“Learn to know and love the audience God has given you” (Helm, Expositional Preaching, p. 90).
All In
“The oration, in this view, is not so much a product of the man, as it is the man himself, — an embodiment of all his faculties and all his processes . . . The sermon is designed to produce an effect upon human character; and this, not upon its mere superficies, but its inmost …
Never Forget the Point
“The eternal salvation of the human soul, through the presentation of divine truth, is the end of preaching” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 43).
Substance First
“Those who master a subject are seldom at a loss for language” (Matthew Henry, on Hosea 14)
Strictly Biblical Spirit
“The proper function of the preacher is to put strictly revealed doctrine into oratorical forms for popular impression, and to imbue all discourse in the sanctuary . . . with a strictly Biblical spirit” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, pp. 34-35).
For Good or Ill
“Say what men may, it is doctrine that moves the world” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 26).
Houses Cannot Be Built on Sand. Neither Can Sermons.
“No sacred orator can be bold and commanding in his tone, if he believes, or if he fears, that there are fatal contradictions and irreconcilable inconsistencies in the written revelation” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 25).
Good to Know
“The historical context concerns the circumstances or situation that prompted the text . . . The literary context, on the other hand, is simply the text around your text” (Helm, Expositional Preaching, p. 45).
Itself a Fine Example of Contextualization
“The trouble is that too many of us push exegesis back in our preparation, and we clothe the message in a short red dress of contextualization by focusing on culture and our ability to connect with it. It’s like we want to spin her out away from us in exciting circles, showing off her long …
Real Originality
“Originality in man, then, is not the power of making a communication of truth but of apprehending one” (Shedd, p. 10).