“No mind can be constructive, that does not actually construct” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 214).
Remembering the Task
“A Pastor is the Deputy of Christ for the reducing of Man to the Obedience of God” (George Herbert, The Country Parson, p. 55).
He Means Outlining
“Skeletonizing is to sermonizing, what drawing is to painting” (Shedd, Homiletic and Pastoral Theology, p. 213).
Grace and Glory: Eighth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 79
Introduction: This is a psalm of Asaph, but given the subject material it is likely “Asaphic”—of the school of Asaph, in the tradition of Asaph. The scenes described fit very well with Israel’s later history, and not really from the time of David or Solomon. A sonnet can be a Petrarchan sonnet without having been …
Stick to the Point
“Let unity run clear through the sermon, and clear out. If there be other lessons to be taught from the text, teach them in other sermons” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 210).
On Not Finishing Lame
“The peroration should be distinguished by vehemence, by the utmost intensity, energy, vividness, and motion” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p 203).
Drawn Out to Apply
“Hence, inferences should be entirely free from a theoretic aspect, and from abstract elements. Neither is it enough, that they be practical in the moderate sense of the word. They should be intensely practical. By this is meant, that their address and appeal should be solely and entirely, to the most moral, earnest, and living …
True Exegesis
“For truth is always self-consistent. It always agrees with itself. Hence, all matter that is really derived from the very substance and pith, of a fundamental truth, is homogenous and harmonious. Nothing is then drawn out, that was not first inlaid” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, pp. 201-202)
Eighth Decade of Psalms: Psalm 76
Introduction: This psalm, also by Asaph, pairs nicely with the previous psalm. If you recall, Psalm 75 is a psalm of anticipatory thanksgiving for deliverance. This is a psalm of gratitude and gladness after the fact. The Text: “In Judah is God known: His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, …
But Not the Fist of Ranting
“Milton speaks of the close palm of logic, and the open palm of rhetoric” (Shedd, Homiletic and Pastoral Theology, p. 193).