I suspect that those of you who hear a fair amount of preaching have experienced this, haven't you? Somewhere along the line the preacher has been informed that a rhetorical question is a good way to engage his congregation, hasn't he? And so what does he do? Well, he uses them almost relentlessly, doesn't he? Doesn't he make sentences that don't need to be questions into questions? If in doubt - and perhaps this is the most distressing approach - he even throws in some form of interrogation at the end of most sentences, doesn't he? continue

What are the priorities of preachers and teachers of God's word to be? Given that we are today celebrating the graduation of a class of students, many of whom will be moving into pastoral ministry, it seems apposite to spend just a few moments reflecting on Paul's priorities for ministers. Of course, we can scarcely do that in any comprehensive manner in the time we have and so I will focus on just one verse from Paul's first letter to Timothy. continue

One final, yet crucial aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry, which must be considered in relationship to the preacher of God, is that of power. continue

Learning from Peter's PreachingIf you have young children or grandchildren in your family, perhaps you've seen the Disney-Pixar film, A Bug's Life.  The movie imaginatively portrays life in an ant colony which is visited annually by a group of marauding... continue

Relatively early in my preaching career I had the opportunity to preach the opening sermon at a conference.  The main conference speaker was a man that I consider to be one of the finest preachers of our times.  After hearing... continue

I am currently preaching through Paul's letter to the Romans. Romans is arguably the greatest letter ever written. It is majestic in its theme and scope. It proclaims the gospel, the good news that sinners can be saved from God's wrath because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and through faith in Christ alone. continue

The Word of God must be preached plainly and simply, not in allusions and doubtful terms, not in innuendoes and learned phrases; not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth; not with the... continue

No, not advice about brushing your teeth regularly, flossing wisely, or avoiding Stilton and garlic soup before that pastoral visit - that would be oral hygiene. This is - to give it its technical name - vocal hygiene: keeping the... continue

Preachers are meant to be conduits for the pure word of God. Sometimes the pipe gets dirty and what comes out is impure. Sometimes the pipe gets clogged and the truth gets impeded. Some preachers have poorer settings: trickle, fine... continue

A last snippet, for now, from Thomas Foxcroft's The Gospel Ministry once more, fairly early on in his sermon, exhorting himself and other ministers to preach Jesus in every sense:Ministers then must study to feed their flocks with a continual... continue

The Gospel MinistryThomas FoxcroftSoli Deo Gloria (RHB), 87pp, hbkISBN 978-1-56769-061-3This unusual but highly profitable little volume is a preacher's own ordination sermon. It was preached in 1717 by Thomas Foxcroft as he set out to demonstrate to the congregation which... continue

Last Sunday I failed again. I often fail on the Lord's day, but this Sunday evening was one of those particularly noticeable occasions. There were a number of factors at play, as there always are, but there was at least... continue

Although some of the phrasing is a little dusty, and the period needs to be borne in mind, there is some sound advice here about the pursuit of plainness in preaching from William Plumer:The Word of God must be preached... continue

Not long ago, I received a very generous offer. One of the current glitterati of the evangelical scene was going to be preaching, and I was invited to go along and hear him speak . . . in person .... continue

Dr William Bates preached the funeral sermon of Thomas Manton. When we read how he described his departed friend, we understand why it is reported that Bates would weep whenever he spoke of Manton for some years after his friend's... continue

How would you close a sermon? How would you bring to an end a sermon in which you were pleading for sinners to receive God's great pardon for sin? Here is an example from Spurgeon, preaching from Psalm 25.11 ("Pardon... continue

Wilhelmus à Brakel offers some good advice to the gospel minister:He ought to use all his scholarship to formulate the matters to be presented, in order that he might express them in the clearest and most powerful manner. While using... continue

The popular description of the biblical gospel as "the story of Jesus" and the attendant call to "make God's story part of your story" now appears to have its own tailor-made Bible translation. The newly released The Voice encourages readers... continue

Anselm Mulliner is a character in one of P. G. Wodehouse's short stories, entitled "Anselm Gets His Chance," available in the collection Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (US), for those interested. Anselm is curate of the parish of Rising Mattock in... continue

Alexander Somerville (1813-1889) was a close friend of Robert Murray M'Cheyne. They went to school and university together. As divinity students, they met for the study of the Bible using both the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament,... continue

It is usually after I have thought through or more formally prepared the introduction to a sermon that I again sit back and remember to pray. I do not mean that I should not or do not pray until that... continue

"It is of great importance in preaching the Gospel, to discriminate between the different characters to whom we deliver our message, and to separate the precious from the vile. If this be neglected, the wicked will hold fast their delusions,... continue

I just finished writing my Sunday sermon on 1 Samuel 18. A few weeks ago, I began working through the life of David, beginning in 1 Samuel 16 and extending to the end of 2 Samuel. As I have it... continue

Last Sunday each of our slated morning and evening preachers had originally chosen the same text for his sermon--the song of Simeon in Luke 2. I know because I was the evening preacher. Now hearing two (hopefully) biblical sermons on... continue

Can we learn something of how to preach from the Epistle to the Hebrews?  We have heard that the first three rules for understanding a passage are "context, context, and context."  Strange, then, isn't it, that the author of Hebrews introduces almost... continue

"It all comes down to authority, doesn't it?" Stretching out his hand across the coffee shop table and resting it atop the Bible in front of him, a recent college graduate confessed to pastor Todd Pruitt that he had lost... continue

'The ratio of grind to glamour is three to one'.   This was an off-the-cuff remark made recently on a UK television documentary on the topic of oratory. Taking January's Presidential inauguration in Washington as its cue, the programme traced the... continue

The text of a recent address by Al Mohler on preaching is available on his blog.  A must-read for any preacher who feels tired and discouraged. Here.... continue

Colin Adam has assembled a massive list of online resources (written and video) on exposition.  Great stuff to work through here.... continue

The folks at SovGrace have just announced the C.J. Mahaney sermon archive. You can listen to audio or watch video in their entirety or excerpts. Should be excellent stuff! Also, folks might want to check out the Carl F.... continue

Summer vacation (as well as a teaching trip to Regent College in Vancouver) begins next week.  As I anticipate laying down many of the burdens of pastoral care, at least for a little while, here is a salutary reminder of... continue

Writing in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, David Wells explains what our church and our culture need: "The renewal of which we stand in need, I believe, is of both the understanding of truth and of our knowledge... continue

I appreciated Ligon's reference to Derek's sermon on Ezra, and the need for us to match our personal performance with our pulpit ministry ('Study. Live. Preach', below).   That thought was on my own mind recently as I've been reading... continue

Ezra 7:10 "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel." (ESV) I was struck as I listened last night to yet another... continue

Today, in my morning worship, the section of scripture was Romans 9-11 and smack dab in the middle of it, of course, were these words from Romans 10:14. There were a number of thoughts that struck me:1) While we rightly... continue

It seems increasingly to me that one of the challenges facing theologians and preachers in the Reformed tradition is to explicate the statement of the Westminster Confession of Faith that 'neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to... continue

It has been so long since I have made a post that I am (almost) embarrassed to return.  But I wanted to make sure that people knew about the upcoming Workshop on Biblical Exposition at Tenth Presbyterian Church on February... continue