Sermon Preparation with the Bible in One Hand and the Hymnal in the Other

Karl Barth's pairing of the Bible and the newspaper is well known: "We should read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other." True enough. But I would like to make a similar suggestion to my fellow preachers. Preachers should prepare with the Bible in one hand and with the hymnal in the other.

Let me explain what I mean. If you are a preacher and you do not use the texts of hymns (ancient or modern) to illustrate the truths you preach, you are failing to take advantage of an incredibly helpful and powerful means of illustration. Here are five reasons why incorporating hymn texts in your preaching can prove beneficial.

• Hymn texts, and especially familiar hymn texts, often have deep emotional roots in the hearts of believers, which makes them particularly effective (and memorable) for vividly illustrating a biblical truth. 

• Hymn texts are poetic in nature, and poetry can have a strong oratorical effect.

• Hymn texts, in and of themselves, teach us something theologically (sometimes good, sometimes bad). So, why not utilize the good ones to help teach our hearers the truth that they are singing, and how the truth in that song is based on the truth of God's Word? This helps connect the biblical and theological dots for them - both in the biblical text and in the hymn that they may have sung hundreds of times before but never really thought about until you pointed it out to them. 

• Hymn texts that are used well in a sermon illustration will be sung with much more understanding and appreciation the next time around. In other words, using that hymn text as an illustration makes that hymn even more meaningful for your hearers, which means you are helping strengthen and reinforce the importance of congregational singing (as well as the importance of singing good theology). 

• Hymn texts that are quoted in a sermon, when those hymns either have been sung or will be sung in the same worship service, unifies the worship experience and teaches the congregation something about the holistic nature of public worship.

"That's My King!" - S.M. Lockridge

Yesterday morning, while preaching on the Kingship of Jesus Christ, I quoted a brief excerpt from the now famous sermon on the same theme by S.M. Lockridge. If you're familiar with this sermon, then you know that just quoting it (especially by a white man like me) doesn't do it justice. You need to hear it from Lockridge himself to get the full effect. So, I thought I'd post it here for those of you who may have never heard it before (I'm using the video just so you can see his actual words as you listen). And believe me, it's well worth the six minutes it takes to hear this!

 

A Brief Description of Sermon Preparation

I love this paragraph by Kent Hughes from his article, "Reading the Bible for Preaching and Public Worship," in the ESV Study Bible:

This is what should routinely happen to the preacher: the message should work its way through his whole intellectual and moral being as he prepares for and practices the proclamation of God's Word. When the message has affected him deeply, then he is ready to preach. Sermon preparation is twenty hours of prayer. It is humble, holy, critical thinking. It is repeatedly asking the Holy Spirit for insight. It is the Word penetrating into the depths of the preacher's own soul. It is ongoing repentance. It is utter dependence. It is a singing heart.

Sermons Are Not for Liking

Tim Challies reminds us that Sermons Are Not for Liking:

Today I want to share a lesson I’ve learned that applies primarily to those of us who listen to preaching (as I do, most Sundays, since I am not an every-Sunday kind of preacher). Here’s the lesson: Sermons are not for liking. Sermons are for listening, they are for discerning, they are for applying, but they are not for liking. You don’t get to like or dislike a sermon. We tend to ask questions like, “So how did you enjoy the sermon today?” It is just the wrong question to ask.

Read the entire post here to see exactly what he means.

*I appreciate one of our church members making me aware of this article.

The Importance of Prayer to Preaching

If you are a preacher of God's Word, let this spur you on to pray more urgently as you prepare.  If you are listener of God's Word, let this encourage you to pray regularly for your pastor and other preachers as they prepare.

While it's true that there has been a significant resurgence of biblical preaching, I'm not sure this has been accompanied by a resurgence in praying - and especially not prayer about preaching.

