“A style which is really a man’s own will grow as long as he grows.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 126
Or Fifty
“He who cannot write anything well cannot write a sermon well, although we often think he can. To him who has no literary skill all subjects are alike. If you cannot swim, it matters not whether there be twenty or forty feet of water.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 126
How to Move to Moscow
Introduction: Sermon Video As you all know, we have seen a steady stream of folks moving to Moscow, and, as you might not know, it shows no sign of letting up. Up to this point, we have all been ...
A Capital Idea
“Never draw out of a text a meaning which you know is not there. If your text has not your truth in it, find some other text which has. If you can find no text for it in the Bible, then preach on something else.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 125
No Trifling With the Text
“Only, as one rule that has no exceptions, let your use of texts be real. Never make them mean what they do not mean. In the name of taste and reverence alike, let there be no twists and puns, no dealing with the Word of God as it would be insulting to deal with the word of any friend”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 124
Undigested Quotations
“Constant quotations in sermons are, I think, a sign of the same crudeness. They show an undigested knowledge . . . Learn to study for the sake of truth, learn to think for the profit and joy of thinking. Then your sermons shall be like the leaping of a fountain, and not like the pumping of a pump.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 123
The Prophecy of Micah [6]
Sermon Video Introduction: The consolation section of the second cycle is long, encompassing two whole chapters—chapters four and five. We will therefore be working through this section over ...
At Least a Rough Idea
“Always have the topic if your sermon in your mind as long as possible before you begin your preparation. Whatever else is hasty and extemporaneous, let it not be your decision as to what you will preach about.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 121
Aim With the Gun, Not at It
“Care not for your sermon, but for your truth, and for your people; and subjects will spring up on every side of you and the chances to preach upon them will be all too few . . . If you have anything to say, and say it bravely and simply, men will come to hear you.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 119
Be Not Refined Overmuch
“Never tolerate any idea of the dignity of a sermon which will keep you from saying anything in it which you ought to say, or which your people ought to hear. It is the same folly as making your chair so fine that you dare not sit down in it.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 118