Preaching

Preaching With Your Senses

December 12, 2012 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 18 Comments

Preachers determine the meaning of scripture so that they can convey that meaning to the congregation in the preaching moment. Preachers go to considerable lengths to make sure that they preach the truth and not error. They study the passage within the context of the chapter, book, and even the whole cannon of scripture. In many cases, the preacher derives valid and truthful points from the text and then present those vital truths to the people. This is good, but often when you take the points from the story, you remove the ability of the people to fully experience the truth that you are presenting. But before the people can experience the text, we have to both understand and experience the text ourselves.

But how do you experience the text? Well you should do a full exegesis as you have done in the past, but I would also suggest that you might allow all of your senses to guide your understanding of the text. Yes, allow all five senses of touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste to help you ask questions of the text that you are presenting.
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Filed Under: Headline, Preaching Tagged With: Preaching, senses

Don’t Commentate….Preach!

July 13, 2012 by Sherman Haywood Cox II Leave a Comment

Peter Mead is running a series on his helpful website on the subject of “Preaching Epistles.” People ask me to bring different perspectives, so here is one that I read from time to time.

At any rate, one of his points for preaching epistles effectively is:

11. Preach, don’t commentate – Don’t offer your listeners either a running commentary or a labelled outline of the text. Make your points relevant to today, put them in today language, then show that from the “back then” as you explain the text. Don’t preach “back then” and then offer token relevance once people are disconnected and distracted.

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Filed Under: blog, Homiletic Theory, Issues, Preaching Tagged With: commentary, Preaching

How Does Congregational Response Affect Sermon Evaluation?

July 22, 2011 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 14 Comments

Sermon Evaluation is Not Only Congregation's Response

How does congregational response affect sermon evaluation when preachers are called of God to speak a word “in season and out of season” to the people of God? (2 Timothy 4:2) This kind of preaching implies that sometimes the people will be encouraged and love to hear the message that the preacher has been called to give. It also means that sometimes the people will not wish to hear the correction that comes from God through the message.

It is sometimes said by preachers, “You can shout at the football game, why can’t you shout here!” Well, a football game is not an adequate metaphor for worship. They are doing two different things. In addition, sometimes shouting is simply not the right response to the message. No congregational response alone cannot be an adequate sermon evaluation metric. This does not mean, however, that congregational response should be totally ignored and belittled as unimportant. The congregation’s response should be factored into our sermon evaluation.

Sermon Evaluation and Congregational Shouting

Another point to keep in mind is that the congregations response is not necessarily a one dimensional “shouting” or “rejoicing.” Sometimes the congregation’s response to the word that has been presented is simply a fervent “What Shall I do to be saved?” Sometimes the congregation’s response to the word is best measured by their changed life during the week. There is much too much, in my estimation, made out of the visible and aural response of the congregation. These things are cultural! Stop condemning the people for shouting or their lack of shouting. It is cultural chauvinism and unproductive to do such things.

But no, an adequate evaluation of the effectiveness of the sermon will include an evaluation of the theological content of the sermon. Did I preach a theologically and Biblically sound message? Go back to the Bible and test your words by it. After that, determine as best you can if it is what is needed by the people. Is the correction you providing really from God or from you? Is the problem you are addressing really a problem that is prevalent in the congregation? Was there another aspect of the text that we could have addressed that was more needed by the congregation? Ask these kinds of questions in your sermon evaluation.

Next, you should determine, as best you can, whether change is really happening in your congregation. Church is not simply a party where we have the visible manifestations of “getting happy” week by week without seeing any real change. Are the people changing?

Are You Changing For The Better?

And an even more important aspect of this evaluation is the question: Are You Changing? One of my former pastors used to always pray at the end of every sermon:

Lord, save us by the same message that we preach to others.

If the message is vitally needed by your congregation…and you are a member of the congregation…and change is the point…then if you are not changing more into the likeness of Jesus Christ then there is something vitally wrong with your preaching!

In summary, go to the congregation and look at the congregation to make sure that your sermons are hitting the mark. And always remember that you are a part of your congregation as well. don’t be so arrogant as to think that you are not needing some of the same changes that you feel God has called your people. An adequate sermon evaluation method will incorporate all of these aspects.

