This week I will be reading chapters 70-84 in the book:"The Art and Craft Biblical Preaching", written by Haddon Robinson and Craig Brian Larson. Chapter 70. Leading Hearers to the Tree of Life. Chapter 71. Fundamentals of Genre Chapter 72. From B.C. to 11A.M. Chapter 73. The Big Idea of Narrative Preaching Chapter 74. Life in Leviticus Chapter 75. Apply Within Chapter 76. Application Without Moralism. Chapter 77. Blending Bible Content and Life Application Chapter 78. Showing Promise. Chapter 79. Helping Hearers Practice What We Preach Chapter 80. The Heresy of Application Chapter 81. Preaching for True Holiness Chapter 82.Less Moe, More Jesus Chapter 83. Preahing that Promotes Self-Centeredness Chapter 84. The Danger of Pratical Preaching
In Chapter 70: Leading Hearers to the Tree of Life, teaches us that harsh preaching will not lead to the Tree of Life but in fact could lead to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, therefore instead of producing holiness it in fact produces disobedience. Preaching that leads to the tree of life is a life giving message not one that says: "you must not make a mistake or God will punish you. A life-giving message is presented with compassion and produces obedience.
In The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching,written by Haddon Robinson and Criag Brian Larson,chapter 72 is a lesson on preaching a narrative sermon. Most of these comes from the Old Testament, where you have stories of history, kingdoms, family challenges,and so on. This chapter teaches that to preach a narrative sermon you must do some investigation, discover the plot, observe the pace of things, interpret the dialouge, pay attention to details, and don't forget the characters. Now put your audience into the middle of things in a way that they feel like they are actually there. Preach this well and you have brought B.C. to your Sunday morning congregation.
Chapter 73 is titled: "The Big Idea Of Narrative Preaching", another lesson in telling a story, or I should say interpreting a story, In a narrative sermon there are two methods to interpret them. The first way is the "Exegetical Method, study the text and identify the beginning and the end of the story, this may include several chapters in the text and sometimes difficult to determine. Then you have to identify the design, scenes, characters,action, dialogue,language,narration,plot,tone,rhetorical structure,and the context. Then the "homeletical process", examine the exegetical idea, and restate it with historical accuracy and literary content. Begin with a cause and end with a solution.
"Life in Leviticus", chapter 74 in my study of "The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, Leviticus is not one of the most popular Old Testament books but the author was correct in saying that it is a book that we should know. Jesus is in Leviticus, our sacrifice for our sins, Amen? The writer explains why he would plant a new church and a new congregation and preach Leviticus and the greatest reason I have ever heard, "to flourish on the power of the Spirit alone". Wow such faith.
To flourish on the power of the Spirit alone. That is one thing I see happening when preaching through three or four chapters of the Bible at a time--regardles of the book from where the sermons come.
Chapter 75, titled: Apply Within" is a lesson in application. The writer explains why it is sometimes difficult applying a sermon to real life situations. I will list some of the reasons application is not applied to our lives. First it is "hard work", it is hard to find application to every situation in the congregation, second, is wrong assumptions, assuming the audience is able to apply any and all biblical truths is totally a wrong assumption, third, is fear, fear of being to deep or to simplistic in the text and failing at application, and then there is training or lack thereof, many preachers know the text, and the history and the order of things but are totally untrained in application. One gentleman said it this way," how can you be a good football player when you can pass the ball, or when you can kick the ball, or when you can run with the ball but you don't know the rules of the game.
"Showing Promise", that is the title to chapter 78. Craig Brian Larson makes us aware of the fact that God's commands should be acommpanied by a promise from God. Giving commands in a sermon without promise results in lack of faith that God will do what he says he will do. So when you illustrate a command from God, illustrate the promise that acommpanies that command and lead s to faith .
Did Mr. Larson give an example of showing promise along with a command? I would be interested in that. I'm not sure that failing to do that would always result in a lack of faith, but I may not understand all he is saying.
I Moved the Main flourishing in the Spirit post to here:
One of the authors Roger quoted mentioned that he would like to start a church, and begin with sermons on Leviticus, so that he could see God work. The heaviness of the words in Leviticus seem to show that if God moves in these instances, that you have to know that it is God working.
I have been privileged to see God move when preaching series of three to six sermons from particular books of the Bible, and it did not really matter, sometimes, where those sermons came from (although, there was a certain "leading" as to what chapters to use).
God is great, and He can use our feeble efforts to being people to Himself.
