INTRODUCTION:Saul is given favor by God, even though the circumstances are unfavorable indeed. Saul is given favor by Samuel, even though Samuel knows that trouble lies ahead. This chapter contains a number of references that will help us understand the rest of the story rightly. THE TEXT:“Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured …
Preaching Reality
“Preaching is indispensible to Christianity. Without preaching a necessary part of its authenticity has been lost. For Christianity is, in its very essence, a religion of the Word of God” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 15)
A Professional, In Other Words
“The current tendency is to secularize the ministry, both its message and its office, as if the work of the minister were just the same as that of a teacher, a physician, a scientist, or an artist, only with a slightly different accent. This has done the church no good” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. …
Pentecostal Authority
INTRODUCTION: The Jewish festival of Pentecost is now famously connected to the sign gifts that were poured out on this day—gifts of tongues, and prophecy, and the like. We get the denominational name of Pentecostal from this day, and so one of the things we should learn as we mark this day is how that …
And Without Holding Anything in Reserve
“A preacher may have little or much personality, but certainly, when he gets into the pulpit he needs to use all that he has” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 149).
Preaching Face to Face
“One great advantage of preaching without notes is the power of a direct appeal . . .Preaching without notes gives an earnestness to the preacher which is hardly possible otherwise, and it is earnestness that counts. That is the true eloquence” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, pp. 147-148).
Make It Concrete
“The great doctrines of the Bible and of the gospel ought to be taught and proclaimed from the pulpit. One of the most acceptable and effective ways in which this can be done is through doctrinal preaching that is also biographical. For example, take ‘Repentance.’ Instead of speaking of repentance in the abstract, preach on …
Samuel and Saul
INTRODUCTION:We are now introduced to the first king over all Israel, a man who began well and ended poorly. There are signs of trouble from the very beginning, but there is also grace from God that is clearly present. The fact that we know there will be a fall does not prevent the goodness bestowed …
Preach Biography
“God is the great, original, and continual biographical preacher . . . God did not reveal himself in abstract truth, but in a life — in the life of his son Jesus Christ” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 121).
Ow
“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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