Skip to main content

What shall I preach about this Sunday?

"I would never preach a sermon - the Lord forgive me if I do - which is not full to overflowing with my Master. I know one who said I was always on the old string, and he would come and hear me no more; but he said if I preached a sermon without Christ in it, he would come. Ah, he will never come while this tongue moves—for a sermon without Christ in it—a Christless sermon? A brook without water? A cloud without rain? A well which mocks the traveller? A tree twice dead, plucked up by the roots? A sky without a sun? A night without a star? It would be a realm of death—a place of mourning for angels, and laughter for devils! O Christian, we must have Christ!"  (C H Spurgeon, Sermon: A Bundle of Myrrh, 8 March 1864)
"It is to feed sheep on Christ that men are called to churches and congregations, whatever they may think they are called to do. If you think that you are called to keep a largely worldly organisation (miscalled a church) going with... sub-Christian drugs or stimulants, then the only hope I can give you is to advise you to give up the hope of the ministry... [rather] than cluttering the church with a lot of worldly claptrap in the delusion you are doing a job for God."  (William Still, The Work of the Pastor)
"To the evangelical preacher, then, I would address one simple but pointed question, a question every one of us should ask ourselves as we prepare to preach: How does this passage of Scripture, and consequently my sermon, testify to Christ?"  (Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the whole Bible as Christian Scripture)
"We never 'arrive' or 'have cracked it' when it comes to preaching Christ. But as we come to know the Scriptures more intimately, as we see patterns deeply embedded in the Bible and - just as crucially - as we come to know Christ himself more intimately and to love him better, we shall surely develop the instinct to reason, explain and prove from all the Scriptures the riches of grace which are proclaimed in Jesus, the Christ, the Saviour of the world." (Sinclair Ferguson, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 things servant leadership is

Having cleared away 10 things servant leadership is not , here are 10 that it is. [Credit to Harrison Mungai for his help in observing many of these features and helping us to think through this really important area.] I used to think that all that was necessary in gospel ministry was faithful Bible handling. Preach the Word carefully and surely everything else should follow? But I was wrong. Sadly it is possible to have high quality expository preaching and ungodly leadership. It shouldn’t be possible but it is. And it’s a very ugly thing. Peter Mead has written  on the danger that can be done to a church or ministry when appointment of leaders values ability over character. So here are ten aspects of biblical servant leadership, specifically in relation to gospel ministry leadership, from 1 Thessalonians, especially chapters 2 and 3: Servant leadership is, wherever possible, Plural . A lot of articles and books on leadership assume that it is a personal project. Search G...

Faithfully present - when time flies or freezes

"So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only [literally: 'they became'] a few days to him because of his love for her." (Genesis 29:20) Robert Alter,  Genesis Translation and Commentary , on Gen 22:9-10: "In contrast to the breathless pace of the narrative as a whole, this sequence inscribes a kind of slow motion: building the altar, laying out the wood, binding... reaching out the hand..." Adam Ramsey's beautifully written  Faithfully Present is summed up well by the subtitle: "Embracing the Limits of Where and When God Has You." Big idea: God is unlimited by place and time but we are limited. Ramsey gives wisdom on what it looks like to 'make peace' with those creaturely limits, in a way that is rooted not in trendy mindfulness (and not unrealistic about the demands of real life) but is grounded in the gospel realities of creation, fall, redemption, sanctification and consummation. Highlights Ramsey's des...

Growing non-prickly

Isaiah 55:12-13 is a beautiful end to a beautiful chapter.  "For you will go out in joy     and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills     will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field     will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,     and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown,     for an everlasting sign,     that will endure forever." The great call of the chapter (v1-7) is to come to the free banquet of grace, to open ears as if mouths to eat, to seek the Lord, to come to him who is the feast. And then there are three reasons given: v8-9 - this Lord is nothing like you imagined, v10-11 - His Word is coming down from heaven to earth to bring life, v12-13 - this is all for joy God's great plan is the joy project . We are heading towards eternal joy - the greater Exodus - "led forth in peace." Miriam singing and dancing on the far s...