Before teaching on the primacy of expository preaching, DAC taught for a while on the importance that the Bible (especially the New Testament) places on preaching. Sometimes I think that people think of preaching as something that we can take or leave. We treat it like it’s a product of modernity and may well have seen it’s last days of usefulness.

The New Testament has another view, however. DAC roots the priority of the spoken word in the nature of God–the fact that he is a God who speaks, and that is his nature. But then he listed a whole list of texts worth looking up and meditating on (in their respective contexts) which clearly show the New Testament’s emphasis on preaching.

Since I wanted to do the work of looking the texts up anyway, I thought that I may as well make the list available to you as well. You can view all the texts by simply clicking here. Here is a great reminder that the priority we give to preaching is not cultural but biblical. It is good to be reminded of even the basics from time-to-time.

It’s easy to see why reading and meditating on such a list would be important for a preacher or a pastor like myself. My question, though, is this: What does the average church member stand to gain from thinking about the biblical priority of preaching? How would it / could it affect you and your mindset as you go to church or serve in your church?

Post from: Julian Freeman

The Primacy of Preaching

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We taught this series on Sunday evenings, with various men from our church leadership and mentoring program teaching each week. Each week we were given a handout outlining the question that would be answered that week. Those outlines have now been put into a single booklet, which you can download below.

It’s a 61 page systematic theology. It’s simple, it’s short, we believe it’s accurate, and it’s as comprehensive as we could be for a short series on Sunday evenings. Best of all, it’s free. If you’re looking for materials for introduction to the Christian faith or something similar, this could be very helpful.

Our 26 questions cover everything from Creation to the end of the world, even to eternity future. You can even click here to view and download the audio messages from the series so you can listen and read along with the notes. Click the image to download the booklet itself.

Here’s a listing of the 26 Questions that you should be asking (and we attempt to answer):

1. How Can I Know What is True?
2. Who is God?
3. How Many Gods are There?
4. Where Did the World Come From?
5. Does Prayer Matter?
6. Are There Other Spiritual Beings?
7. Why Did God Create Us? What is Our Purpose?
8. Who is In Control Here?
9. Is There a Difference Between Men & Women?
10. What is Sin and What Difference Does it Make?
11. Who is Jesus?
12. Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
13. Where is Jesus Now?
14. What is the Gospel?
15. What Does it Mean to Be Born Again?
16. What is Justification?
17. What is Sanctification?
18. Will I Make It?
19. Who Is the Holy Spirit?
20. What is the Church?
21. What is Baptism?
22. What is the Lord’s Supper?
23. Where Do I Fit in the Church?
24. What Will Happen at the End of Time?
25. What Happens When I Die?
26. What is the ‘After-Life’?

Post from: Julian Freeman

Full ’26 Questions’ Series Now Available

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While the TPF page has a media library where you can download all the free sermons and papers for pastors, it can at times be cumbersome to have to download so many files. So I thought I’d put them all in one place for you.

Now, just download the zip file below, open it up and you’ve got MP3 files of all the messages + the Q&A sessions, all the PDFs of the papers, and all the PDF files of all the book reviews that were distributed this year. All in all, it’s a phenomenal resource.

With messages from men like Dr Michael Haykin, Dr Pierre Constant, Dr Darryl Dash, Pastors Tim Kerr, Carl Muller, Stephen Kring, and Paul Martin, and über-blogger extraordinaire, Tim Challies, this is great link to pass along to any pastor friends you may have.

Enjoy!

Post from: Julian Freeman

TPF 2008-2009: Free Download of All the Sermons for Pastors

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Pastors Delighting in God to the Glory of God Together

This coming Monday is the final monthly meeting of the Toronto Pastors Fellowship for the 2008-2009 season. While I’m sad that it will be over for the next several months, I can’t wait for Monday to come, because the paper will be great!

I’ve just had a chance to read over Pastor Darryl Dash’s paper on theocentric preaching; it is full of insights, challenges, and encouragements.

Here is a brief preview to whet your appetite for Monday’s meeting. In this section, Dr Dash is detailing the pitfalls and flaws of moralistic preaching, and showing how even sermons that are textually based may be ultimately moralistic.

In Scripture, obedience is always a response to the gospel. Application that is not rooted in gospel leads to pride if the listener succeeds, and defeatism if the listener does not. The law does not give us power to obey its commands; we need good news (the gospel), not just good advice. The Bible does contain commands, but these are always applications of the gospel.

