“One of the men of the French court once said to a famous court preacher, ‘Sire, your sermons terrify me, but your life reassures me'” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 113).
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10 Things an Effective Minister Must Remember
1. You are a minister of Christ, for the people. You are not a minister of the people, for Christ. Always preach Jesus. 2. Acknowledge your sins to God, and do what He says to do about them. 3. Your principal credentials for ministry are maintained, or not, within your marriage and family. 4. Your …
Like All the Nations
INTRODUCTION:The Lord provided a great deliverance at the second battle of Ebenezer, and Israel was greatly blessed by it. But blessings are like manna—they must be replenished daily. They go bad over time; they don’t keep well. Yesterday’s grace stinks by the time today’s troubles set in. Grace must be replenished constantly. Now Samuel was …
Learn from Them, Don’t Lean on Them
“Too much consultation of commentaries is apt to have a serious effect on the preacher’s resourcefulness, initiative, and originality” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 112).
Spadework
“There is no worth-while subject to which the preacher’s mind will not kindle if he thinks enough upon it and about it” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 110).
Which Can Explain Quite a Bit
“The preacher’s whole life, his whole experience is, in a way, a preparation for the sermon, even though it may be an unconscious one” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 108).
Three Camels and the Needle
In Luke 11, Jesus gives us a truly odd juxtaposition — until we learn to think of generational bloodguilt more biblically than we usually do. Jesus says that one generation killed the prophets, and a subsequent generation builds a tomb for that same prophet (Luke 11:47). According to carnal calculus, building a tomb of honor …
The Second Ebenezer
INTRODUCTION:The reformation we see here in this passage was slow in coming, and did not last very long. But at the same time, it was real. Reformations are messy, and cannot be understood by the tidy-minded. As we live in a time that is desperate for real reformation, there are many things for us to …
Spray Early
We often don’t pay enough attention to how familiar passages are juxtaposed. Take, for example, a short chain of passages in Luke 6. A disciple when fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40). Don’t try to take a speck out of your brother’s eye when you have a railroad tie in your own …
Because We Are Becoming Someone, Not Cramming for a Test
“So one can get spiritual, mental, and moral help from a good book, although he may not remember anything in the book a short time after he has read it” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 85).