Filed Under: Preaching Tagged With: aural response, Congregational Response, Preaching, sermon evaluation

Six Ways to Preach Your Sermon On The Web

July 1, 2011 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 2 Comments

OK, you put a lot of time and effort into constructing and presenting a powerful sermon. You have crafted the language in such a way that the theologically sound message comes through very powerfully. The preaching moment is now over. Many of these sermons live on through audio CDs or video DVDs, but there are a growing number of preachers who are leveraging the internet to gain a greater hearing for their sermon. In addition, these methodologies can increase the length of time that people rmember the message. Finally, it allows visitors to experience a little bit of the worship hour at your church.

OK, So what can A preacher do?

Post Your Sermon To an Audio Podcast

This is simple. You already have the audio of your sermon. Why not post it in its entirety to an Audio Podcast. Surprisingly many people, including preachers, listen to these sermons that are available online. Now there are paid services that bring together a number of preachers and there are free services that will require a little more technical expertise.

My suggestion would be to take your audio and get ahold of someone in your congregation who has a bit of technical expertise and have that one upload your sermons online. Then let your congregation know that sermons are now available. It shouldn’t cost much and it will allow your sermon to be heard beyond the four walls of your congregation.

Blog Your Sermon

Now you could simply post your sermon in text. You can do this to a service like SermonCentral or you can post it to your own blog (website). The nice thing about either option is that it allows your sermons to show up in Google search results. You can post a full text version of your sermon, summary, or perhaps an outline.

Again, grab ahold of a technically savvy individual in your congregation and get your sermons up on line.

Put your sermon up on YouTube

Everyone uses YouTube. You can put your sermons up on YouTube. There are a number of powerful preachers who do this today. Go into youTube and simply type in preachers and you will see a number of them. If you already have a video recording of your sermons, then put them up there now!

Send a Sermon Summary to an Email List

In my internet consulting work, I always emphasize the necessity of getting an email list. You want to grow a list of people who you can contact at any time with inspiring and powerful messages. Sending a sermon summary (or outline or full mansuscript) will definitely help you to grow such a list as well as bless the people who are reading.

Get your congregation to sign up and then start sending messages to the congregation. An email list can be a very powerful way to “meet” with your congregation outside of the church.

UStream

Did you know that you can stream your worship service for free? Head on over to Ustream.com and check it out. Some stream services as well as many other kinds of things. Again you will probably need some technical person to help you, but more than likely you already have an audio/sound team that can handle this.

Twitter and Facebook your sermons

Everyone is on social networking sites. Even pastors, preachers, and evangelists make use of these pwoerful platforms. Why not create a “Facebook Fan Page” for your ministry and post links to the sermons as well as maybe summaries. There are text limits to Twitter and Facebook messages, but that only forces you to be succinct. Check them out and use them in your ministry.

You have put a lot of effort into the sermon, use the web to magnify them. If you have any questions do not hesitate to send me an email or write them in the comments. If you have used or plan to use the internet to magnify the power of your sermon, I would like to hear bout that as well.

Filed Under: Web Ministry Tagged With: internet, post your sermon, Preaching, Sermons, ways to preach, web ministry

John Piper’s Sermon Preparation Method

June 3, 2011 by Sherman Haywood Cox II Leave a Comment

John Piper has a very interesting sermon preparation method that reminds us that sermon preparation is not a science, but it is an art. You can read his article at this link.

He knows what he is going to preach about early because he has to let the worship leaders know. So he picks a title and a text early.

He says that if he is familiar with the text, he will begin working on it Friday. Yes I said Friday. (This is definitely not what you hear about in the seminary homiletics courses.) Piper begins Friday morning and works till late at night. Piper notes that he hasn’t had to work all night before, but has been up till 2:00AM.

So what is his method?

Pop up the Text on the Computer in English and Greek (or Hebrew).
Read the text noting on a half sheet of paper important points.
As Piper writes he prays “God show me what’s here for my people. Show me what’s really here, not something in my head that I force inside the text. Let me see new things that I’ve never seen before.”
Piper writes the things that he sees in the text. He circles things, points to things, and notates.
Piper then prays for turning the paper into a sermon.
Piper then finds the two, three, or four points he will make in the sermon.
Piper gets another sheet of paper and orders the points. Answering the question: “How will I fit these points together”
Piper then takes a break…comes back and writes out the sermon manuscript which normally is 10 double spaced pages.
Go to bed.
Internalize the sermon by marking it up and working through the manuscript. Essentially the marked up manuscript is an outline that he takes into the pulpit.