Moralism can creep into how-to sermons (e.g. “Four Steps to Better Parenting”), but it can also creep into expositions of a text. For example, preaching the imperatives of Ephesians 4-6 will be moralistic unless we link the imperatives to the gospel described in Ephesians 1-3. God’s gift and his commands (theology and ethics) are always linked.

Make sure to join us on Monday morning at 10am to get the full paper, the Q&A, and all the blessings of fellowship. 

See you there!

Post from: Julian Freeman

Preaching God

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One of the best things about serving with the Toronto Pastors Fellowship is that I get to read the papers ahead of time. I thought that this time I might share a tiny, little bit of that blessing with you.

Here is a sneak peek at a the paper Dr Pierre Constant will be presenting at the TPF meeting this Monday (February 9). 

There are dozens of discussion-worthy ideas in the paper, but since this section in particular relates to a discussion we had here not too long ago (see Preaching vs. Lecturing), I thought I’d throw this out there as well.

As said earlier, preaching preparation involves a number of elements, from careful study of words and texts to careful study of the needs of congregations, so that when, as pastors, we are addressing the family of God, the body of Christ is built up, equipped and motivated to worship God and to serve Christ in the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

More specifically, preaching involves teaching, motivating, correcting, guiding, leading the people of God to serve Him with joy and thankfulness, with the intention of bringing glory to the only One worthy of any glory. Paul wrote: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor 4.6).

Moreover, when we do preach, we do more than lecture or communicate content. We equip, motivate, encourage people to act upon what they hear. We bring the family of God to worship Christ and be transformed unto His image.

Preaching, then, is more than lecturing because its aim is higher than merely bringing the hearers to an understanding of the material presented. The preacher is pastoring the people of God and moving them by the Word of God and the power of the Spirit to glory an and ultimately reflect the Creator-Redeemer God. 

The argument might be said that the comparison between preaching and lecturing is apples and oranges, since preaching is an entirely spiritual task, empowered by the Spirit of God himself. 

But this, then, begs at least a couple questions:

1. Why do so many preachers find it so easy to lecture rather than preach?
2. What (if anything) should we endeavour to learn from lecturers / lecture techniques that we can apply to preaching?
3. Why are so many churches content with preachers who lecture?

Post from: Julian Freeman

TPF Preview: Preaching is More Than Lecturing

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I wonder if it would be safe to say that one of the most basic differences lies in the responsibility for understanding. Here’s what I mean.

In a classroom lecture, the hearer (the student) is held responsible for learning and retaining what is being taught. In preaching, the preacher is viewed as responsible for making sure the hearer (the church-goer) learns and retains what is being taught.

From that basic distinction come all kinds of differences. Here’s one example. In a classroom setting, a professor may mention a term like oligarchy or a person like Barth without having to offer any further explanation. If the listener doesn’t understand, it’s up to him to go do some research and figure out what the professor was saying. In a sermon, however, it’s never okay to mention obscure terms or people. You are striving with everything in you to make sure the people who hear understand the truth and its implications, so you would not want to do anything to obscure the truth.

Here’s another example. In a lecture setting, if the teacher is presenting a complicated theory, he needs only to cover it once and then move on. The students have the text book and have been assigned the reading, so the one explanation should be sufficient for them. In a sermon, however, the preacher must understand that most people don’t read the text book and that even when they do, they need help understanding how to put concepts together. The preacher, then, illustrates, the truth in terms, images, similes, and stories that the people will readily be able to identify with.

There are many more examples, but I think I’ll leave it with those two for now. Does it seem fair to suggest that one of the basic differences between preaching and lecturing is the placement of the responsibility for understanding?

Post from: Julian Freeman

Preaching vs Lecturing

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One of the great conversations we had in class this year was on the topic of the need to be preaching the Word of God rather than opinions or topics that may or may not relate to the revealed truth of the Word.

Over the course of the conversation, Dr Penhearow pointed out this pastoral bit of wisdom that I’ve thought about much ever since:

The needs of the congregation may in fact be different than even they think.

The point is this: Only God the Spirit, who searches hearts, knows our needs. Sometimes in the midst of our problems we think we know what we need; in reality, however, only God knows. If we, as pastors, try to interpret people’s lives so as to determine what they ‘need’ to hear, we’ll get it wrong.

