In This Book
Art & Craft of Biblical Preaching
A Comprehensive Resource for Today’s Communicators
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The High Call of Preaching
- 1 Core Convictions of Biblical Preaching
- 2 A Definition of Biblical Preaching
- 3 A Weekly Dose of Compressed Dignity
- 4 Overfed, Underchallenged
- 5 Theology of Powerful Preaching
- 6 Preaching That Raises Our Sights
- 7 Leading and Feeding: How Preaching and Leadership Intersect
- 8 John 3:16 in the Key of C
- 9 Spiritual Formation through Preaching
- 10 Preaching Life into the Church
- 11 My Theory of Homiletics
- 12 Staying on the Line
- 13 History of Preaching
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The Spiritual Life of a Preacher
- 14 A Cup Running Over
- 15 The Patented Preacher
- 16 I Prayed for My Preaching
- 17 How Does Unction Function?
- 18 Squeaky Clean
- 19 Required Reading
- 20 Rightly Dividing the Preaching Load
- 21 Preaching Through Personal Pain
- 22 A Prophet among You
- 23 Burning Clean Fuel
- 24 Backdraft Preaching
- 25 Why I Pace Before I Preach
- 26 Preaching to Convulse the Demons
- 27 Holy Expectation
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Considering Hearers
- 28 Preaching to Everyone in Particular
- 29 The Power of Simplicity
- 30 View from the Pew
- 31 Preaching to Ordinary People
- 32 Why Serious Preachers Use Humor
- 33 Connect Hearers through Dialogue
- 34 Self-Disclosure That Glorifies Christ
- 35 How to Be Heard
- 36 Opening the Closed American Mind
- 37 Turning an Audience into the Church
- 38 Preaching to Change the Heart
- 39 Preaching Truth, Justice, and the American Way
- 40 Preaching Morality in an Amoral Age
- 41 The Intentional Bridge Builder
- 42 Connecting with Postmoderns
- 43 Preaching Amid Pluralism
- 44 Connecting with Non-Christians
- 45 How to Translate Male Sermons to Women
- 46 He Said, She Heard
- 47 Connecting with Men
- 48 Creating a Singles-Friendly Sermon
- 49 Preaching to Preschoolers
- 50 Hispanic American Preaching
- 51 African American Preaching
- 52 Asian American Preaching
- 53 Work Wins?
- 54 One Sermon, Two Messages
- 55 The Playful Preacher
- 56 What Authority Do We Have Anymore?
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Interpretation and Application
- 57 Why the Sermon?
- 58 Getting the Gold from the Text
- 59 Faithful First
- 60 God’s Letter of Intent
- 61 Five Bird-dogging Questions for Biblical Exposition
- 62 The Rules of the Game
- 63 Why All the Best Preachers Are–What a Concept!–Theological
- 64 Letting the Listeners Make the Discoveries
- 65 Conviction and Compassion
- 66 The Inadequacy of “Yes” Theology
- 67 What Great Coaches and Preachers Know
- 68 Preaching That Opens Ears and Hearts
- 69 Fundamentals of Genre
- 70 From B.C. to 11 a.m.
- 71 The Big Idea of Narrative Preaching
- 72 Apply Within
- 73 Application Without Moralism
- 74 Blending Bible Content and Life Application
- 75 Showing Promise
- 76 Helping Hearers Practice What We Preach
- 77 The Heresy of Application
- 78 Preaching for True Holiness
- 79 Less Joe, More Jesus
- 80 Preaching That Promotes Self-Centeredness
- 81 The Danger of Practical Preaching
- 82 Grace: A license to Wander?
- 83 The Rich Sound of Grace and Holiness
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Structure
- 84 Set Free from the Cookie Cutter
- 85 Say and Do
- 86 Connecting Biblical Content with Contemporary Audiences
- 87 Clearly
- 88 Skills of Oral Clarity
- 89 Questions That Put Muscle on Bones
- 90 Better Big Ideas
- 91 The Power of Sequence
- 92 Outlines That Work for You, Not against You
- 93 The Tension Between Clarity and Suspense
- 94 Lifeblood of Preaching
- 95 Alliteration Downfalls
- 96 Modulating Tension
- 97 The Purpose-Driven Title
- 98 Why Should I Listen to You?