Gradually, we seem to be losing sight of the fact that God uses weak and sinful people, and that he uses them only by grace. Yes, we may sow, plant, and water - but only God gives growth. That's true in your local church and mine. It's also true of every podcast and e-book and conference address under the sun. God doesn't use people because they are gifted. He uses people (even preachers) because he is gracious. Do we actually believe that? If we do believe it, then we will pray - we will pray before we speak, and we will pray for others before they speak. It's that simple.

--Gary Millar and Phil Campbell, Saving Eutychus: How to Preach God's Word and Keep People Awake 

The Disadvantage to Printed Sermons

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in an essay about George Whitefield, once commented on the disadvantage of printed sermons with the following words.  May they serve as a reminder to us of the value of hearing the Word preached (of actually hearing the "thunder" and seeing the "lightning"):

[Whitefield] was asked one day for a copy of the sermon he had preached in order that it might be published, and this was his reply. He said, "I have no objection, if you will print the lightning, thunder, and rainbow with it."

You cannot put preaching into cold print; it is impossible. You can put the contents of the sermon, but you cannot put the preaching; you cannot put the "lightning," you cannot put the "thunder" - the roar of the thunder, the flash of the lightning - you cannot capture the "rainbow." All that is in the spoken word, in the action, in everything about the preacher. You cannot put that in print....[T]o read a sermon and to listen to it being preached are not the same thing. Thank God the Spirit can use a written sermon, but it does not compare with a preached sermon.

--Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "Calvin and Whitefield," in Puritan Papers, Volume 3  

Ray Van Neste Preaching at FBC Jackson on Sunday

For those of you in and around Jackson, I encourage you to come hear Ray Van Neste preach God's Word for us at First Baptist Church at 9:00 this Sunday morning, October 21.

Dr. Van Neste serves as Professor of Biblical Studies and Director of the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University.  And for those of you who benefit from the ESV Study Bible, you might be interested to know that Ray wrote the notes for the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus).  He also recently co-edited a book on the Psalms, Forgotten Songs: Reclaiming the Psalms for Christian Worship.

A Sermon in Wood

We just completed a renovation of the sanctuary at our church in honor of our 175th Anniversary.  As a part of that renovation, we got a new pulpit (pictured above).  The following is an excerpt from the introduction of my first sermon in it, which I hope served as an appropriate dedication of the new pulpit and a fitting reminder of the fact that the pulpit matters because the Word of God preached from it matters.

Christians of the Greek Orthodox tradition have a wonderful saying about church architecture, which says, “A beautiful church is a sermon in stone.” In other words, the architecture of the church itself says something – the cruciform shape of the sanctuary, the vaulted ceilings and large columns that force your eyes upward to heaven and remind you of how small you are, the symbols of different aspects of the Christian faith used throughout. The artistry of the building is a sermon all by itself, a sermon in stone, as the Greek Orthodox say.

Well, when we as a church decided several months ago to renovate our sanctuary, I knew there wasn’t much need for me to weigh in on the decorative decisions because we had a great committee who was very capable of making those decisions. And haven’t they done a wonderful job! But I did want to have input on one thing. I wanted to have input on the new pulpit. And not for the reason you may think. It wasn’t just because I would be the one preaching from it. In fact, I hope our new pulpit is here long after I’m gone, so that’s not the main reason I wanted to have input on it. I wanted to have input on it because I wanted the pulpit itself to be symbolic of what we believe and value as a church. I wanted it to communicate something all by itself. I wanted our pulpit to be more than just a piece of furniture; I wanted it to be a sermon in wood. I wanted it to be a symbolic sermon all by itself.

So in a day and age in which many churches are moving away from even having pulpits, I wanted someone who walked into our sanctuary (even if it was empty and even if they knew nothing about us) to see our new pulpit and say to themselves, “This looks like a church that values the Word.” In a day and age in which pulpits seem to be getting smaller and smaller, I wanted us to have a pulpit that no one could miss…and I think we’ve succeeded! So if you’re wondering why our new pulpit is so large, the reason is because I wanted it to serve as a symbolic reminder to me and to anyone else who preaches in it of the weight and gravity and significance of the task of preaching. Puny pulpits too easily lend themselves to puny preaching. Lightweight pulpits are too susceptible to lightweight preaching that’s shallow and superficial. And we don’t want puny, lightweight, superficial preaching at First Baptist Church!