Bro. Randy, I will try to answer that by quoting Bro. Larson. He says: Every command from God is built on a promise of God, therefore, every divine call to action(obedience) is at the same time a divine summons to trust God's promise(faith).After the Exodus, God promised Israel that he would cause bread to rain down from heaven,gather only a days worth except on Friday and gather for two. The command was to gather for the day (obedience) and the promise was that it would rain bread again tomorrow (faith). I hope that answered your question. God Bless
Chapter 82: Less Joe, More Jesus, is written by Joe Stowell, who in fact wants to preach to draw more attention to Jesus and less attention to himself, less attention to the music, or less attention to whatever it is that distracts us. More Jesus. John 3:30, He must increase(Jesus) and I must decrease.
The Danger of Practical Preaching is the title of chapter 84, the author describes two fallacies about "Practical Preaching". The Bottom Line Fallacy, meaning that the message is short and to the point, the danger in this is that the hearers know what is sin, but don't know how they have gotten to the point that their at. In fact they know the end result only, and nothing of how to avoid it or how to repent from it only the point that they have sinned. The Practical Fallacy however, is just to mundane or dogmatic, sure the hearer needs to know that a sermon has dealt with their life situations, their practical ways of life, but is that all they need to know, no , they need to know how it happens, they need to know that it happens to others, they need to know that it is not only their generation that it's applied to but many generations before. Practical huh, God Bless!!!!!!!
Bro. Randy, did you get any feedback on the "Marriage Enrichment Weekend", I was just curious that if we got the opportunity to do it again what might need to be changed or reviewed. Thanks God Bless you and your ministry.
You will notice some posts below that relate to various topics of discussion by our online community of preachers.
One of the purposes of Preachers' Meeting is to provide a place for young ministers or those recently called to preach to interact around the principles in a course of study recommended by our local group of preachers in the Southern Illinois area.
We invite you to look in on our conversations. If you would like to add comments as a guest, you are welcome to do so. If this looks interesting to you, you may join us as we start a new session. You can look in the side bar (or sometimes it is moved to right below this post) to see the weekly requirements. We start new courses every 8 or 9 weeks. As already mentioned, you are welcome to comment as a guest before that time.
Below these posts, you will see the word, "comments." Just click on it, and you will see a box on the right side of the screen where you may add your comments.
Look around. Enjoy yourself, and come back often!
Weekly Requirements
Here is a review of the general requirements for each week.
You have three assignments each week
(1) Make at least two initial posts in your posting area. The first one will be the name of the course, and the names (or numbers of the DVD's) of the chapters or lectures you will be covering during the week. The second one will be a comment on one of those chapters. You will receive one point for getting the first post in on Tuesday or Wednesday. You will also get a point for getting at least one more initial post in.
(2) Go to your fellow student's posting areas, and ask them a question or make comments about their intial posts. You will recieve one point for completing this assignment before 12:00 a.m. on Friday morning (that would be before midnight on Thursday).
(3) Answer the questions asked.
(4) On Fridays, I will also give directions for making remaining posts during the week. Be sure and read those, and take them into account when making at least one of your remaining posts.
In all, we want to make at least nine posts during the week. You will receive points for that as follows:
9 or more posts - 12 points
6-8 posts - 10 points
3-5 posts - 6 points
1-2 posts - 3 points
You will have the extra points you had accumulated by getting things in on time. Those are bonus points that will be used only to move your grade closer to 100 if you need them. They will be awarded each week if needed to move your grade up to 12 for the week. If you do not need them for that week, they will be carried over to the next week(s). Remember the posts that count for points will be at least three sentences long.
Thoughts on Application
Roger gave some good thoughts on application:
"Chapter 75, titled: 'Apply Within' is a lesson in application. The writer explains why it is sometimes difficult applying a sermon to real life situations. I will list some of the reasons application is not applied to our lives.
"First it is "hard work", it is hard to find application to every situation in the congregation,
"second, is wrong assumptions, assuming the audience is able to apply any and all biblical truths is totally a wrong assumption,
"third, is fear, fear of being to deep or to simplistic in the text and failing at application, and then there is training or lack thereof,
"many preachers know the text, and the history and the order of things but are totally untrained in application. One gentleman said it this way," how can you be a good football player when you can pass the ball, or when you can kick the ball, or when you can run with the ball but you don't know the rules of the game."
If you live in the souther Illinois area, we would like to invite you to a Couples' Marriage Enrichment Seminar on Saturday, February 27. It starts at 6:00 p.m and will run to 9:00 p.m.
After the welcome, there will be a dinner. Then there will be an opening session, followed by two breakout sessions, then a short closing.
The Keynote Speaker is Dr. Randy Carney (That's me :)!) and Roger and Janet Dutton will be speaking during the breakout sessions (That's Roger, who is commenting on this blog during this term!). Randy and Rhonda (my wife!) Carney will also have a breakout session discussing "Keys to Marital Bliss."
