I recently preached on Luke 8 which includes the parable of the Sower and Jesus’ follow on explanation about how parables work. The surprising thing is that when the disciples come to Jesus and ask him what the parable means, he doesn’t say something to the effect that parables are earthly stories with heavenly meaning… Continue reading How do we let the preaching of God’s Word do its job?
Category: Preaching and Teaching
The parable of The Sower with wide angled lens on
My dad used to have an SLR camera. It was novel in those days to have a camera where the view finder looked directly down the main camera lens. It also mean that he could switch between lenses. A telescopic lens enabled him to focus in on detail in the distance, a wide angled lens… Continue reading The parable of The Sower with wide angled lens on
The stories the preacher needs to tell
In a recent sermon on Luke 6, I observed that as we read the Gospel, we can actually see three stories being told. There’s the story of Jesus, the one we obviously expect to be there. However, Jesus is also retelling, or rather acting out the story of Israel. God’s people had experienced exile in… Continue reading The stories the preacher needs to tell
Can ChatGPT preach like me?
There’s been much discussion recently about preachers using AI tools such as ChatGPT to write their sermons for them. I even read a comment from one person who claimed that he now did this all the time and in fact, his church either didn’t notice a difference or preferred the AI option. Well, I thought… Continue reading Can ChatGPT preach like me?
“I have seen the Lord” What difference does Easter make? (John 20)
On Friday the tomb was closed and sealed. We left the disciples deserted, despairing, denying, and doubting. Then came the dawn of that Sunday morning . Some women arrive at the tomb and see angels before heading off to tell the other disciples back at Bethany. On the way, they meet Jesus. Mary Magdalene seems… Continue reading “I have seen the Lord” What difference does Easter make? (John 20)
Don’t fall into the “Sunday’s Coming” meme trap
An annual reminder! Here’s part two on preaching the resurrection. Some approaches give the impression that Friday was a tragic defeat and so we need to wait for God’s victory with Easter Sunday correcting the damage done. This is to over divide Jesus’ death and resurrection. He won the victory on the Cross. He was… Continue reading Don’t fall into the “Sunday’s Coming” meme trap
How (not) to preach the resurrection
Don’t fall into the trap of answering questions that people aren’t asking this Easter.
The best kind of preaching feedback
Occasionally I see articles about how to give good preaching feedback. Often the focus is on things like getting the person to feed back themselves first, then it is about sandwiching negatives with positives. That’s all good stuff, however, I want to suggest a slightly different approach. Here are some of the questions I encourage… Continue reading The best kind of preaching feedback
Over hearers
How do you preach a book like Obadiah? The prophecy is one of judgement and it would be tempting to launch into a hell fire and brimstone denunciation of the congregation. But is that what they need to hear. Even if rebuke and challenge is needed, does Obadiah’s message properly fit? If you feel uncomfortable… Continue reading Over hearers
Do you preach to somewhere or anywhere people?
I want to pick up on the Somewheres and anywheres question and think specifically about its implications for preaching. These might be fairly rough and ready categorisations but I hope they will get us thinking. I think that “anywhere” preaching is the kind of preaching which is general and generic. It may offer good exegesis… Continue reading Do you preach to somewhere or anywhere people?
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