In a day and age in which biblical, expository preaching is lacking, I wanted us to have a pulpit that serves as an ever-present reminder that the regular, consistent preaching that should happen in our church is the preaching of the Word of God. That’s why “Preach the Word” is inscribed on the front of the new pulpit. And in a day and age in which the gospel is being distorted and even denied, I wanted us to have a pulpit placed right in the center of our sanctuary with a cross right on the middle of it, so that we remember that what is central here at First Baptist Church is the Word of God and what is central to the Word of God is Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen from the dead. So, that’s why there’s a cross right in the middle of our new pulpit.

Therefore, our new pulpit is more than just a piece of furniture. Our beautiful, new pulpit is a sermon in wood. But here’s the challenge that lies before us – will the sermons that flow from that pulpit match the sermon that is that pulpit? Will what comes out of it match what is on it? Will the actual sermons match the symbolic sermon? Because I’ve seen, and I’m sure you’ve seen, many a beautiful church building whose architecture preaches a wonderful symbolic sermon, but the actual sermons in those churches seem to speak of another God entirely. I’ve seen many a large, beautiful pulpit and yet what flows from those pulpits is a far cry from the Word of God.

So yes, the symbolism of our new pulpit is significant, and it matters. It says something, and it says something really important. But it’s not enough. Our new pulpit must be more than just a symbol. We need the actual sermons that flow from that pulpit to match the symbolic sermon that is that pulpit. We need sermons that recognize the weight and gravity and magnitude of being a messenger of the very words of God. We need sermons that point us to the cross of Calvary, that are centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we need sermons that exposit the truth of Scripture, that preach the Word of God, that recognize that "man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God," that recognize that "faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ," and that recognize that "the grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of our God will stand forever."

Robert Smith in Jackson This Weekend

For those of you in and around Jackson, Tennessee, I wanted to make you aware of a few events and opportunities to hear Robert Smith, Jr.  Dr. Smith will be preaching twice and leading a workshop for preachers here this weekend.   He will be preaching in chapel at Union University and in the morning worship at First Baptist Church, Jackson.   

I encourage you to go and hear one of the Church's most gifted preachers alive today.  Below are the dates, times, and places.      




Preaching in Chapel at Union University
Friday, September 7
10:00 AM
G.M. Savage Chapel

Preaching Workshop
Friday, September 7
2:00-4:30 PM
Grant Center at Union University
Free Event (please email churchrelations@uu.edu to let them know you're going) 

• 2:00 PM - Christ-Centered Preaching
• 3:00 PM - Doctrinal Preaching
• 4:00 PM - Q&A / Time of Prayer

Preaching at First Baptist Church, Jackson
Sunday, September 9
9:00 AM

Shepherds Feeding the Sheep or Clowns Entertaining the Goats?

Charles Spurgeon spoke these prophetic words in the 1800s.  It's sad how true they have become in our own day.

A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.

A Word to Fellow Preachers on Using Hymns as Illustrations

If you are a preacher and you do not use the texts of hymns (ancient or modern) to illustrate the truths you preach, you are failing to take advantage of an incredibly helpful and powerful means of illustration.  I say this for at least five reasons.

1. Hymn texts, and especially familiar hymn texts, often have deep emotional roots in the hearts of believers, which makes them particularly effective for vividly illustrating a biblical truth. 
2. Hymn texts are poetic in nature, and poetry can have a strong oratorical effect. 
3. Hymn texts, in and of themselves, teach us something theologically (sometimes good, sometimes bad).  Though we preachers may not like to admit it, most people learn more theology from the songs they sing than the sermons they hear.  So, why not utilize the good ones to help teach them the truth that they are singing, and how the truth in that song is based on the truth of God's Word?  This helps connect the biblical and theological dots for your hearers - both in the biblical text and in the hymn that they may have sung hundreds of times before but never really thought about until you pointed it out to them.   
4. Hymn texts that are used well in a sermon illustration will be sung with much more understanding the next time around.  Using that text as an illustration makes that hymn even more meaningful for your hearers, which means you are helping strengthen and reinforce the importance of congregational singing (as well as the importance of singing good theology).
5. Hymn texts that are quoted in a sermon, when those hymns either have been sung or will be sung in the same service, unifies the worship experience and teaches the congregation something about the holistic nature of public worship.

