What Is Preaching? [ReGen 2018]
Simply put, it is an act of worship where the truth of Scripture is transmitted to the heart and mind of the hearer.
As strange as it may sound, there is a desperate need for a return to biblical preaching.
Here are three requirements of biblical preaching:
I. Preaching Must Have Priority
Too often, the time allotted for preaching on a Sunday morning is tacked on as a 20-minute motivational speech with half a bible verse used as a platform for the speaker to launch off. Music, lights, ambience have become the priority for many. Scripture and church history testify to the exact opposite. Paul charged Timothy to give attention — by way of full, complete, devotion and dedication — in the worship service on the Lord’s Day, to the reading of Scripture, the exhortation from the Scripture, and the teaching of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13). In the life of the church, preaching must be a prominent feature. It must be the priority.
II. Preaching Must Be Precise
It is detrimental to the spiritual life of the sheep and disastrous to the health of any church when the preaching lacks theological precision. This requires discipline in the life of the preacher. Paul did not tell Timothy to devote himself to being an entrepreneur, a culturally savvy individual, or a motivational speaker. Instead, the apostolic charge to Timothy and every single preacher is to preach the word (2 Tim. 4:2). If we are to preach the word we must, therefore, know the word and to know the word takes work. To be precise in our preaching — and therefore have the blessing of God upon it as a result of its accuracy and faithfulness to the text — we must “accurately handle the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Preaching must be theologically precise.
III. Preaching Must Be Passionate
A sermon is not a lecture nor is a sermon a time for dull, dry, and even quiet delivery. To preach is to herald and to herald is to have a sense of urgency. The Greek word for preach is the word kerusso. It is always used “with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed” (NAS NT Greek Lexicon). It has been well said that it matters to God what we preach and how we preach. In 1 Cor. 2:4, Paul separates the two with the words, “my message and my preaching”. That is to say, my content and my delivery. Both of those two components matter to God. We have something significant to say, and we must proclaim it passionately. The pulpit is no place for a lecture nor a sleepy, boring preacher.
There is much much more that could be said. I am really looking forward to REgen 2018 at Totara Springs in Matamata, New Zealand, where topics incredibly pertinent to the church will be taught, discussed, and proclaimed. May God get great glory for Himself throughout the weekend and through our lives.
See you for our sessions on ‘What Is Preaching?’
Yours for the Saviour,
Yours for the Saviour,
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