If we can’t discern the needs of our own heart, how can we hope to do just that for the congregation we don’t know as well as ourselves?

If, however, we preach the God-inspired Word, then God will be faithful to address his people’s needs. He knows them already and he has given the Word precisely to meet those needs. When we preach the Word of God, the Spirit of God will accomplish all the purposes of God in the people of God. 

As preachers, all we need to do is ‘eat the scroll.’ God will apply according to his grace and the needs of his people. There is no promise in Scripture that God will work through my thoughts according to his will; there are plenty of promises in Scripture that God will work through his Word. 

That’s our hope as preachers–that God would work, because only he sees true needs.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Preaching the Word and People’s Needs

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Pastor Bill Bygroves

I just noticed today that the messages delivered at the 2008 Carey Conference have been posted on the Carey website. There is some great stuff here for you to download!

Bill Bygroves, pastor of Bridge Chapel in Liverpool, was the main speaker for the evening sessions. 

The title of the series was ‘Sacred Songs’ and each evening he preached from a psalm. He preached: (1) The Song of Blessing, (2) The Song of Hurt, (3) The Song of Guilt, (4) The Song of Unity, and, (5) The Song of Joy.

There were also seven messages preached from pastors in the Sovereign Grace Fellowship from the Gospel of John. At least six of them are worth listening to. Here they are:

1. Brian Robinson — Water Into Wine
2. David Robinson — Healing of the Nobleman’s Son
3. Stephen Kring — Healing at Bethesda
4. Kirk Wellum — Feeding of 5,000
5. Glenn Tomlinson — Healing of the Blind Man
6. Ian Vaillancourt — Raising of Lazarus
7. Julian Freeman — The Huge Catch of Fish

Post from: Julian Freeman

More Free Sermons for Download

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Let me also say that I’m extremely thankful to my good friend, Tom Gee, who is also in the class with me, and who contributed just about all of the good questions you’ll read in the interview.

——–

What is the role of preaching in your church?

Pastor Paul W. Martin

Central. I’d say the pulpit drives any church, so the strength of your church will be directly correlated to the strength of the pulpit ministry.

You can two bad ways with it. You can go to where you elevate pulpit ministry above everything else to the point where you neglect, or you elevate everything else so that pulpit ministry becomes a lame con-versation by someone sitting on a stool with a mic.

But my own spiritual observations is that the healthiest churches are ones that are driven by a vibrant pulpit ministry, and if that is coupled by real pastoring then you are forced to deal with all the other stuff. So I can identify amazing pulpit ministries that I’ve been witness to that have in my view neglected real pastoring and then half floated in “preaching centres”, that’s all it is, it’s not church. Obviously the more dominant example would be churches that are caught up in all the external peripheral things that pulpit ministry is not there.

How do you create a sermon that seeks to change people?

I’ll start with a book that helped me with that, which is Jay Adams’ Preaching with Purpose. I think that book nails it. Every sermon ought to have a point, and it ought to drive to change because that’s its pur-pose in the church, to change. If I’m doing my study correctly, I’m trying to ask of the text all the time what difference does it make, or the so what. Why, if everything in the Scripture pertains to life and godliness, then why is this Scripture here? How does it pertain to life and godliness in my life, and how does it pertain to life and godliness in my sheep.

Having that question in mind in all of your study is going to help you decipher in the study what things are of import. So, I may need to know that this is a continuative gar or an explanatory gar, but they may not. Sometimes they do because for them to be, for the change to be effective, they need to see that this is absolutely essential for whatever reason. So I think having that question in the back of my mind, is very helpful.

And then I think that’s what drives illustration. So looking for ways to illustrate things that are cloudy, that are essential, for the ongoing change. And then, I think, prayer. As you prepare and as you preach, praying that the Lord will direct and knowing that the Spirit of God is the only agent of change.

And I find that often, I chuckle now, I was shocked earlier in my ministry, I find it kind of enjoyable now, to hear how the preached word brought change in someone’s life and 90% of the time it was nowhere in an area that I intended. People say, “you said this” and blah, blah, blah, and you just think well the Lord has his designs, I mean you laboured to do something, and no good, and that’s fine.

How do you develop illustrations? Do you gather material ahead of time?

