Joe Thorn on the Gospel

There is more in God’s word than the gospel. God has given us his law to show us the way, uncover our corruption and condemnation, and point us to our need of redemption. There are commands to be obeyed, there is wisdom to learn and practice, and affections to feel and be moved by. But, the law itself is unable to create within us new hearts, or empower us to obey its demands. So let me say it this way: The gospel is the main thing, it is not the only thing. However, it is the only thing that brings life, power, and transformation. The gospel isn’t everything, but it does connect to everything, and preachers and teachers in the church must be able to show that connection lest we allow the church to drift (or even be lead) into various kinds of hopeless, powerless legalism.

Piper on Preaching

John Piper offers ten theses to explain how all preaching should be gospel preaching, proclaiming Christ crucified:

1. Whatever lasting good God ever does or ever did or ever will do for any individual person, he does and did and will do because of his free, utterly undeserved grace.
2. This free grace, that gives every lasting good to people, can benefit us justly only because of Jesus’ wrath-absorbing, righteousness-providing, sin-atoning, guilt-removing, substitutionary death for us.
3. Without this kind of atoning death of Christ, God’s grace would not save us, but only increase our condemnation because of the hardness of our hearts.
4. But by the blood of Christ, God really purchased us for himself and secured not only every lasting good that we receive, but also the gift of repentance and faith through which we receive everything else.
5. Therefore every sermon that holds out any lasting good to any person (as every Christian sermon must) should be based on, and interwoven with, the gospel of the living Christ’s substitutionary death.
6. This gospel basis and gospel interweaving of our sermons should be clear enough so that gospel-deniers (like Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, legalists, libertines, etc) will not approve of our sermons. There should be enough of Christ and of his cross that those who deny the gospel don’t approve the sermon.
7. This gospel basis and gospel interweaving of our sermons should be clear enough so that the living Jesus will be honored as the ground and goal of the message because of his grace-securing sacrifice for us.
8. This gospel basis and gospel interweaving of our sermons should be clear enough so that the imperative that flows from the message is, first and foremost, faith in the blood-bought reality that God is 100% for us in Christ (that is, faith in the justifying work of Christ), and then, secondly, the obedience that comes from this faith (that is, the fruit of the sanctifying work of the Spirit).
9. In this sense then every sermon proclaims Christ. His atoning work is the ground of all it offers. His glory is the ultimate goal of all it aims to achieve. And the written revelation of Christ’s unfolding ways in history (that is, Scripture) is the only authoritative source from which we bring this work and ground and this glory to light (expository exultation).
10. Thus with Christ-crucified as the ground and goal and matter of every sermon (and all of life) the ultimate aim of God in creation is advanced: the praise of the glory of God’s grace, through the joy of his people in him.

Andy LePeau on Stories

Writing non-fiction (or speaking, teaching or preaching) doesn’t mean you can’t build in drama. Including stories as illustrations is always good, but there’s more to it than just telling the tale.

Here are a few options to keep your audience with you every word of the way.

Start with the first half of a story and leave it hanging. Then transition to your main points. At the end of the chapter, article or talk, tell the rest of the story you began with. Holding the end of the story in suspense builds drama and keeps interest.

Loop back to the beginning. Even if you tell all or most of a story at the beginning, go back to that story you opened with and tie it together as part of your conclusion.

Use in medias res. This Latin phrase (“into the middle of things”) refers to starting in the middle of a story--often a very dramatic moment, such as right before a championship game or when the doctor is about to give a diagnosis. But at this point in the tale, the key is to not give the resolution. Rather, stop and go back to the beginning of the story to explain how things got to this midpoint. When you get back to that part of the story (where you started), you can finish it from that point or do so later.

Tell a story within a story. I once went to the funeral of a Jewish friend (the story) at which the Cantor told a story from the Talmud about a man going to meet the king (the story within the story). It was a very interesting parable in itself, but explaining the context of the story and my reaction to it has made for heightened interest for my audience.

Tell the story of how you learned something. Rather than just relate flat information, ideas or tips to your audience, tell them the story of how you learned this material. Discuss the questions you had, how you searched, the problems you faced in coming to these conclusions, the mentor you had, the mistakes you made, the conversation that opened your eyes, and so forth. Lee Strobel has used this technique to good effect in The Case for Christ.

Raise a problem. Make people feel the problem. Don’t build a straw man that’s easy to knock down. Don’t telegraph the solution. Instead show the real difficulties involved. This makes your audience feel the tension, yearn for an answer and keeps them reading (or listening) till you offer it. Each chapter of Deep Church by Jim Belcher does this effectively.

Wesley on Reading and Preaching

ere is John Wesley writing to John Trembath (August 17, 1760), a young minister who was a poor preacher:

What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is lack of reading.

I scarce ever knew a preacher who read so little.

And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it.

Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought.

Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer.

You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this.

You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian.

Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercise. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterward be pleasant.

Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily.

It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a pretty, superficial preacher.

Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow.

Do not starve yourself any longer.

Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether.

Then will all the children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you, and in particular yours.

Hawthorne on the Spirit

Are you a minister of the gospel or a teacher, intelligent, educated, learned in the scriptures? The life of Jesus teaches that intelligence and learning are not in themselves sufficient when it comes to making God's message meaningful to those who hear it. It is the Spirit of God within the minister that makes the word a living word... It is equally important, however, to say that God frowns on neither intelligence nor education... What he is concerned about is that spiritual work never be done solely in a natural way, only with natural endowments. Rather, he wishes by the power of the Spirit to make it possible for the follower of Jesus to exceed the real limits of their humanness and thus speak to the hearts of people with a life creating, life transforming power.

Carson on Preaching

When Paul attests [in Acts 20:27] that this is what he proclaimed to the believers in Ephesus, the Ephesian elders to whom he makes this bold asseveration know full well that he had managed this remarkable feat in only two and a half years. In other words, whatever else Paul did, he certainly did not manage to go through every verse of the Old Testament, line by line, with full-bore explanation. He simply did not have time.

What he must mean is that he taught the burden of the whole of God's revelation, the balance of things, leaving nothing out that was of primary importance, never ducking the hard bits, helping believers to grasp the whole counsel of God that they themselves would become better equipped to read their Bibles intelligently, comprehensively. It embraced

* God's purposes in the history of redemption (truths to be believed and a God to be worshiped),
* an unpacking of human origin, fall, redemption, and destiny (a worldview that shapes all human understanding and a Savior without whom there is no hope),
* the conduct expected of God's people (commandments to be obeyed and wisdom to be pursued, both in our individual existence and in the community of the people of God), and
* the pledges of transforming power both in this life and in the life to come (promises to be trusted and hope to be anticipated).