“Any fool can preach like a genius, but it takes a genius to preach simply” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 146)
Preaching Preferred to Reading
“The debate between Anglicans and Puritans on the relative merits of homilies and sermons, demonstrates the high value, indeed the indispensable value, which the Puritans attached to preaching” (Davies, The Worship of the English Puritans, p. 188).
Like Magic
“Authoritative declaration of the truth changes lectures into sermons” (Murrary, How Sermons Work, p. 120).
No Small Matter
“It is no small matter to stand up in the face of a congregation, and deliver a message of salvation or damnation, as from the living God, in the name of our Redeemer. It is no easy matter to speak so plain, that the ignorant may understand us; and so seriously that the deadest hearts …
The Key That Unlocks It All
“The pure Word of God was the criterion to which doctrine, worship and church government must conform, according to the Puritans. It goes without saying, therefore, that the ‘opening’ of the Scriptures occupies the central position in Puritan worship” (Horton Davies, The Worship of the English Puritans, p. 182).
Though It Is Hard to See How
“Some preachers can condemn while preaching on , ‘Comfort my people.’ Others can comfort when preaching from, ‘Flee the wrath that is to come!'” (Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 116).
Not the Dinghy Behind the Ship
“Therefore, a long exposition of facts or propositions with a short application is in conflict with the nature of the sermon. The application must not be the dinghy behind the ship. Rather, the purpose of the sermon is really in the application. The whole service of the Word centers on the edification and building up …
Two Basic Questions
“Application is answering two questions. So what? And now what?” (David Veerman, as quoted in Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 115).
Preaching for Two Kinds of Conversion
“We should add that conversion is a continuing process; one who turns away from the world to Christ must continue to turn away from all kinds of wrong and turn to what is holy. But this too is something quite different from what one commonly understands by the first, fundamental conversion” (Kuyper, Our Worship, p. …
Making Sermons Vivid
“In general it is clear that the Bible effects the contact between speaker and listeners much more through the imagination than through the intellect” (Kuyper, Our Worship, p. 197).