One of my favorite classes in seminary was also the one that intimidated me the most. It was "Preaching" with Haddon Robinson. The class was at 8:00AM. That was early for me. So I would sleepily shuffle in sipping coffee from a tumbler, my brain still yawning awake. Dr. Robinson would enter the room with pace and purpose. He would have been in his seventies then, spending his retirement training the next generation of pastors, but he was as sharp as a tack. In fact, he taught every class, … [Read more...] about To Haddon Robinson
Preaching
The Key to Good Style
I have so enjoyed Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style. If you are writing books or sermons, blogs or lesson plans, you will greatly benefit from his thoughts on good communication. One particularly poignant section captures the secret to good style in a simple metaphor. Pinker writes: The guiding metaphor of classic style is seeing the world. The writer can see something that the reader has not yet noticed, and he orients the reader's gaze so that she can see it for herself. The purpose … [Read more...] about The Key to Good Style
Bryan Chapell on the Importance of Sermon Illustrations
A sermon of nothing but illustrations and stories feels thin and will leave the hearer hungry. But a sermon without any illustrations will fall short of deep impact. A healthy sermon needs truth illustrated. Bryan Chapell makes this point well in Using Illustrations to Preach with Power: "The mind yearns for, and needs, the concrete to anchor the abstract...Illustrations are not supplemental to good exposition; they are a necessary form of exposition in which biblical truths are … [Read more...] about Bryan Chapell on the Importance of Sermon Illustrations
Saving Eutychus
SAVING EUTYCHUSHow to preach God's word and keep people awakeBy Gary Millar and Phil Campbell Eutychus never knew that night would forever change his life. He never knew how close to death he sat. But he soon found out. What happened? Well, he fell asleep listening to Paul teach. Normally, we don't consider following asleep in a sermon to be the end of the world, but in this case, for Eutychus, it was. You see as Paul spoke late into the night, Eutychus dozed off...perched in an open … [Read more...] about Saving Eutychus
Preaching Lessons from the Gospel Coalition Conference 2013
I had the privilege of attending the 2013 Gospel Coalition Conference. The list of expositors was overwhelming. Each preacher came with a long and decorated resume, and each preacher was unique in his style and delivery. But despite the differences, I noticed some common threads running through every sermon. These threads were simple but substantial, and I am quite confident the inclusion of these threads will strengthen any sermon.Here they are for you: Clarity over Coyness. Almost every … [Read more...] about Preaching Lessons from the Gospel Coalition Conference 2013
Preach Better
Paul Tripp rips mediocre preaching. He challenges preachers everywhere to improve. He writes: "Preaching is more than regurgitating your favorite exegetical commentary, recasting the sermons of your favorite preachers, or reshaping notes from one of your favorite seminary classes. It is bringing the transforming truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ from a passage that has been properly understood, cogently and practically applied, and delivered with the engaging tenderness and passion of a … [Read more...] about Preach Better