- 99 Satisfying Conclusions
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Style
- 100 Determining Your Strengths and Weaknesses
- 101 Interesting Preaching
- 102 Crafting an Experience
- 103 Seven Habits of Highly Effective Preachers
- 104 The Sermon’s Mood
- 105 Teaching the Whole Bible
- 106 Dramatic Expository Preaching
- 107 Verse-by-Verse Sermons That Really Preach
- 108 What Makes Textual Preaching Unique?
- 109 Can Topical Preaching Be Expository?
- 110 Topical Preaching Can Be Truly Biblical
- 111 Topical Preaching on Bible Characters
- 112 Topical Preaching on Contemporary Issues
- 113 Topical Preaching on Theological Themes
- 114 Making the Most of Biblical Paradoxes
- 115 Getting the Most from the Sermon Series
- 116 The Next Big Thing
- 117 The Compelling Series
- 118 First Person Narrative Sermons
- 119 Biblical Preaching Is about Life Change, Not Sermon Style
- 120 Seven Timeless Principles for Reaching Lost People
- 121 Evangelistic Preaching in the Local Church
- 122 Felt-Needs Preaching
- 123 How to Preach Boldly in a “Whatever” Culture
- 124 Preaching with a Leader’s Heart
- 125 Critique of the New Homiletic
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Preparation
- 142 Why I Pat the Bible on My Nightstand
- 143 Busting Out of Sermon Block
- 144 Centered
- 145 A Long, Rich Conversation with God
- 146 A Mysterious Impulse to Pray
- 147 Preparing the Messenger
- 148 The Hard Work of Illumination
- 149 Heart-to-Heart Preaching
- 150 Imagination: The Preacher’s Neglected Ally
- 151 Preaching That Magnifies God
- 152 When Is a Sermon Good Enough?
- 153 How to Build a First-Rate Library
- 154 What Makes a Sermon Deep?
- 155 Before You Preach
- 156 Inspiration Points
- 157 Simplify
- 158 Using Someone Else’s Sermon
- 159 Planning for a Richer, Deeper Sermon Series
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Delivery
- 160 The Source of Passion
- 161 Place of Pathos in Preaching
- 162 Preaching with Intensity
- 163 No Notes, Lots of Notes, Brief Notes
- 164 In the Eye of the Hearer
- 165 No Voice, No Preach
- 166 Eliminating My Um, Um, Annoying Pulpit Mannerisms
- 167 Reading Scripture in Public
- 168 The Importance of Being Urgent
- 169 The Day I Lost My Nerve
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Special Topics
- 170 When You Don’t Look Forward to Special Days
- 171 Preaching the Terrors
- 172 Preparing People to Suffer
- 173 Preaching Hell in a Tolerant Age
- 174 Speaking into Crisis
- 175 When the News Intrudes
- 176 Redemptive Sermons for Weddings and Funerals
- 177 The Landmark Sermon
- 178 You Had to Bring It Up
- 179 Preaching on Contemporary Issues
- 180 Preaching Sex with Compassion and Conviction
- 181 The Ever-More-Difficult Marriage Sermon
- 182 When the Sermon Goes to Work
- 183 Bridging the Marketplace Gap
- 184 Sermons on Giving That People Actually Like!
Preaching that produces true holiness is in some ways counterintuitive—even for those committed to sound, biblical preaching. Those who preach in series exposition can be especially vulnerable to preaching an unbalanced message that actually hinders holiness. Preaching that leads to fully biblical obedience has two features.
Preach theological texts with a view toward the practical
The first step of obedience is not, "Do this," but rather, "Believe this and receive this."
Some texts have both theology and application. For example, 1 Peter 1:1-2 contains a strong connection between theology and application, between who we are as Christians and how we're supposed to live as Christians. Peter writes, "To thosewho are chosento obey." Preaching this text means preaching both theology and practice, and keeping them together isn't hard.
