Exegesis vs Exposition

Michael Duduit explains the difference between exegesis and exposition here.

H.B. Charles on Biblical Preaching

You can read H. B. Charles' understanding of biblical preaching here.

What is Biblical Preaching?

Eric Geiger attempts to answer that question here.

A Return to Biblical Preaching

  

Although the following was published by John Bright in 1967, I think that the message still needs to be heeded.

"But first a plea—and perhaps a rather homiletical one—that ought not to be necessary., but unfortunately is: a plea for a return to biblical preaching generally, which is to say, to preach based on the authority of the biblical Word. The overriding concern in the entire discussion, and the one that caused it to be undertaken in the first place, has been that such preaching be done. The strength of the church lies in the gospel it proclaims—thus in its preaching—today, as it always has. And since the church stands under the authority of the Word, it follows that the best preaching—nay, the only proper preaching—is biblical preaching. Only biblical preaching carries with it the authority of the Word.If therefore, the Christian pulpit is ever to regain the power and respect which rightfully belongs to it, it will be through a return to biblical preaching."

John Bright, The Authority of the Old Testament (London: SCM Press, 1967), 162. 
  

Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

"Preaching Christ from the Old Testament means that we preach, not synagogue sermons, but sermons that take account of the full drama of redemption, and its realization in Christ. To see the text in relation to Christ is to see it in its larger context, the context of God's purpose in revelation. We do not ignore the specific message of the text, nor will it do to write an all-purpose Christocentric sermon finale and tag it for weekly use.

"You must preach Christ as the text presents him. If you are tempted to think that most Old Testament texts do not present Christ, reflect on both the unity of Scripture and the fullness of Jesus Christ. Christ is present in the Bible as the Lord and as the Servant."

Edmund P. Clowney, Preaching Christ in All of Scripture (Wheaton: Crossway, 2003), 11.

Five Crucial Sermon Questions

  

These are five crucial quiestions for every sermon to raise and answer.

1. What does this text teach about God and his character and ways?

2. What does the text teach about fallen humanity?

3. How does this text point to Christ?

4. What does God want my people to know?

5. What does God want my people to do?

Daniel L. Akin, Bill Curtis, and Stephen Rummage, Engaging Exposition (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2011), 133-34..

Tweaking Your Preaching

  

Peter Mead has some helpful suggestions for tweaking certain elements in one's preaching. I found the following comment to be particularly spot on.

"Instead of passionately pursuing the preaching of the message of the text, many preachers choose instead to preach their message from the text.  That is, they use the biblical text as a starting point, but at the end the listeners don’t feel they know the text any better than at the beginning.  Don’t preach from a text, preach the text.  (I think this is the hardest one to spot in a mirror – every preacher thinks they are explaining the text.  Perhaps you should ask someone who knows the Bible well and be ready to listen to what they tell you!)"

Read Peter's entire post here.
 

Exegesis and Preaching

"The process of exegesis is hard work. Natural talent provides a significant advantage when you are presenting the sermon, but there is no substitute for good, hard work when preparing a sermon from the biblical text. At times the research may be tedious, but the results of this hard work can be very exciting and a powerful agent of change in people’s lives.”

Paul D. Wegner, Using Old Testament Hebrew in Preaching: A Guide for Students and Pastors (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2009), 71.

Spiritualizing the Text

“Spiritualizing involves turning the physical realities of a biblical text into unwarranted spiritual analogies and applications. When preaching about Jesus calming the storm on Galilee, for example, a preacher might say, ‘This storm represents the storms that we often face on the sea of life.’ Or, when discussing the Israelites' seven-circuit march around the walls of Jericho, he might spiritualize the event by listing seven acts of obedience in response to which God will remove the obstacles that stand in our way. When preaching about God's parting the Red Sea, he might spiritualize the text by saying, ‘The Red Sea represents the difficulties in your life. This text teaches that God will carve a path straight through them.’

When we spiritualize the details of a text, we divorce that text from the original author's meaning and purpose. We snatch the authority from the inspired pen of the biblical writer and invest it in our own imaginations. Though the advice we give and applications we make may provide help to our listeners, we inadvertently put words into God’s mouth that He never spoke. We attach a ‘thus saith the Lord’ to an application that would cause the original writer to scratch his head.”

Daniel Overdorf, Applying the Sermon: How to Balance Biblical Integrity and Cultural Relevance (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2009), 74-5.

Diligent Preparation for Preaching

I was recently flipping through an older book by Andrew Blackwood entitled Preaching from Samuel. I was stunned and convicted to read the following paragraph.

"In order to master the twin books of Samuel the parish minister needs to map out a fairly extensive course of study at home. Ideally he would begin with the original Hebrew, and then work slowly. The present writer has done that in many parts of the twofold record. At one time he went rapidly through First Samuel in the Hebrew and the Greek, the Latin and the French, as well as the German. In the coming pages he will refer mainly to the American Revised Version, partly because of the division into paragraphs. He regrets that he has not had access to the forthcoming revision by present-day American scholars. That work should prove worthy of note for accuracy of translation and beauty of English prose" (Andrew Blackwood, Preaching from Samuel [New York: Abingdon, 1946], 13).

I wonder how many of us pursue our study of a text that we will be preaching with the same kind of diligence.