The Keynote Address will be on the topic of "The Way to a Successful Marriage: The Shocking and Surprising Truth."
Roger and Janet will be talking about "Hope for Restoring your marriage."
The cost is $15.00 per couple and that includes a dinner and all seminar materials. A nursery and childcare will be available. (Please indicate that you need these services when you register.) A book table with resources from Handfuls on Purpose Christian Bookstore will be available.
The seminar is for couples of all ages, ranging from newlyweds to marriage veterans!
To register, call 618-627-2228 to let the church know how may will be attending. Payment can be made at the event. (Make checks to TFBC.) For more information, call the church at 618-627-2228.
The Greatest Love
Since Valentine's Day falls on Sunday this year, I imagine there will be a ton of sermons going out on the topic of love.
Paul talked about love and respect in marriage (Ephesians 5), but he was really saying that that was an illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church.
Christ
Left Heaven to come to this earth.
He
Overcame adversity while here. He even conquered death!
He
Valued mankind so much that He gave Himself on the cross.
He desires fellowship with us. He reconciled the world to Himself, so that people could have an
Intimate realtionship with Him.
He meets all of our
Needs.
He is the supreme example of
Giving.
Do you see the word, LOVING, there? That is what He is--our LOVING Savior! Because of that, we should love one another.
Course 11 Week 4
Scroll down to the week 4 area to begin commenting.
Dealing with the Closed American Mind
One of the chapters Roger is reading is entitled, (something like) "Dealing with the Closed American Mind." I don't know if it is mentioned in the chapter, but I suspect that if you tak about something where a person has a felt need, you can gain their hearing somewhat.
What are your thoughts?
You may scroll down and comment in the week 3 comments area. Visitors are welcome to comment also.
Connecting with Postmoderns
This is something most preachers do every Sunday. If you have young unchurched visitors in your church, you will be trying to reach postmoderns. Even some of your church youth are more influenced by postmodernism than by their previous Sunday school teaching.
Here is my reply to one of Roger's posts:
"Roger, what tips stand out to you for commecting with postmoderns? I think the term modern referred to an age in history that related to new thoughts in science, etc. (If I am off base, refresh my memory.) Post modern refers to the time following that era. Connecting with postmoderns is something you have to do, whether you realize it or not, almost every time you preach."
I will post some of his answers here if he sees the question in time.
Preaching--Proclamation of God's Word
Preaching, by one definition, is the proclamation of God's Word. As such, a person, can take the Scriptural passage and find some of its main points and emphasize those points.
While I believe we should learn all we can about the grammatical construction of the words of Scripture, and that we should learn all we can about the historical setting for when those words were originally spoken; the nice thing about proclaiming the Word is that you can just take what the text says and emphasize it. Then the Word will not return void.
People with all different types of backgrounds have been called to preach throughout the centuries. Some very "unlearned" (as the world would put it) men have had great results by simply taking the main ideas of Scripture and simply emphasizing them. As long as we do not twist the meaning, this simply shows the amazing power of the Word of God.
New Format
I am going to try putting my comments for each day in this left sidebar. The comments areas for the remaining weeks are displayed to the right. That is where you will place your comments for each week.
15 comments:
This week I will be reading chapters 70-84 in the book:"The Art and Craft Biblical Preaching", written by Haddon Robinson and Craig Brian Larson.
Chapter 70. Leading Hearers to the Tree of Life.
Chapter 71. Fundamentals of Genre
Chapter 72. From B.C. to 11A.M.
Chapter 73. The Big Idea of Narrative Preaching
Chapter 74. Life in Leviticus
Chapter 75. Apply Within
Chapter 76. Application Without Moralism.
Chapter 77. Blending Bible Content and Life Application
Chapter 78. Showing Promise.
Chapter 79. Helping Hearers Practice What We Preach
Chapter 80. The Heresy of Application
Chapter 81. Preaching for True Holiness
Chapter 82.Less Moe, More Jesus
Chapter 83. Preahing that Promotes Self-Centeredness
Chapter 84. The Danger of Pratical Preaching
In Chapter 70: Leading Hearers to the Tree of Life, teaches us that harsh preaching will not lead to the Tree of Life but in fact could lead to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, therefore instead of producing holiness it in fact produces disobedience. Preaching that leads to the tree of life is a life giving message not one that says: "you must not make a mistake or God will punish you. A life-giving message is presented with compassion and produces obedience.