Analyze The Method

Piper begins by asking the question “what does God want the people to hear?” He emphasizes the “text only” by reading the text in Greek and Hebrew. I am not sure where other materials fit in, such as commentaries, dictionaries, and other sermons. These materials must fit in by simply being a part of Piper’s general knowledge of the subject that no doubt comes from other reading, but that is only my guess.

So Piper’s exegesis is simply reading the text closely and writing out the things that God told him the people need to hear. This is an important consideration. Both prayer and also to attempt to find out what the people need to hear. There are a lot of things in the text, and not all of it is needful at this time by your congregation.

Another important point that I emphasize often is that exegesis is simply a close reading of the text. There are different methods, but you should come up with one that works for you. I would however suggest that you intentionally look at various aspects of the text. For example, the use of power, the theology of the writer and the people in the text, etc… No doubt Piper is calling on his vast knowledge of these subjects as he reads the text.

How Can We Supplement The Method?

Newer preachers probably must start earlier in the week. While it works for Piper, starting on Friday is one unimagined disaster away from a “Saturday Night Special” where you have to throw something together on Saturday night before getting up in the pulpit Sunday morning. I would strongly suggest, especially for the new preachers, to move intentional sermon prep earlier in the week.

Next, at least do some initial analysis of the text before giving the sermon title to your worship leaders or the bulletin creation personnel. How many times have you read the text and it took a totally different turn than you expected?

Finally, find a way to intentionally interact with (not necessarily agree but interact with) your traditions (ethnic, ecclesial, national, etc). Now this should be done after the initial exegesis, but probably should be done.

I would not take it upon myself to attempt to correct any preacher, especially one as accomplished as Piper, but I do think that just as he said “what works for me may not work for you.” Come up with your own method as you struggle with the text and the preparation process.

Filed Under: Preaching Tagged With: john piper, john piper's sermon preparation method, Preaching, sermon preparation methodologies

How To Analyze A Sermon

December 21, 2010 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 3 Comments

I will never forget my first homiletic class where the instructor told us to “analyze a sermon.” I had no idea where to begin and the whole idea seemed difficult. But I then found out that by analyze they simply mean look at the sermon “critically” and “closely.” Pull the sermon apart and look at the pieces individually. Then see how the pieces fit together. These are all parts of analyzing a sermon effectively. Sermon analysis works best when you are analyzing your own sermons. So in this article I want to give you some questions to ask yourself as you analyze your own sermons to become a more effective proclaimer of the Word of truth.

The Main Truth, Important Truth and Portable Truth

The first question you want to ask is what was the purpose of the sermon? Was it powerfully conveyed? Too often we either make the main point cloudy by not lifting it up high enough, or we simply do not have a decent idea of what our main point is. When you do either of these things that cloud up your main point, you will make it difficult for the people to know what you are teaching.

Was the sermon important? Some have questioned the idea that something can be true and not important. I do believe that there are things that are true, but are not important enough to be preached at this time, but you don’t have to believe that. Whether you believe everything that is true is important or not, whatever you preach, you need do clearly articulate how it is important. Don’t leave your people wondering or guessing. Help them to find this by your proclamation.

My homiletic instructor, Rev. Dr. Brad Braxton, used to tell us that we need to figuratively package the truth of our sermons into pouches that our people can take with us and use during their daily lives. It is one thing to teach truth, it is another thing to teach important truth, and it is best to present important and portable truth. Let your people bring that main point with them and be in a position to use it in their daily lives. Have you done that in the sermon?

Using the Bible and Illustrations

First there are issues regarding the use of the Bible. Look at which scriptures are used. Are they used legitimately? Is it the correct scripture to use in this case? How are the scriptures used? Sometimes scriptures are used to illustrate truth. Other times they are used to establish truth. Sometimes they are illegitimately used as a springboard to what the preacher wishes to say. Sometimes the scripture even says the opposite of what the preacher said that particular scripture says. At any rate, listen to how the scriptures are used in the sermon. Ask yourself if the use of the scriptures are valid and helpful.

Related to this is the use of stories and illustrations. What stories are used to illustrate truth? Are they effective? What could be done to make the sermon better? Do the stories overpower the points of the sermon? Do the stories help the sermon?

