“Authoritative declaration of the truth changes lectures into sermons” (Murrary, How Sermons Work, p. 120).
No Small Matter
“It is no small matter to stand up in the face of a congregation, and deliver a message of salvation or damnation, as from the living God, in the name of our Redeemer. It is no easy matter to speak so plain, that the ignorant may understand us; and so seriously that the deadest hearts …
Repentance and Fatherhood
INTRODUCTION:The word repentance means a “change of mind,” but in the biblical vocabulary this entails much more than mere intellectual assent to a different proposition than was held to before. If sincere, it represents an entire turning, and it includes what we would call the heart. THE TEXT:“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet …
The Key That Unlocks It All
“The pure Word of God was the criterion to which doctrine, worship and church government must conform, according to the Puritans. It goes without saying, therefore, that the ‘opening’ of the Scriptures occupies the central position in Puritan worship” (Horton Davies, The Worship of the English Puritans, p. 182).
Though It Is Hard to See How
“Some preachers can condemn while preaching on , ‘Comfort my people.’ Others can comfort when preaching from, ‘Flee the wrath that is to come!'” (Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 116).
Not the Dinghy Behind the Ship
“Therefore, a long exposition of facts or propositions with a short application is in conflict with the nature of the sermon. The application must not be the dinghy behind the ship. Rather, the purpose of the sermon is really in the application. The whole service of the Word centers on the edification and building up …
Two Basic Questions
“Application is answering two questions. So what? And now what?” (David Veerman, as quoted in Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 115).
Preaching for Two Kinds of Conversion
“We should add that conversion is a continuing process; one who turns away from the world to Christ must continue to turn away from all kinds of wrong and turn to what is holy. But this too is something quite different from what one commonly understands by the first, fundamental conversion” (Kuyper, Our Worship, p. …
Making Sermons Vivid
“In general it is clear that the Bible effects the contact between speaker and listeners much more through the imagination than through the intellect” (Kuyper, Our Worship, p. 197).
Staying Out of Application Grooves
“Unprepared application usually means reptitive application. Mentally tired after explaining the text, a preacher often defaults to the well-worn ruts of application he has traveled down time and again in the past” (Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 111).