“The kind of God we believe in determines the kind of sermons we preach.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 13
“The kind of God we believe in determines the kind of sermons we preach.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 13
“The secret of preaching is not mastering certain techniques but being mastered by certain convictions”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 12
“Our greatest need, as the Reformers kept insisting, is the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Christians believe that the living God is the Lord of history. We should ask him to push back back the forces of unbelief and thank him for what he is doing already around the world.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 11
“Finally, it is important to remember that preaching and worship cannot be divorced. The fact that they are so often separated today accounts for the low level of much contemporary worship. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God. Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor; our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the word of God is expounded in all its fullness, and the congregation begins to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe. It is preaching that accomplishes this. That is why preaching is unique and irreplaceable.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 9
“God himself supplies the best visual aids. He wants the pastor to be a visual aid to the congregation (Tit. 2:7; 1 Tim. 4:12). He also wants the congregation to be a visual aid to the watching world, indeed to the whole universe (Matt. 5:16; Eph. 3:10-11). Virtual images projected on screens are no substitute for real people and loving communities” ().
John Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 8
“Preaching is the great act of Christian worship, and it is the supreme place in which God shows himself. But the sacraments remind us that it is not the only place.”
Allen, The Preacher’s Catechism, p. 181
“Every good preacher has been criticized, sometimes fiercely, and often unfairly.”
Allen, The Preacher’s Catechism, p. 175
“Believe your own sermons.”
Allen, The Preacher’s Catechism, p. 167
“No pulpit is safe when an idolater stands in it”
Allen, The Preacher’s Catechism, p. 155
If your sermon is dazzlingly original, it’s probably either heretical or terrible, or both
Allen, The Preacher’s Catechism, p. 151