Intent of the Sermon
In a recent class on expository preaching, something I hadn’t considered stuck out to me. I tried to practice it this past Sunday in a sermon on Colossians 1:1-8. The truth is: Let the text drive your application. We have all probably heard that the text should drive our sermon, that we should preach the...
A Few Questions to Find Christ in the OT
Jesus claimed that “Moses and all the prophets” spoke of Him (Luke 24:27). In the OT, Jesus is there. That’s Jesus’ words. Paul (Acts 13:27) and Peter (Acts 3:18) claimed the same thing. That means if we’re reading, studying, or preaching the OT and not getting to Jesus, then (to put it nicely) we’re interpreting...
“We don’t want sawdust in the pulpit.”
Around a year ago I likened seminary to a Dewalt drill. I’m definitely not a big tough tool kind of guy, but this past week one of my professors, @kyledunham, said something that provided some clarity in my constant search for balance between the complexity of seminary studies and practicality in the pulpit… he said,...
The Weight of Preaching on Spurgeon
I grabbed this from a Christianity Today article on Spurgeon. I love the seriousness with which he approached preaching. The weight of it was so evident in him. From the beginning of his ministry, Spurgeon attracted vast audiences in such establishments as Exeter Hall and the Royal Surrey Gardens Music Hall. While to all appearances...
5 Ways For a Pastor and His Congregation to Pray
In this sermon by Mark Dever, he gives five ways for pastors and his congregation to pray: Pray Paul’s prayers from Ephesians, Colossians, etc. Pray the preaching of the gospel would be clear. Pray for increasing maturity in the congregation. Pray for sinners to be converted and for members to be built up through the...
Why I Listen to Some Calvinistic Preachers
I have a confession to make: I like to listen to Calvinistic preachers. John Piper. Kevin DeYoung. Mark Dever. But not because they are Calvinists. Rather, because many of them are text-focused, gospel-driven, and biblically theological. Here’s what I mean by those terms: Text-focused. This kind of preaching is concerned with what the text is concerned...
10 Questions Every Pastoral Candidate Should Ask
September 1, 1999. That was my official start date in ministry at Porter Free Will Baptist Church. I had interviewed with Pastor Forrest Chamberlin and the deacon board for the position of associate pastor a few weeks before. Pastor Chamberlin was the chairman of the ordaining council when I was ordained seventeen years prior, and...
Be Comfortable in Your Skin
When I was in college, I really struggled with my “calling” to preach. As a freshman, I knew God wanted me to explore preaching and learning how to share the gospel well, but I couldn’t fully grasp all that meant. So, as I began to get opportunities to speak alongside other young preachers, going on...
Too Long 4 Twitter
These excellent quotes are just too big for Twitter. The Church has been trying to preach morality and ethics without the Gospel as a basis; it has been preaching morality without godliness; and it simply does not work. It never has done, and it never will. And the result is that the Church, having abandoned...
Jesus, the Greater Noah
Tim Keller is who has turned me on to using the Old Testament to point to Christ as the greater fulfillment of main characters. Well, Keller and Luke 24:27 and 1 Peter 1:10-12. I had a chance to apply this principle in a recent sermon at Cofer’s Chapel this past Sunday. In talking about the...
Are We Functionally Pelagian?
Some theologians believe Arminians to be Pelagian. A Pelagian is someone who follows after the views of Pelagius, the heretic. Pelagius believed the only impact Adam’s sin had on the rest of mankind is that it served as a bad example. Every person is morally neutral or good according to Pelagius. As a result of...
Don’t Give People “Fillers”
One of the things that I’m most passionate about for preachers, teachers, worship leaders, and general communicators is that we not ever give people “fillers.” When I say fillers, I mean when a worship leader thinks, “What’s the best way to transition between this song and that song? We could FILL THAT with…” They might...
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