        

Monday Morning Encouragement for Preachers

This is intended to encourage those of you who preached yesterday (and for those of you who listened to someone preach yesterday, here's some insight into how we preachers often feel...and how you can pray for us).

Few preachers who preach God's Word feel great when the sermon's done. I'm usually thinking about everything I didn't have time to say or even a few things I did say that I wish I hadn't.  Then the time for the benediction slips up on me, I give it, and then I sneak to the back door to talk with people as they walk out. Sometimes people come to talk, and I'm humbled and encouraged by the ways they say the Lord used the sermon in their lives. Other times no one says much of anything, which bothers me more than I wish it did.

But the immediate feedback - as much as we crave the instant gratification - isn't the point. A pastorate is made up of a lot of sermons, and the fact is, most of those sermons are going to be singles rather than triples or home runs. But that's fine. If the Lord is so kind as to give you even a long string of singles, that's purely of His grace, and your congregation will benefit and grow from that. You score runs with a string of singles. So don't worry if you haven't hit a home run in a while - and if you hit one today, don't get cocky! Either way, go home, rest, thank God for the grace He gave you to teach and encourage His people again, take some time off, and then start the whole process over the next week. Our God is a good God, and week after week, sermon after sermon, He will give grace and strength and insight to the men who preach His Word.

--Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert, Preach: Theology Meets Practice 

The Most Urgent Need of the Church

A great reminder from one of the greatest preachers of the last century and from one of my favorite books on preaching:

I would say without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.

--D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers

Pastors - You Wrong Yourself Greatly By Not Reading

“What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is lack of reading. I scarce ever knew a preacher who read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercise. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterward be pleasant. Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a petty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all the children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you, and in particular yours.”

--John Wesley, writing to a younger minister, quoted in D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge, Letters Along The Way

HT: Ray Ortlund

The Era of the Ear, Not the Eye

"People say this is a visual age. Every age is a visual age. We are made to crave the immediacy of sight. We naturally desire to see God immediately, but that blessing was taken from us at the fall. We live in salvation history in the era, not of the eye, but of the ear. One day that glorious immediacy of seeing God will be restored to us - that is the climax of the Bible! That is the consummation we find in Revelation 22:4 - we shall see God!"

--Mark Dever

The Way God Works

"God's Word has always been His chosen instrument to create, convict, convert, and conform His people....The way God works is through the agency of His Word."

--Mark Dever

A Note to Those Who Write for or Speak to Public Audiences

"God does not much mind bad grammar, but He does not take any particular pleasure in it."

--Erasmus

Listening Precedes Preaching

We Speak Because We've Listened
M. Justin Wainscott, 2011

Much more is learned by listening
than by talking;
from open ears
rather than an open mouth.
In fact, it ought to be a rule -
and a rule which we should follow -
that speaking be preceded
by attentive listening.
Anything significant
that ever has been said
(or that ever will be said)
is the fruit of much listening.
And preaching is no different.

Good preaching is the product
of good listening - to God and His Word.
We preachers sit before
an open Bible - listening;
listening for God to speak
what He has already spoken.
Then, and only then,
do we stand before His people
and open our mouths.
We speak because
we first have listened.
And our listening
qualifies us to speak.

Luther on Becoming a Powerful Preacher (Not What You Might Expect)

"One who diligently reads the Books of Kings will become a powerful preacher."

--Martin Luther

A Sober Warning to Churches

"The moment the Church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her."

--Charles Spurgeon