The Free Offer of the Gospel ‘Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fears God, to you is the word of this salvation sent’ Act 13:26. The Gospel is 'good news'. The good news is that God's salvation is sent to you. Some people know about the Gospel, some …
Category: Preaching
What do we do about confusion in congregational preaching?
Intelligent listeners will notice differences in teaching between preachers even in the same denomination, as well as between denominations. The right of private judgment is permitted to Christians, but the continuous and unchallenged preaching of different doctrines only leads to confusion in congregations - and God is not the author of confusion 1Cor 14:33. So …
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What is the Gospel?
The Gospel is the good news of the free offer of eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only Advocate and High Priest for sinners. The apostle Paul summarised the essential elements in the Gospel at the beginning of his famous defence of the bodily resurrection of the …
Exegesis and eisegesis
As a divinity student in 1980 I came across the term 'exegesis' in reference to the exegesis of Scripture. It means 'drawing out' the meaning of a written text and Scripture in particular. I became aware of the opposite process – people reading into Scripture their own opinion and thus putting into Scripture something that …
Sermon preparation
Some bullet points on sermon preparation. 1. Have an interesting introduction. In Lectures to My Students, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 'the prince of 19th-century preachers', says that every notice should have the word “Attention!” at the top; and so every sermon should call attention to the topic of the sermon. It should be composed last, when …
Wise preaching
The wise king Solomon's advice on preaching: Ecc 12:10“the preacher sought”: a good preacher studies how to put across his teaching in an acceptable and memorable manner. “acceptable words”: to speak in a manner which will be well received by his hearers. This does not mean pleasing words, which will not upset people, but it …
Questions and answers in church and congregational life
In his first epistle to the Corinthians Paul deals with some congregational issues and in 1Cor 14:35 he says about wives: "if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, because it is a shame for women to speak in the church." This strongly suggests that husbands were asking questions in congregations …
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Being understood or hearer-friendly
It is a preacher’s task to make the Gospel understood by his hearers. "So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading" Neh 8:8. He must begin by making himself understood. If you cannot understand what a preacher is saying, it …
Relevance – the So What? factor
We cannot simply say things and expect others to understand their relevance. It is a teacher's task to make things relevant. I teach advanced driving. To improve observational skills, the driver under training is expected to comment on what he sees. It is not enough to say that he sees a vehicle, pedestrians, animals and …
Donald's Thoughts 