Preaching from the Synoptic Gospels

See this post on preaching from the Synoptic Gospels.

Concluding Observations on The Glory of Preaching

I have devoted a number of posts to introducing Darrell Johnson’s The Glory of Preaching (see here, here, here, and here). Having now read the book I offer the following concluding observations. First, this is a book about preaching for preachers. This might seem obvious given the title, but it is important to note that Johnson often assumes that his audience has a general familiarity with exegesis, homiletics, and general theological studies. Those less familiar with these disciplines might feel a bit lost at times. This leads to a second observation, that this work is not really an introductory text to expository preaching. Johnson does discuss the process of creating and delivering a sermon, but not in sufficient detail as to serve as an introductory text. Third, while The Glory of Preaching is not introductory, it is warmly devotional and motivational. The author clearly appreciates the practice of preaching and how that practice relates to the church, the world, and the preacher himself. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to preachers who are in need both of affirmation concerning the importance of what they do and encouragement to do better what they do.

The Problem With Topical Preaching

“Yes, there is a role for sermons other than expository ones. So-called topical preaching, for example, does sometimes participate in God's transformation of people’s lives. But the communicator runs two risks in preaching typically. One one hand, topical preaching leaves too much to the preacher's ability to come up with the content of the sermon. And on the other, topical preaching can give an impression about the Bible that is not accurate. The preacher has to rummage through all kinds of different verses and try to make some coherent sense of them; too much is left to the preacher's ability to pull a message together. Such an approach suggests the Bible is a collection of sayings about various topics, a depository of principles to live by, rather than what it is, the story of the living God creating and redeeming a people for himself, for a world truly filled with the knowledge of his glory.”

Darrell W. Johnson, The Glory of Preaching: Participating in God's Transformation of the World (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2009), 54.

The Glory of Preaching

I am looking forward to providing a fuller interaction with Darrell Johnson's The Glory of Preaching soon. But in the meantime I thought I would introduce the book. Here is the publishers introduction of the book.

In these pages you will find a vision of preaching that is both illuminating and inspiring. Drawing from biblical and theological resources as well as years in the pulpit, Darrell Johnson takes us far beyond the mere mechanics of delivering sermons. He dynamically unpacks the link between the human task of speaking to a congregation and the real, gracious action and presence of the living Christ in and through our proclamation.

Johnson assists preachers to profoundly engage the biblical text and then liberates them to make use of their own personality, gifts and abilities as they communicate that message.

This book is for any pastor or student who wants to cultivate a deeper pulpit approach, one that participates in the transforming mystery of God working through our less-than-perfect proclamation. Here is a solid foundation for preaching the good news as if God was living, Jesus was resurrected and the Holy Spirit was faithfully at work among us.

Here is the table of contents:

Prologue: Something Always Happens
Part 1:Theoretical Foundations for Participating
1 Why Does It Happen: A Vision (Ezekiel 37)
2 Does It Really Always Happen?: A Parable (Matthew 13)
3 Where Does It Happen?: A Paradigm for Expository Preaching
4 How Does It Happen?: Verbs of Participation
Part 2: Human Mechanics of Participating
5 Moving from Text to Sermon: Inhabiting the Text
6 Moving into the Sermon: Ordering for Orality
7 Walking the Sermon into Every Life: Implications and Application
8 The Person of the Preacher: Truth Through Personhood
9 The Life of the Preacher: Living In
Part 3: Theoretical Foundations Again
10 Standing In the Mystery: The Space in Which We Preach
Epilogue: A Sermon--The Main Thing: Included! (Matthew 11:25-30)
Author and Subject Index
Scripture Index

You can read portions of the book here.

Much Thanks to Adrianna Wright at IVP for the review copy.

Preaching That Sticks

See Ed Stetzer's artcle, "Preaching that Sticks" here.

Dale Ralph Davis on Old Testament Narratives

See this post by Colin Adams on Dale Ralph Davis concerning elen things to look for in reading and applying Old Testament narratives.

Interesting List of Essential Books for Preaching

Jason Goroncy has posted an interesting list of books on preaching here. After looking at the list I wonder if this might be better called an essential list of books to be read by preachers. In any case, check out the list. It is quite eclectic.

HT: Glen Scrivener

Expository Preaching Conference Featuring the Psalms

Hear free audio from the recent Advanced Expository Preaching Conference held lat month at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The four messages posted are:

Craig Blaising – Exegetical Foundations for Preaching the Psalms
Steven Smith Strategies for Preaching Through the Psalms
David Allen Psalm 1 and Using Hebrew
Calvin Pearson Psalm 46 and Using Art in Preaching

You can access these messages here.

Expository Preaching Conference

Criswell College is hosting an expository preaching conference on October 5 & 6, 2009, The theme is “Prophetic Preaching in a Decaying Society.” Speakers include David Allen, Mac Brunson, John Mark Caton, W. A. Criswell (by video), O. S. Hawkins, Greg Heisler, and Alan Streett. The registration fee is $40 or $25 for students. The registration includes a DVD set of sermons by W. A. Criswell, a DVD of his sermon preparation methods, two free books, and a dinner and lunch. To register call 214-818-1316.

Lecterns and Pupits

Peter Mead provides some good common sense advice about lecterns and pulpits here.