, and I find myself in reflective mood.

In his book Transforming Preaching (Christian Focus), David Jackman reminds us that the health and effectiveness of both our individual Christian lives and our corporate church communities are directly dependent on the ministry of God’s word. Prayer and the ministry of the word are the indispensable core of all Christian ministry.

How should we approach 'preaching' to young people?
youth ministry

How should we approach 'preaching' to young people?
Robin Barfield
Robin Barfield

In my last article we considered the importance of considering Scripture as a dynamic where our young people encounter God. It is not primarily about God or about them, but about how God communicates with them. If it were just about God, then it would be a lot longer! How does that affect our ‘Bible talks’?

What is the value of running intensive preaching training weeks cross-culturally?

What is the value of running intensive preaching training weeks cross-culturally?

Neil Watkinson

Having been involved in short intensive weeks of preaching training for pastor-preachers and Bible teachers in Africa and Asia for the last 17 years – six of them based in SE Asia with Crosslinks – it’s been good to reflect on the question: ‘Of what value are these – do they not simply run the risk of cultural imperialism, even in preaching style?’

Local churches across the globe are growing without us, as Christ is proclaimed and the gospel bears fruit. So why do such Bible teaching and preaching training?

Letter

Preaching and the Spirit
Date posted: 1 Mar 2024

Dear Editor,

Dave Brennan takes the view that the lack of unction in preaching today is because of cessationism (en January 2024, Letters). I beg to differ with my esteemed brother.

Letter

Don’t apologise, preacher
Date posted: 1 Feb 2024

Dear Editor,

It was very refreshing to hear from the ‘Imperfect Mum’ in the January issue of en on the subject of preachers apologising for the length of their sermons (of which I am guilty).

The preacher’s perils
imperfect parenting

The preacher’s perils
'Imperfect Mum'
'Imperfect Mum'

Dear Preacher, We are so thankful for the preaching gift God has blessed you with – a gift that has blessed us and our children, and our church family, for longer than you’ll ever know.

But please, stop apologising for the length of your preaching or the number of points your sermon has! I worry about the message it sends to our children.

Would Jesus’ preaching pass muster in your church?

Would Jesus’ preaching pass muster in your church?
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

Imagine that your church has slipped through a time warp and you find yourselves sitting in the usual building but an unusual location; Capernaum, in the first half of the first century AD.

There is a kerfuffle outside and someone tells you that Jesus himself is passing by. You run outside and invite him in to preach. He accepts!

Preaching to the margins

Preaching to the margins
John Woods
John Woods

Book Review SERMONS FROM THE SCHEMES

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Preaching today is ‘like hot food on a cold plate’

Preaching today is ‘like hot food on a cold plate’
en staff

Preaching today is too often ‘like hot food served on a cold plate,’ says a member of the FIEC’s new theology team.

Bill James, Principal of London Seminary, joins Paul Mallard, Sarah Allen, Yannick Christos-Wahab, Jon Gemmell and Martin Salter in the group, which the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches says aims to provide ‘clear resources which will deepen our understanding and equip us to address pastoral needs and respond to contemporary challenges’.

Preaching problems?
editorial

Preaching problems?

On a recent Sunday at a Free Church in the south of England, the guest preacher was a veteran Welsh pastor.

He began his address by explaining the difference between a Bible Study and a sermon. If we recall it aright, he said words to the effect that, while a Bible Study is aimed especially at imparting information to the mind, a sermon is aimed, additionally, at moving the heart, the soul and the affections. His words were general, not with that congregation particularly in mind!

Lack of trainee pastors to replace those retiring is ‘elephant in the room’

Lack of trainee pastors to replace those retiring is ‘elephant in the room’
en staff

The lack of trainee pastors to replace those who are retiring is an ‘elephant in the room’ which evangelicals are neglecting, a former en editor is warning.

Writing on the London Seminary website, John Benton says: ‘The stark truth is that far fewer men are coming forward to train for the ministry than there are pastors coming up to retirement.

Prophetic preaching – the missing jewel of the evangelical church?

Prophetic preaching – the missing jewel of the evangelical church?

Wallace Benn

In these two extracts from his new book 'Prophetic Preaching – the Missing Jewel of the Evangelical Church?' retired bishop and minister Wallace Benn calls evangelicals back to an understanding of preaching as being more than simply teaching.

 

Letter

Preachers and Jordan P.
Date posted: 1 Mar 2023

Dear Editor,

David Robertson appreciates Jordan Peterson’s analysis of our culture’s failings – which are often based on his acute understanding of the Biblical worldview – but laments his lack of answers.

‘Men without chests’ and preaching to the emotions
history

‘Men without chests’ and preaching to the emotions
Michael Haykin
Michael Haykin

One of the hallmarks of Evangelicalism is its insistence on the necessity of conversion. But this is, of course, not unique to the Evangelical movement.

Did not the North African pioneer of Christian Latin, Tertullian, make the same point thus: ‘The soul is not born Christian; it becomes Christian’?

Praying for a new generation of prophetic preachers

Praying for a new generation of prophetic preachers
David Robertson
David Robertson

‘Is there any word from the Lord?’ (Jer.37:17). When King Zedekiah made a private plea to an imprisoned Jeremiah, I suspect he was not looking for the answer he got: ‘Yes, you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.’ It takes courage to be a prophet.

Is there a prophetic ministry today? Whilst I accept that the church’s foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph.2:20) does not need to be relaid and that we do not have prophets delivering to us the new New Testament, is there no place for the prophetic within the church and to the society? The application of Biblical principles by such as ‘the men of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do’ (1 Chron.12:32) is surely something that is directly relevant and needed today.

A plea for better sermons

A plea for better sermons
Bernard Palmer
Bernard Palmer

One of the directives in Scripture is that church elders must be didaktikos – able to teach.

Many are satisfied with understanding theology or caring for people, but sometimes not so great at motivating others to have a passion to live for Jesus. Good preaching is much more than good theology – there must be urgency and passion.

Preaching Jesus was breaching Covid rules

Preaching Jesus was breaching Covid rules
Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

An open-air preacher arrested for preaching on Sutton High Street, South London on Easter Sunday 2020 has had his fine for breaching Covid rules increased by magistrates.

An officer reportedly told Andrew Sathiyavan, a full-time voluntary worker for Gospel Light Ministries, that preaching in the street was ‘unacceptable’. Police handcuffed him, took him to a police station and fined him £400.

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