The problem comes when the link between the theological and practical isn't spelled out. When the text says nothing about how we are to live, it's easy to neglect holiness. To correct this, at some point in the sermon the information about what God has done for us or who we are as Christians must lead to how that gives us the ability to battle temptation and sin and grow in Christlike conduct.
Theological truths are key to practical Christian living because grace and faith are keys to holiness. Bryan Chapell writes: "Grace overwhelms us with God's love, and as a result our heart resonates with the desires of God. His purposes become our own" (Holiness by Grace [Crossway, 2001] p. 13). He also writes: "Sanctification is the work of God's grace in us that allows us to receive the benefits and power of Jesus, which in turn enables us to overcome the evil that can so burden our hearts" (p. 41).
The theological sections of the epistles display God's loving grace. Preaching to bring about holiness means asking our parishioners to respond to God's gracious love and care with wholehearted obedience.
Of course, that presupposes that we believe what has been written. John Piper writes, "The way to fight sin in our lives is to battle our bent toward unbelief. Or to put it more positively: the way to pursue righteousness and love is to fight for faith in future grace" (Future Grace [Multnomah, 1995] p. 219). Chapell agrees that faith is paramount to holiness: "To find release from the bondage and burden of sinwe must believe that we can rely entirely on our union with Christ to make us right with God" (Holiness by Grace, p. 41, emphasis added).
Because grace and faith are instrumental to holiness, whenever we preach from theological sections of God's Word, we must ask ourselves and our parishioners to believe what God has done and receive the grace that sets us free to be holy. The text itself may not ask us to turn from sin, but turning from sin is the proper response to the revelation of God's gracious love.
Preach the practical while looking back to the theological
At first glance it appears easy to preach from the New Testament imperatives in such a way that holiness results. If holiness is Christlikeness, and if the biblical commands show us what a Christlike life is like, then it makes sense that urging hearers to obey the commands will lead to holiness.
Yes and No. Yes, because by encouraging obedience to Christ, we're on the right track to holiness. No, because by encouraging obedience to the command alone, we may end up creating self-righteousness that leads us off the track to true holiness.
Take, for instance, God's command in 1 Peter 4:9: "Be hospitable to one another without complaint." After explaining what it means to be hospitable to each other and to do so without complaining, then comes the task of telling parishioners, "Do that." And for those of us who want God's Word to hit home, we're going to take a shot at helping them see in concrete ways how to be hospitable without complaining. It's at this point we are in danger of moving away from true holiness even though it appears that through application we're moving closer to holiness.
If we neglect the theological side of the equation—who God is and who we are because of what God did for us through Christ—then what are we left with for application-type statements? They might sound like this: create a list of people you would like to have in your home, then set aside time in your weekly calendar to invite the folks on your list into your home.
Is this helpful? Yes. Spirit-sensitive Christians may find practical help in these suggestions. But notice that the suggestions work for anyone, Christian or non-Christian. Biblical holiness, then, is not necessarily the result. Piper writes: "Practical, daily righteousness is attained when the law of righteousness is pursued by faith, not by works" (p. 220).
Normally, naturally, we attack specific temptations and sin at the point of action. If the specific temptation is Internet pornography, then we address this problem with action steps: don't random surf the web; do not stay up late at night by yourself on the computer. We normally do not fight specific temptation and sin at the point of belief.
But the first step of obedience is not, "Do this," but rather, "Believe this and receive this." To say, "Receive this," is to invite our folks to receive the power that overcame and overcomes sin.
For God to create holiness in us, we must move from the biblical command back to the gospel, especially at the moment of application. Prior to the presentation of practical steps for victory, help hearers to see what God has done for them through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Help them first to respond to his grace and believe it. Then they'll be assured of his power to conquer temptation. Otherwise all we do is help people attempt to live like Christians on their own effort—the opposite of true holiness.
The move from the practical to the theological assures that the modification of a person's character is the result of a heart transformed by grace. Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and ascension become the motivation and ability for obedience.