Analyzing Structure

Next you want to look at the structure of the sermon. What are the parts of the sermon? How do they fit together? What are the reasons for the parts? How does the sermon move towards ending? How is the introduction structured? There are many different ways of structuring a successful sermon, learning different methods will help you in your efforts to improve you own sermons. Always make sure that your own sermons move forward properly.

Conclusion

Ultimately there is not only one proper way to analyze the sermon. I am simply calling you to look very closely at the sermon. When you look at your sermons closely you may ask some of these questions, you may ask more questions, but in the end, please look closely at your sermons before and after you present them to your people.

Filed Under: Planning, Preaching Tagged With: analyze sermons, analyzing a sermon, how to analyze a sermon, planning, Preaching, sermon analysis, Sermons

Finding An Outlet For Your Preaching Ministry

November 15, 2010 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 18 Comments

A while back I wrote an article on associate ministry and how we must support the worship service. You can find that link here. After reading some of the results from our 2010 survey, I found two things. First, many readers of SoulPreaching.Com are in an associate or assistant minister slot. Some are paid and many are unpaid. The majority are considered clergy by their denomination while others are considered lay people. In any case, these people have felt the call to ministry that often includes the call to preach. However, in many churches there is simply not enough opportunities to preach for all of the unpaid associates and assistants. Some senior pastors work to make opportunities for these assistants, while other senior pastors simply ignore the issue. I also found that many people wanted more help for those in associate ministry. I pray this article will help in that regard.

Lack Of Preaching Can Cause Frustration

The problem is that people who feel a call to preach and are not given the opportunity to preach often cause problems for the congregation. They sometimes start to fight with other leaders desiring their preaching opportunities. Sometimes they turn every time they are in the pulpit into a preaching moment. So they are reading the scripture, they turn that into a sermon. They announce they hymn, and that is a sermon. Yes, one who feels the call to preach and never gets an outlet for that call will feel frustrated and often will take it out on the congregation, pastor, and the other church leaders.

Supporting Role In Church…Lead Role Outside

I was talking the other day to an associate about this very problem. This associate noted that those of us who are in associate ministry must first and foremost recognize that our role is one of support. Support the senior pastor. Support the worship service. Support the congregation. Our role in church is to “plug the gaps.” You may not preach but once or twice a year in the church, but you must in your role at church “support.”

But in order to be successful in that support role, you must be allow the Holy Spirit to help you find your ministry that you can lead. This ministry will more than likely be outside of the walls of the church, but does not have to be. Successful associates have found that Nursing Home ministry can be a valid and powerful outlet for their ministry. There are many of our seniors who have no one to visit them and have no way of getting to church. Perhaps you can bring church to them.

Another important ministry is the Jail or prison ministry. There are tons of inmates who have come to the Lord as a result of someone bringing the church to them. As an associate whether paid or unpaid, in many cases, you are an ordained minister. That standing opens doors of service. People need to heard the word of truth even outside of the walls of the church.

Have you thought about working at a downtown mission? Many missions have worship services that need preachers. Those who find themselves in such situations really need to hear the word presented. I can remember that when I preached consistently in a downtown mission it totally transformed my preaching in very positive ways.

How about publishing ministry? Do you have a book in you? Can you help the people of God by preaching the word in book form? If God has called you to spread the word, maybe you can spread it through the “printed page.” Remember that books can go where you could not go otherwise.

I would be remiss if I didn’t briefly add the internet ministry. There are tons of ministers who use the internet to spread a word of Hope. I get emails from people who send a thought through email. I am Facebook friends with people who use their status updates to talk about God’s love. Twitter, blogs, etc. They all are opportunities for those who have been called.

I actually have a minister friend who started a radio program in his local area. He found sponsors and now he “preaches” over the airwaves every week. He did not wait for permission or an assignment, but simply went forth and God blessed.

By no means are these the only ministry opportunities. What you will find, however, is that when you are successfully doing God’s work outside the church, more opportunities for service inside the church will materialize. Dear associate, go do the work that God has called you to do and watch God open more doors.

Be A Light Where You Are

Finally, wherever you are be a light. You are at work and someone needs hope. Someone needs the light of truth. Someone needs to know someone cares. You are speaking to relatives, allow God to speak through your words of comfort and hope and power. Let people know you are a minister by your reliance on God and the truth.