I’m probably the worst person to talk to about that. I try to catch things I think might work, but I always forget that I have them. So I have a big file on my computer, that I’ll go to when I’m desperate. For me it’s a memory issue, I live in a 72 hour window all the time.

So, my goal is always to have at least two illustrations which are aimed at kids. I don’t always get it, but I want to have two times I can call out to kids in the sermon. Try to get into their world a little bit.
I just try to think of what’s happening in life, in news, read Google news every day. I’ve been working lately trying to use biblical examples more. Some people say you should only use OT stories, but it seems to me the Lord used a lot of things, fishermen, sheep, plants, I think we have liberty there to talk from the issues we know about. Whatever is going to make something clear; like the whole boomerang / ar-row thing, I knew it had to be illustrated somehow. I still don’t like it, but at least it was weird enough to make people think about the issue, like if they didn’t get it, they’re like “Huh?” But, that’s a good exam-ple of something that needs something to make sense, so it’s not just a thought out here where everybody can go “yeah, yeah” without really thinking about it.

What really helped me were those Walter letters. When I wrote those, I had a goal of illustration or word play or simile every sentence. I couldn’t always do it. Sometimes you need a sentence to build into it, but at least every paragraph. It got to be surprisingly easy. It really got my brain functioning in a different area. So I’m trying to pull that into my preaching. I can’t become Walter while preaching John, and that’s where it’s a little bit tricky, because it’s so tied to this imaginary character.

Biblical allusions… if you read the Puritans, they are always alluding to texts, they didn’t quote them, and I’m trying to work on that as well. You realize that young Christians are going to miss it completely, but phrases, not saying turn to Phil 2, but saying “he didn’t regard equality with God something to be grasped”, some people are going to think wow he just made that up, because they’ve never read it, but read the Puritans. Constant allusions to the text. When you start hearing it it really adds to your understanding.

Are there topics or types of things that you will intentionally use or not use for illustrations?

Illustrations are the servants of the truth. I will use anything that is not inherently sinful or offensive in the wrong sense, so long as it serves the purpose of conveying and applying truth.

In writing sermons, are you intentional to include humour, to exclude humour, or is it not that important to be intentional about?

It has to fit the text. Jesus used humour, but it always fit and it was not a dominant theme in his ministry; therefore it should not be in mine. There are 12 funny things I do not say for every one that pops into my head. But too much humour does two things: First, it shifts the focus off God and onto me, and second, it lightens the heaviness of truth. Like illustrations, humour must serve the truth, never obscure or diminish it.

Do you write out manuscripts for sermons or preach from notes? Do you memorize the sermon verbatim? Do you ever practice it aloud?

I am currently writing 90% manuscripts; that is, I write out 90% of what I plan to say. I take that to the pulpit and preach from it, but add to it and omit stuff from it as I go. I do not memorize the sermon, but I do try to learn the truth. Once I forgot my notes at home and did not realize until I walked to the front to preach. It was not my best sermon, but I was able to communicate the meaning of the text and preach from an outline, simply because it was all in the text. I do practice aloud on occasion, especially if there is a phrase or sentence that I want to get just right. I also find it a good way to experiment with my voice and expression.

How do you go about evaluating your preaching?

Tuesday staff meeting. I mean, you always do self-evaluation. Most of that happens as I go, as I’m preaching. If people are falling asleep… Like I was preaching the gospel—always try to include the gospel, in every sermon –and this one fellow who is a non-believer was talking in the back corner. So, in my moment-by-moment evaluation, I’m thinking they need to hear the gospel, they’re not hearing the gospel, so I start preaching into that corner. I catch each of them by eye, and I stare at them.

Some asked if I get Susan’s evaluation, and I don’t. I let her if she has something to say, but I remember Larry Crabb talking about pastors who jump in the car and the first they say is “Well?” That doesn’t need to be her role. She needs to sit under the word and not listen to me as an evaluator, she needs to be fed. At the same time, she has had some of the most helpful evaluations in my preaching, because she will see my inconsistencies and my pride faster than anybody else, and she has gently and lovingly identified that and called me out on it on numerous occasions, and it’s a great check, because now when I’m preaching I know that she’s aware of that, because she just feels that, it’s not that she’s looking for it, but she’ll just think c’mon Paul you’re being a kind of arrogant here. And I appreciate that, because I am arrogant and I would be a lot more arrogant in the pulpit if it wasn’t for my wife.

