The title of this post–Sermons Aren’t Finished, They’re Preached–is something I have experienced since I started preaching some 15 years ago. I keep laboring over what I will say and how I will say it (sometimes even rearranging my points on Saturday night!) until the moment I step into the pulpit. Each week my last private prayer before I ascend the platform and lead in a pastoral prayer is, “Father help me understand your Word.”
Well, it seems I’m not only one who thinks that way about the sermon. Iain Campbell over at Reformation 21 says more or the less the same thing about his preparation:
“Maybe there is something utterly and fundamentally wrong with me (sin, perhaps?) but I’m not prepared at any stage before I start preaching to say that I’ve done my prep;”
Of course, this might just mean we’re both nuts!
For those of you who might be interested, the video of my appearance on Ask the Pastor is now online. Ask the Pastor is a local show with area pastors who answer questions from callers in a panel format.
The archives at The Gospel Coalition site are amazing! There you will find a veritable treasure trove of audio and print resources from those associated with the Coalition. Recently, I found a talk given by D. A. Carson on how to preach through books of the Bible. And, although I’m not doing that sort of series right now (I’m preaching each book of the Bible in one message, from one key passage), I usually preach through books, and found this talk very helpful.
You can access all of Carson’s content (over 400 items!) at TGC site here. Needless to say, the whole message on preaching through books is well worth a listen. But, in the mean time, here are his “apostolic number” of points.
1. Read and re-read and re-read and re-read and re-read the book.
It’s a mistake to choose the book to preach through, then start reading commentaries. Read the book through in English, and the original language (Hebrew or Greek) if you can. Furthermore, reading it through more than once means you are able to absorb more it. One minister used to read through a book of the Bible a hundred times before he started to preach through it. This doesn’t need to be the standard, but gets at the point–he knew the book well before he began preaching.
2. Start the process early.
Ideally, starting the process of preparing to preach through the book early means we have time for re-reading and thus to meditation. Begin early enough so that you are able to think through important issues and gain clarity about its message. Often the best insights come when you’re not trying. You’ve just flooded your mind with the Word of God and you begin to see the connections. Starting early helps you also get supplementary material like illustrations and such. Beginning early also allows you to pray over the text.
3. Eschew the division of head and heart.
Do not think that study time needs to be separate from devotional time, where one involves serious thought and contemplation while the other means lots of fuzzy feelings. Read the Bible with unity of purpose–rigorous study with devotional meditation.
4. Early on attain sufficient grasp of the book as a whole.
Be able to know the book well enough so that you can succinctly state: (a) what the book is about, (b) what this book contributes to the canon that overlaps with what other books bring to the canon, and (c) what distinctive things this book brings to the canon. All these things need to be thought about simultaneously. This is what brings clarity and precision. So, if you want to preach through Matthew. What is the book of about? Jesus. Yes, but can’t we also say that about Mark, too? What is Matthew’s distinctive contribution. Scan biblical theologies on the book, or the theology portions of the introduction in the best commentaries.
5. At roughly the same time (as #4), determine the breakup of the book.
This involves two things: (a) the number of sermons you’ll devote to the book and (b) the large scale outline of the book insofar as it impinges on your text boundaries for each sermon. As to the number of sermons per book, there is only choices and entailment,s no right or wrong answers. So things like who the congregation is (what they know), what else you’re trying to cover, your own competence as a preacher, the kind of literature the book is (narrative, letters, etc), and what your aim is. That is, you can preach every verse, or simply large sections of it. If you don’t get a handle early on, the sermons can be dependent on how far you got in your study instead of where the best breaks are in the book! Try to think also about the specific contribution of each sermon so you aren’t repeating yourself.
6. Start working on individual sermon preparation
Either in advance or week by week, begin now working on individual sermons. Ideally, work on the text first before looking at commentaries. Usually, one will find that there are a handful are really worth reading. Like anything, read best for the time you have. As you study, keep detailed notes in a good system of organization. This makes any future work much easier. Also–especially for the young or well-trained preacher–work on leaving stuff out. You can’t put everything in every sermon, or else it will be heavy and “indigestible” for people. Put the best and most important information in your message.
7. Each sermon must simultaneously stand alone and constitute a part of the series.
You want the sermons to have a certain continuity between the sermons. At the same time, keep in mind that some people will miss a week or visitors will pop in for one sermon or people will join the middle of the series. So, each sermon must be able to stand alone–it must be understandable apart from the series. So, you’re striving for the balance of a message that has it’s own burden and application but which feels–those who have been there the whole time–like it fits well into the whole book series, with enough information that ties it to everything else.
8. Recognize the contributions of whole-Bible biblical theology and a book biblical theology.
This means looking at a Charles Scobie-type biblical theology and a Paul House-type biblical theology. Scobie looks at large themes that run through the whole Bible. House looks at the themes of the individual books. The point is that you want to give your listeners a sense of the big picture–both of the specific book and of the whole Bible. The point is that we want to help people understand how the Bible fits together as a whole, finding climax in Christ.
9. Recognize that special study and focus may be necessary for certain books.
For certain books, the question of date–when was it written–will be important because it will affect your interpretation on some passages (e.g. Galatians). For other books, understanding something of the cultural background may be important to your interpretation. Different kinds of literature may require special study too (a focus on wisdom literature, for example). That doesn’t mean you give all this information in sermons; you can reduce it to one or two sentences.
