“Every reader of books develops his own practice of marking, underlining or note-taking”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 48
The Controversy Clause
Faith Memorial was an older, established church, and so it was kind of surprising to everyone when they found themselves in the midst of a controversy. That occurred because one of the assistant pastors had been speaking at a city council hearing about the expansion of a parking lot at a mall near his home, …
Know the Congregation
“The best preachers are always diligent pastors, who know their congregations and the people of their area.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 45
Sermons Grow in Fallow Ground
“The best teachers remain students all their lives.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 40
Homiletic Hide and Seek
“To withdraw from the world into the Bible (escapism) or from the Bible into the world (conformity) will be fatal to our preaching.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 40
What Planet Is This Guy From?
“We must preach and defend the gospel, but we must also teach and defend biblical sexual ethics. They are essential to a society’s health; failure to keep to them destroys a nation and a community.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 38
Psalm 112/The Blessedness of Godly Delight
The Twelfth Decade of Psalms: Introduction: This psalm is part of a matched set, together with the previous one. Both this psalm and Ps. 111 are alphabetic psalms, with each portion beginning with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. As a consequence, the two psalms are right around the same length, and there are …
Even Greater Glory
The Lord does not gather you here, week after week, and year after year, in order for you to watch trained professionals conduct religious activities on your behalf. You are here as singers, as communicants, as learners, as worshipers, as disciples. You are not here as mere spectators, as simple observers. Every person here has …
All Who Are Bread Should Get Bread
Because our church community is growing so rapidly, it is necessary for us to remind you of certain things from time to time, and this is one such reminder. If you are new to our community, as many of you are, you may have noticed that our children worship together with us, though the entire …
And Try to Say “Bravely” Without the Voice Quavering
“We learn, for instance, that sexual intercourse belongs only in lifelong heterosexual marriage (Gen. 2:24; Mark 10:5-9; 1 Thess. 4:3-5). What is more, since marriage was established at creation, these divine standards apply to everybody, not just to believers. It is impossible, therefore, to limit the faithful teaching of biblical sex ethics to the congregation; we also have to be involved in public discussion about marriage, about divorce, about the remarriage of divorced persons and about homosexual partnerships. Christians should discuss these issues thoroughly and should use the pulpit to do so clearly and bravely.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 38