In The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching,written by Haddon Robinson and Criag Brian Larson,chapter 72 is a lesson on preaching a narrative sermon. Most of these comes from the Old Testament, where you have stories of history, kingdoms, family challenges,and so on. This chapter teaches that to preach a narrative sermon you must do some investigation, discover the plot, observe the pace of things, interpret the dialouge, pay attention to details, and don't forget the characters. Now put your audience into the middle of things in a way that they feel like they are actually there. Preach this well and you have brought B.C. to your Sunday morning congregation.
Chapter 73 is titled: "The Big Idea Of Narrative Preaching", another lesson in telling a story, or I should say interpreting a story, In a narrative sermon there are two methods to interpret them. The first way is the "Exegetical Method, study the text and identify the beginning and the end of the story, this may include several chapters in the text and sometimes difficult to determine. Then you have to identify the design, scenes, characters,action, dialogue,language,narration,plot,tone,rhetorical structure,and the context. Then the "homeletical process", examine the exegetical idea, and restate it with historical accuracy and literary content. Begin with a cause and end with a solution.
Whoops, I see I skipped a week when assigning dates to the weeks.
"Life in Leviticus", chapter 74 in my study of "The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, Leviticus is not one of the most popular Old Testament books but the author was correct in saying that it is a book that we should know. Jesus is in Leviticus, our sacrifice for our sins, Amen? The writer explains why he would plant a new church and a new congregation and preach Leviticus and the greatest reason I have ever heard, "to flourish on the power of the Spirit alone". Wow such faith.
To flourish on the power of the Spirit alone. That is one thing I see happening when preaching through three or four chapters of the Bible at a time--regardles of the book from where the sermons come.
Chapter 75, titled: Apply Within" is a lesson in application. The writer explains why it is sometimes difficult applying a sermon to real life situations. I will list some of the reasons application is not applied to our lives. First it is "hard work", it is hard to find application to every situation in the congregation, second, is wrong assumptions, assuming the audience is able to apply any and all biblical truths is totally a wrong assumption, third, is fear, fear of being to deep or to simplistic in the text and failing at application, and then there is training or lack thereof, many preachers know the text, and the history and the order of things but are totally untrained in application. One gentleman said it this way," how can you be a good football player when you can pass the ball, or when you can kick the ball, or when you can run with the ball but you don't know the rules of the game.
"Showing Promise", that is the title to chapter 78. Craig Brian Larson makes us aware of the fact that God's commands should be acommpanied by a promise from God. Giving commands in a sermon without promise results in lack of faith that God will do what he says he will do. So when you illustrate a command from God, illustrate the promise that acommpanies that command and lead s to faith .
Did Mr. Larson give an example of showing promise along with a command? I would be interested in that. I'm not sure that failing to do that would always result in a lack of faith, but I may not understand all he is saying.
I Moved the Main flourishing in the Spirit post to here:
One of the authors Roger quoted mentioned that he would like to start a church, and begin with sermons on Leviticus, so that he could see God work. The heaviness of the words in Leviticus seem to show that if God moves in these instances, that you have to know that it is God working.
I have been privileged to see God move when preaching series of three to six sermons from particular books of the Bible, and it did not really matter, sometimes, where those sermons came from (although, there was a certain "leading" as to what chapters to use).
God is great, and He can use our feeble efforts to being people to Himself.
Bro. Randy, I will try to answer that by quoting Bro. Larson. He says: Every command from God is built on a promise of God, therefore, every divine call to action(obedience) is at the same time a divine summons to trust God's promise(faith).After the Exodus, God promised Israel that he would cause bread to rain down from heaven,gather only a days worth except on Friday and gather for two. The command was to gather for the day (obedience) and the promise was that it would rain bread again tomorrow (faith). I hope that answered your question. God Bless
Chapter 82: Less Joe, More Jesus, is written by Joe Stowell, who in fact wants to preach to draw more attention to Jesus and less attention to himself, less attention to the music, or less attention to whatever it is that distracts us. More Jesus. John 3:30, He must increase(Jesus) and I must decrease.
The Danger of Practical Preaching is the title of chapter 84, the author describes two fallacies about "Practical Preaching". The Bottom Line Fallacy, meaning that the message is short and to the point, the danger in this is that the hearers know what is sin, but don't know how they have gotten to the point that their at. In fact they know the end result only, and nothing of how to avoid it or how to repent from it only the point that they have sinned.
The Practical Fallacy however, is just to mundane or dogmatic, sure the hearer needs to know that a sermon has dealt with their life situations, their practical ways of life, but is that all they need to know, no , they need to know how it happens, they need to know that it happens to others, they need to know that it is not only their generation that it's applied to but many generations before. Practical huh, God Bless!!!!!!!
Bro. Randy, did you get any feedback on the "Marriage Enrichment Weekend", I was just curious that if we got the opportunity to do it again what might need to be changed or reviewed. Thanks God Bless you and your ministry.
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