Comments on: What makes a good sermon?

By: What makes a good sermon?? «

What makes a good sermon?? « — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:29:06 +0000

[…] I need to be the best conduit that I can be. On my web wanderings today I found this article by Mark Brown. He makes some interesting points. Have a […]

By: Pauline Hoggarth

Pauline Hoggarth — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:59:59 +0000

Thanks, Mark, this was a helpful item and some helpful feedback. Agonising over sermons is no new thing. In 1965 Helmut Thielicke wrote that most sermons were ‘the mere grinding out of a routine vocabulary - God, grace, sin, justification - which produces a kind of Christian gobblegook that never gets under anybody’s skin and at most elicits the reaction, “Well, that’s the way the minister has to speak, but what’s it to me”.’ I’ve always found Walter Brueggemann’s reflections on the interface between Scripture and life extremely helpful. For example in his wonderful book, ‘Finally Comes the Poet’ he writes, ‘The gospel is too readily heard and taken for granted, as though it contained no unsettling news and no unwelcome threat. What began as news in the gospel is easily assumed, slotted and conveniently dismissed. We depart having heard, but without noticing the urge to transformation that is not readily compatible with our comfortable believing…The gospel…is a truth that has been flattened, trivialized and rendered inane…closed, managed, useful truth…The church on Sunday morning…may be the last place left in our society for imaginative speech that permits people to enter into new worlds of faith and to participate in joyous, obedient life…To address the issue of a truth greatly reduced requires us to be poets that speak against a prose world.’ Yes!!

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:48:39 +0000

A couple week’s ago, a student in Sunday School asked us if we prayed for the preacher during the week. Most of us dropped our eyes. The next day, I decided to pray every day for three things:
1. careful and deep preparation
2. clarity of thought
3. passion of heart
So, I guess that’s what I look for in a sermon.

By: Helene Milena

Helene Milena — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:12:07 +0000

I’m reading John Stott’s ‘The Living Church’. He says that there are a number of characteristics in Christian preaching and lists them as five paradoxes:
Biblical and contemporary - taking the text and relating it to the world
Authoritative and tentative - acknowledging the infallibility of the Word and the limitations of the preacher
Prophetic and pastoral - being faithful to the Word but gentle with those who fall short
Gifted and studied - the ability to preach is a gift but also requires self-discipline in the preacher to develop the gift
Thoughtful and passionate - well researched but with fire there too

John Stott quotes Billy Graham as saying that if he had his ministry again he would study three times as much and pray more.

By: Loren

Loren — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:15:09 +0000

How about prayer? I wonder how much time pastors actually spend in prayer that God will speak through them. Preachers are tool, instruments, that are used by God. Thorough preparation is an absolute necessity, but all the resources, visual illustrations, and object lessons accomplish nothing without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. There is no substitute for prayer.

By: Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:13:56 +0000

For me, the sermon is the pinnacle of the worship service, as God’s Word is preached…

So hat do I look for? Pretty much what you have put here already…

Faithful exegesis, practical application and good presentation are the important things for me, and its what I endeavour to do when I am preaching… Those three things make it memorable to me when I hear a sermon… I still remember hearing John Stott preaching a sermon back in the 90s entitled “The Hound of Heaven”… No gimmicks, just a message faithly given in the power of the Spirit!

Have a blessed week, mate…

Dave

By: How to Create a Good Sermon? | The Digital Sanctuary

How to Create a Good Sermon? | The Digital Sanctuary — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:00:38 +0000

[…] post from my Anglican friend, Mark Brown, about changing times and what makes a good sermon. Bible preaching, Bible teaching, Brown Blog, Mark Brown, sermon relevance what makes a good […]