10. Try to make you sermon material reflect the genre that you’re preaching from.
How can you can make your sermon from Revelation sound like Revelation? How can you make your sermons from Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes sound like they been born and bred and reared and shaped by Wisdom itself? The same goes for narrative–tell a story, don’t make it sound like discourse. Your sermons from Paul shouldn’t sound the same as your sermons from the Gospels or Proverbs. [Carson has some lectures on how to do this too!]
11. Remember the sermon is not an exercise in artistic creation.
A sermon is never an end in itself. It is a means to an end. Namely, the re-revelation of God to his people. This requires us to think about the people to whom we are preaching. What level are they at? What do they know? What are their interests? This affects how you do application and present the message itself. If you are into sports, but no one else is, that means you need to work at keeping the sports illustrations to a minimum.
12. Keep revising, praying, preparing so that you are master by the text.
Don’t prepare so much to be a master of the text, as much as to let the text master you. There is a way of preaching where you project an image of being an expert. Then there is a way of preaching that projects an image that you have been captured. Part of this is how you study and prepare as well as where your attitude is–what do you think of God? His Word? His Son?
The Pastor, The People, and The Pursuit of Joy
Even though this was targeted towards pastors, there is plenty for the “everyday Christian” to benefit from! Read, watch, or listen, and work hard for joy in God.
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The Role of Suffering in Sanctification
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Biblical and Theological Foundations for Christian Hedonism: Seven Theses
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Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul
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The Practical Sin-Killing Power of Christian Hedonism
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Christian Hedonism—The Missionary Advantage in Desiring God
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The Pastor, the People, and the Pursuit of Joy, Q & A
Audio
In college, I took a course in British Literature, and I’ve never regretted it. One of the best parts of that class was being introduced to George Herbert. Here is one of his poems that has meant the most to me.
Love (III)
by George Herbert
Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.
“A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here”;
Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
“Who made the eyes but I?”
“Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
“My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
So I did sit and eat.
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*Read more from Herbert’s work, The Temple.
For those of you who might be interested, the video of my appearance on Ask the Pastor is now online. Ask the Pastor is a local show with area pastors who answer questions from callers in a panel format.
Desiring God recently posted 11 organizations that can be trusted with donations. Here is another group you could get behind, one that specifically looks to fulfill the command of Galatians 6:10 by helping the Church in Haiti, having already sent 1000 pounds of relief supplies. James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll have teamed up to form a new ministry: Churches Helping Churches. They are on the ground right now in Haiti trying to assess the real needs of Haitian Christians in the midst of the recent disaster. Below is a promotional video for Churches Helping Churches. Go to their website for more info or follow Pastors MacDonald and Driscoll on Twitter to get updates on what they’re seeing and doing.
Even if it’s not through this ministry, consider giving to help those in need right now in Haiti.
Through the course of my study of spiritual warfare, several resources came to the top as helpful. These were the ones that faithfully interpreted the Scriptures well and applied with them pastoral care to the life of the Church. Click on the image to get more information or purchase these resources.
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These are free audio and video resources from David Platt’s ministry at The Church at Brookhills. In about four hours, Platt covers the basics of Spiritual Warfare, also addressing some “hot topics” toward the end. Study guides are also available for download. Excellent resource!
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Powlison’s book moves beyond the basic introduction that Platt’s messages provide. Here, the author is writing specifically to address the claims and practices of deliverance, or casting out, ministries. Powlison not only shows the faults of theology of “casting out” ministries, he also forward a biblical picture of spiritual warfare in the life the believer that is very encouraging and helpful. Probably the best modern introduction to spiritual warfare.
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Gurnall’s work is, in many way, the standard work on spiritual warfare. His mammoth work is an exposition of Ephesians 6 that takes on a life of it’s own, exploring every related point. That means few topics are left unaddressed! Waling through our enemy, the weapons and protection we have against that enemy, and the means by which we should fight, Gurnall is exhaustive in his writing. But Gurnall is also writing with a pastor’s heart, which makes the teaching come alive with relevance is a special way.
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Like Gurnall, Owen’s work is a classic when it come to spiritual warfare. Here, the topic is the warfare between the Spirit and the flesh in the heart of Christians. Owen is a master at knowing the human heart and helping us to know it too. Kris Lungaard took the best of Owen and re-wrote in a much more accesbile way for 21st century readers.
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Brooks is, in many ways, a helpful companion to Owen’s work. Here the focus is not so much on the sinfulness human heart as much as it on the devices Satan employs to tempt us to sin. In typical Puritan fashion, Brooks leaves few stones unturned, explaining not only the satanic strategy for temptation, but the biblical and practical means of fighting against it. Brooks is probably the most readable of the Puritan writings, which means this book is easy to get into and pays immediate reward.
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Gale shows how spiritual warfare relates to evangelism, the central focus of our engagement with our spiritual enemy. This books begins and ends with a focus on the ministry of Christ as the basis for our understanding spiritual warfare. In every way, Gale attempts to be rooted in the Bible’s teaching, not experience.
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For those of you who might be interested, the video of my appearance on Ask the Pastor is now online. Ask the Pastor is a local show with area pastors who answer questions from callers in a panel format.
Charles Krauthammer and David Brooks explain the extent of the human death and physical destruction from the earthquake and the herculean task that awaits those trying to rebuild.
Romans 8:19-23, “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
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The Boston Globe brings the devastation home more powerfully with a photo essay.
Job 2:11-13, “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.”
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In response to comments made by Pat Robertson, Al Mohler explains why God doesn’t hate Haiti.
Luke 13:1-5, “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
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Desiring God gives a list of reputable organizations that you can donate to, helping give aid to Haiti.
Matthew 25:31-40, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
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After reading and seeing, giving and grieving, then pray.
Matthew 7:7-11, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