If you have been called to preach, preaching once or twice a year in a church does not fulfill your obligation. Don’t allow bitterness to overtake you. Whether your senior pastor opens the door or not, please find an outlet for your ministerial work. God will bless it, and the whole world will be edified.

Filed Under: Associate Ministry Tagged With: associate minister, chaplain, jail ministry, opportunities to preach, opportunity to preach, outlet, Preaching, Preaching Ministry, preaching opportunities, prison ministry, publishing

How to Preach Transformative Sermons

October 25, 2010 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 14 Comments

Prophet Amos Picture of a Transformative Prophet

The Prophet Amos

Great preaching has in mind not merely inspiration, but the preaching of transformative sermons. We do not desire to make people who merely know more of the Bible, although that is important and should be emphasized. We definitely do not desire simply to make people shout, although that may be the unavoidable conclusion of our much powerful preaching. No we seek transformation through sermons that call for transformation.

Preacher Not Orator Or Lecturer

Preachers do not simply perform our written orations with great oratorical skill. We all have heard preachers with all the skills of great orators, but something in missing. The people shout, but there is something missing. The people are happy and sometimes feel as though this is an important component of the African American tradition. They love to hear the preacher and they may even understand the moment as merely something to enjoy as folk art. the worship service is nothing more than a show for this individual hearer and the hearer may not be changed. No we need transformative sermons.

Then there are the Bible lecturers who leave the people with a book full of notes. The people may know great things about Israel. They may know esoteric facts about Melchizedek and Revelation’s prophecies. However, great preaching is not merely about knowing more facts. It is about turning the page and becoming a transformed follower of the almighty power of God.

Holy Ghost Needed In Transformative Sermons

But here is the key, there are those preachers who may not have the eloquence of some of the “princes of the pulpit.” They may not have all the theological and biblical knowledge of some of those who turn the pulpit into a classroom, but they know something about the Most High God. They know something about the Spirit. They can sing with the slaves “I know I’ve been changed, angels in heaven done changed my name.”

How do they do this? There are two things I want to emphasize here. First, I want to emphasize the importance of a vital and growing connection to God through the enlightenment of the holy Ghost. The preacher needs to know the holy Ghost and needs to be connected to the third person of the Godhead. Don’t fall into the trap of attempting to preach in your own power. Negros may shout, or maybe they will be informed, or maybe both, but will they be changed by a transformative sermon?

Preacher Must Be Changed By Transformative Sermon

To ensure transformational preaching, the preacher must have such a message that calls the preacher first of all to be changed. Stop only preaching about how someone else needs to get better…Have you ever preached in such a way that you have been convicted of your own sins and shortcomings? If not, you might see that your people have not either. so first, we need a vital connection to the Spirit. Next we need messages that touch our own hearts before we preach them.

Finally, if we are seeking to preach transformative sermons, then we need to make a scary and error prone move. We must have the audacity to move from what God did in the past tense, to what God is doing. Yes, we might say the wrong thing. Yes we might get it wrong from time to time, but there is much preaching that never says what God is doing today. If you want to preach a transformative sermon then you must first of all understand what the text said and what God did, but move from there to having the audacity to say what God is doing today, in your context, at your congregation.

Contemporary God In Transformative Sermons

There is a piety that leaves God in the book but does not allow God into the present. Does God today work with the weak and the hurting? Does God today, help us overcome the sins that bind us? Does God today attack structures of inequality and evil? Does God today stand with the hungry? That is the move that we are to make if we are to preach transformative sermons.

So let us seek that connection to the Holy Ghost. Let us preach messages that call for transformation and change in us as well as our people. and finally, let us have the audacity to name God and God’s work in our present circumstances. Then we will be preaching not as a “bible lecturer” or as a “orator,” but as a “prophet.” As a prophet, we will preach transformative sermons!

Filed Under: Preaching, Preaching Methods Tagged With: african american tradition, holy ghost, orators, Preaching, Sermons

Stylistic Exegesis For Preaching Powerful Sermons

October 13, 2010 by Sherman Haywood Cox II Leave a Comment

Exegesis is simply a close reading of the scripture so that you can extract the meaning from the text. Before you can preach a text you must understand the text. You can look in a number of places for instructions on how to do a proper exegesis of a text.

Looking For Style In Bible Interpretation

One thing that may not be in those methods is what I call a “stylistic exegesis.” Here you need to look at the text…is there any style in the text? How is the text presented? Is there style in the presentation?

