Preaching and Preachers: Lecture 1

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I have found gold online! Mljtrust.org is the website of one of the greatest expositor's of the 20th century, Martin Lloyd Jones. There are some profound quotes that he said in the lecture:

"Preaching is the primary task of the Church"

My immediate thought was "Evangelism is the primary task of the Church"; however, evangelism takes place through preaching the Word! In his lecture, Lloyd Jones showed from the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles that preaching was the primary task of the church. He argued that preaching was the primary task of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to preach good news. Miracles and Healing was secondary to preaching. He also commissioned his disciples to preach the Word. In Acts, the apostle Peter preached at Pentecost (Acts 2). When there was a crisis of the distribution in Acts 6 concerning the Jews and the Greek Jews, the apostles chose seven men so they could devote themselves to prayer and preaching the Word (Acts 6:4). As the disciples were scattered because of persecution in Acts 8, the went about preaching the Word (Acts 8:4). In his final letter to Timothy, Paul told Timothy to Preach the Word! (2 Tim. 4:1-5). These reflections strengthen my conviction to faithfully preach the Word of God! Lord, help me be a faithful expositor of your Word! Help me declare only what You have spoken in Your holy Scriptures! For your glory. Amen

How I Prepare for Sermons

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With the upcoming Spring semester at The Master's Seminary, I am taking two preaching classes to help refine and improve my preaching skills. With that in mind, I just want to review my sermon process.

1. Read the Text

This is obvious. I pray that God would give me understanding and it His Word would saturate my soul.

2. Analyze the Text

I normally print out a Greek and English translation on Mondays and make a preliminary translation. I am not that skilled in Greek yet, so I must confess I use Bible Works to check my parsing and words I do not know. After translating the text, I ask questions, mark the text, and reread the text. This happens ideally on Tuesday.

3. Observe the Text

After a preliminary translation, I have about five or six commentaries I dive into. Some of the commentaries I often use are John MacArthur's New Testament Commentaries, anything by John Stott, commentaries by John Calvin, and NIV application commentaries because they are easy to read. Commentaries help me look at cultural information, word studies, grammar, geography or any other relevant information. This happens ideally on Wednesday.

4. Outline the Text

After a rough translation and looking at several commentaries, I try to create a simple outline that will be easy to follow. I confess that my default outline is a three point sermon, however, I have preached sermons with five or six points. This ideally happens Wednesday or Thursday.

5. Memorize the Text

As I continue to examine the text, I try to memorize the Scripture I am preaching from. I will recite it my head while driving to School or before I go to bed. I think about how my points comes from the text (or doesn't) and constantly rehearse in my head what I'm going to say. This happens throughout the whole week.

6. Manuscript the Text

On Friday Mornings, I write out my manuscript. My basic manuscript outline consists of an: Introduction, Biblical Background Information, Main Proposition, Scripture Reading, Main Points, Summary, and Conclusion. With that Skeleton, I fill in the blanks with my outline and studies throughout the week. After filling stuff in and distracted by facebook, thegospel coalition, and other things, I look for illustrations on the internet or my personal journal to help explain my main points. My introductions are not as strong, but I will normally write it during this time. Same with my conclusion.

7. Pray Over the Text

After my manuscript is done, I pray that the Lord would use me to preach His Word. I get feelings of anxiety, depression, excitement, sorrow, discouragement, and comfort every week before I preach. I get anxious because I think, "Man I hope this is clear...." I get depressed at times because I don't live up to God's standards or dealing with personal sin throughout the week. I get excited by reminding myself of the gospel. I get discouragement from various trials of life and ministry. I find comfort from reminding myself that God converts the heart and I am merely an instrument who is called to be faithful. I also find great comfort from my wife.

8. Deliver the Text

Sunday morning comes and I am ready to go by 8:30. I teach Sunday School at 9 and print out my manuscript that morning. 10 minutes before the service starts, my wife prays for me and tells me, "My love, be simple, be clear, use illustrations! I love you!" As the hymn of preparation begins, I walk up to the pulpit asking that God would be glorified and Christ would be exalted by the power of the Holy Spirit. As I preach, the Lord uses me as his instrument and he has always been by my side.

9. Rest

After the closing prayer, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I trust God for the whole process and ask my wife if I was clear and if it went well. And of course, my wife always encourages me and tells me the Lord used me. I go home for my traditional afternoon nap and normally eat dinner with my wife and parents as I try to gospelize them. Monday morning comes and I repeat the process.