In his book “Nine Marks of a healthy Church” Mark Dever makes Expositional Preaching his first and most important mark of healthy church life.[1] I want to suggest that Dever is right to give expositional preaching such a central position but that he does not go far enough. Why is Expositional Preaching so important? Dever… Continue reading Expository Worship
Category: Out of the Freezer
Accuser
Here’s another out of the freezer article from a few years back Over the past few years, I’ve talked a lot about the Guilt Driven Church and about guilt, grace and forgiveness.. The primary focus has been on how we experience shame and learning to distinguish false guilt from true guilt. But really there’s another… Continue reading Accuser
When you have nothing left to give
Do you feel like you’ve nothing more to give, like you’ve come to the end of yourself? Maybe you’ve felt like that in the past, maybe you feel that way now. There’s a good chance that you are going to know that feeling at some point in the future. It’s that feeling that you can’t… Continue reading When you have nothing left to give
How to listen to sermons together
Sermons are not meant to be listened to on your own. The very nature of preaching is that it is a corporate exercise, something that the whole church family shares in together. So how do we stop our response from being individualistic? Pray together before listening What about getting together with a few people before… Continue reading How to listen to sermons together
How to listen to sermons when it’s the last thing you feel like doing
Sometimes the last thing you want to be doing is listening to a sermon. It might simply be that you are exhausted and too tired to take in what is being said, sometimes it’s because what is being said is too painful, too close to the bone, sometimes it’s the other extreme, what is being… Continue reading How to listen to sermons when it’s the last thing you feel like doing
How to listen to character study sermons
Years ago my dad did a series of Bible studies which he called “An A-Z of Old Testament Characters.” I’m not sure if he managed to find someone for every letter, but there was certainly enough mileage to keep the series going for a good while. It’s no surprise that character studies have proved popular.… Continue reading How to listen to character study sermons
How to listen to evangelistic sermons (when you already are a Christian)
At any one time in a gathering there will be Christians and non-Christians present. This presents the preacher with a challenge. Does he primarily focus on preaching to the Christians to edify and build them up or does he focus on evangelising the enquirers. Either way, he risks leaving part of the audience behind. Or… Continue reading How to listen to evangelistic sermons (when you already are a Christian)
How to listen to topical sermons
Instead of focusing on a specific Bible passage and drawing out the things it has to say, a topical sermon starts with an issue and tries to find out what the Bible says about it. For example, the sermon might deal with an issue in church life such as prayer, giving, worship or evangelism. A… Continue reading How to listen to topical sermons
How to listen to doctrinal sermons
Sometimes the aim of a sermon is to help us grasp a specific Biblical truth more clearly. This should not surprise us. We keep insisting that what we believe affects how we live. We may use a one off sermon or even a short series of sermons to teach on a particular doctrine. For example,… Continue reading How to listen to doctrinal sermons
How to listen to expository sermons
Are you sitting comfortably? The answer is “probably not” if you are in the typical church pew or crammed into a packed hall with little leg room. So hopefully the sermon will be short, sharp and snappy though you’ve got a feeling that it might not be. Expository sermons have a reputation for being long… Continue reading How to listen to expository sermons
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