How have your sermon writing habits changed from the time you first starting preaching until now? Do you take more time or less time to prepare sermons now? Why is that?

My time is about the same. I thought it would get a lot less, but I am stupid and need a lot of time to say very obvious things! I went into more detailed study early on, parsing every word, jot and tittle, but after a while, you develop a sense for what must be done and your overall bank of knowledge increases. So I would say that there is a little less of the nitty-gritty, but maybe more on the end of application now than ever before. I have really been trying to work at that—and on illustrations as well.

What are some of the most common mistakes you’ve seen young men make in the area of sermon preparation / writing?

The basic mistake is this: they try to teach a seminary class in a church. They are more concerned about how they look than how God looks… they use archaic language, the message is sloppy, and ultimately comes out as boring and irrelevant. This is simply a result of arrogance. Humility seeks to magnify God through his revealed truth, not magnify self as the knower and dispenser of truth.

Why do you love preaching?

I feel his pleasure. I feel that this was what I was built to do. Qualified for those things. Even physically, I have a loud voice, because that’s what I think that’s who the Lord made me to be, to be a herald of the gospel. I can remember as a boy preaching at the cottage, with the waves crashing against the rock. I wasn’t even a Christian.

I always felt that that was what I was to do with my life. Wasn’t even that cognitive. I would say that I love the discovery of truth, and the challenge of packaging it in order to present it. I love the Spirit-attended energy of delivery, and looking into men’s hearts, and being given this privilege to speak and they’re going to listen, and leveraging the Spirit’s power through prayer and attendance and sticking to the word and doing things that are foolish, to see people change. And so I would say the final fruit of my love of preaching is changed lives, watching people alter their course of trajectory to become different people because the truth has come, through the Holy Spirit, to change. And you’ve been able to be a part of that. What’s not to love?
There’s even in the physical act of preaching. Lloyd-Jones talked about the electrical energy; not anxiety, but, it’s different. It’s different than talking. And, there is a pleasure even in that. Not in a sensual way, but, you follow your pleasures. I know for some people it’s terrifying to stand in front of people. I don’t like crowds. I don’t like being with people in that way.

Read the rest here…

Post from: Julian Freeman

Sermon Prep and Preaching: An Interview with Pastor Paul W. Martin

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There are many things I’m really excited about just in the life of Grace Fellowship Church. For instance, yesterday we were blessed to be able to bring into membership eight new members! Praise God! We recently had a baptism service and baptised six believers. Praise God for that!

The past two Sundays we’ve finally been able to get back into the preacher‘s series on the book of John. Yesterday it was a special blessing to consider the death and resurrection of Lazarus, and what it means the Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life. Awesome stuff!

Another thing that I’m really excited about is our Sunday evening teaching series, which is titled, ’26 Questions You Should Be Asking!’ The idea is to answer, in 26 messages, the most important questions you should ever ask.

How do we know they’re important? Because these are the questions that God has answered in his word, and we know that what he’s revealed are the very things we need to know. So the questions God has answered are the questions we should be asking… whether we’ve thought to ask them or not!

Here are links to the first few in the series. The series should take us into July. I’ll post a full list of the questions below as well, so you can see what’s coming.

1. How Can I Know What is True?
2. Who Is God?
3. How Many Gods Are There?
4. Where Did the World Come From?
5. Is The World Spinning Out of Control?
6. What is prayer and What Does it Do?
7. Are There Other Spiritual Beings?
8. Why Are We Here?
9. Is There Any Difference Between Men & Women?
10. What is Sin and What Difference Does it Make?
11. Who is Jesus?
12. Why Did Jesus Die?
13. Where is Jesus Now?
14. What is the Gospel?
15. What Does it Mean to Be Born Again?
16. What Can I Do About My Guilt?
17. Will My Life Ever Get Better?
18. Can I Lose My Salvation?
19. What Happens When I Die?
20. Who is the Holy Spirit?
21. What is the Church?
22. What is Baptism?
23. What is the Lord’s Supper?
24. Where Do I Fit in the Church?
25. What Will Happen at the End of Time?
26. What is the ‘After-Life’?

Post from: Julian Freeman

Exciting Stuff at GFC

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