What is the word choice of the author and how does this affect our understanding of the text. What images did the author chose to use and how does that affect our understanding? Often you can see style in the text of the Bible.

Psalms and Style

Look at the Psalms. That is style. They are songs and poems. When you preach a text with style in it, don’t remove all the style that is already resident in the text. Don’t dissect the style out of the text. Don’t dispose of the style while you are exegeting the text. Don’t turn it into dry facts and then try to inject style back into a style-less sermonic manuscript in the preaching moment.

If the Bible says: “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.” Don’t turn this into a historical lesson about shepherds and then attempt to get the people back at the end by whooping. No! Leave it as style. What does the “Lord is my Shepherd” mean? For what purpose does calling The Lord my Shepherd serve? In a stylistic exegesis you start to think about what that picture means. Maybe you might say, the Lord is the roof on the house? Here we took an image and we replaced that image with a modern image. Is it good enough? Maybe, maybe not. But it is our purpose to attempt to re-image the text into our images. I personally don’t think this, so we would continue looking. Well maybe Jesus is my football coach…is that a good image in the context of your sermon? I am not sure…but this lets you know about how you can re-image a text using this stylistic exegesis.

You can do the same thing with the poetry of the Bible or the songs of the Bible. You can even do it with the stories of the Bible. Can you retell a story? This is the way to think when you are attempting a stylistic exegesis.

Does not Replace Traditional Exegesis

Now certainly you will need to do some traditional exegesis. You need to closely look at the text using whatever methodology you use, but what I am hoping you will do is also attempt a stylistic exegesis that helps to retain the style that is already in the text.

Sometimes folks ask how can they celebrate a particular text and the text has the celebration right in it! We will talk more about this in the exegesis portion of the course, but for right now, think about a stylistic exegesis of the text.

Filed Under: Exegesis Tagged With: bible interpretation, exegesis, exegesis for preaching, Preaching, Psalms

Video: What Is The Difference Between Celebration and Application?

October 4, 2010 by Sherman Haywood Cox II Leave a Comment

Someone asked what is the difference between celebration and application? We often hear of the necessity to apply all our points. In addition, I have argued that we need to apply all our points. Are they the same? I answer that question in this video.

Filed Under: Preaching, Video Tagged With: application, celebration, Preaching, Sermons, whooping

Expand A Sermon Outline Into A Sermon

September 16, 2010 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 8 Comments

Filed Under: Preaching, Video Tagged With: expand sermon, Preaching, sermon outline

Brute Force Relevance in Preaching

March 13, 2010 by Sherman Haywood Cox II 1 Comment

hammernail Just because something is true does not mean that it is of utmost importance. An idea must be both “true” and “relevant to the present time” to be worthy of our intense consideration.

This idea of relevance is an interesting one. Some people ignore it altogether and others place an intense amount of effort into showing the relevance of an idea or teaching. I am about to start a series that looks at four postures that preachers have taken to relevance and the demonstration of it.

The first way that we have demonstrated relevance is through “Brute Force.” Here is where we end up saying, “You better believe it or else!” The “or else part” could be “you will go to hell” or “you will be confused” or “you will be deceived.” Another softer approach is “you don’t really love Jesus unless you believe it.” Examples abound of this kind of preaching. I listened to the Bible Answer Man defending the trinity. He argued that if you don’t believe in the trinity then you are not a Christian. Here the argument is basically you must believe this or you are not in right relation with God and ultimately are lost. There was no attempt to demonstrate how the doctrine makes any difference in our living, just a statement “You Must Believe it or else!”

This kind of relevance, however, will not stand up in the real world. When I am dealing with real issues in my own life, these kinds of approaches to relevance makes me put this doctrine on the back burner. Even if I agree with the doctrine, I can’t use it, I can only “believe” it. I have to go to something else when I am hurting. I have to go to something else when I am in need of something.

Some think that most doctrines are only relevant in this perspective, however it is my contention that it is not that the doctrines are only relevant through brute force, it is that we have not thought through the practical ramifications of our doctrines.

I am not saying that there is never a place or time for the “Brute Force” method of relevance, but I think that it is used way too much and if not supplemented with something else turns “truth” into “irrelevant truth.”

Filed Under: Homiletic Theory Tagged With: bible answer man, doctrinal preaching, Preaching, relevance, trinity