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Across history and into today, God continues to use faithful, Spirit-led preaching to guide, correct, and nurture His people amid countless competing voices.

One of the most precious gifts God has given His church is the faithful preaching of His Word.

The Old Testament is riddled with prophets preaching to God’s chosen people the need to turn from their ways and come before the Lord in repentance for the sake of their salvation.

The city of Nineveh was so impacted by Jonah’s cry to repent that the entire city found itself in sackcloth and ashes, crying out to God for forgiveness — all as a result of Jonah’s, albeit unwilling, preaching.

In the New Testament, we see John the Baptist bursting out from the wilderness, between crunches of locusts and slurps of wild honey, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!”

Jesus Himself preached regularly. The Sermon on the Mount comes readily to mind — or Christ’s feeding miracles, where thousands flocked to the wilderness to be spiritually and physically fed by the Son of God. As we read in Mark 6:34, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He began teaching them.”

Then there’s Peter at Pentecost and his 3,000 converts. As the Spirit was poured out, God chose to turn Peter’s tongue into a ‘flame of fire’ as he preached of Christ’s death and resurrection, and His fulfilment of the Old Testament’s promises.

Paul, travelling across Asia Minor, could have waited to evangelise to the customers who frequented his tent-making business. Instead, he intentionally visited synagogues and engaged the minds of the town intellectuals through preaching.

And let’s not forget the great preachers of church history.

Steven J. Lawson refers to Jonathon Edwards as “the greatest preacher on American soil”. There was also the booming voice of George Whitefield, igniting the Great Awakening of the 18th Century. And I risk enraging an entire denomination if I neglect to mention Martin Luther, or face the fury of an entire theological camp if I don’t mention John Calvin.

There is simply no shortage of powerful preachers we could reference. Indeed, there are too many preachers to mention who have influenced the world. From the earliest days of the apostles until now, the ministry of the Word through preaching has stood at the centre of Christian worship, life and growth.

Consider that God didn’t have to use preaching as his method of conversion. But He did — and He does.

Why is this so? The apostle Paul answers this question in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

What is Preaching?

Preaching is not an academic explanation of the Bible; that would be lecturing. Nor is preaching a tool to entertain the crowds or woo people into our doors. We have the circus for that.

Preaching is God’s Word made alive by the Spirit. When the Scriptures are proclaimed through preaching, God Himself is speaking to His people. The living Word of God comes alive in the present moment by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For this reason, preaching is not ultimately about eloquence, moral instruction, entertainment, or intellectual skill, but about bringing God’s timeless truth to challenge and confront His people in a timely way. 

Preaching in Our Churches Today

We have enjoyed an extended period of freedom and prosperity in the Western church. But times of pleasure have led to complacency, if not a warped set of priorities within our congregations. History suggests that when Christians are at risk of being burned alive for possessing a Bible, they are less likely to disagree over something as unimportant as the appropriate length of a sermon, worship styles, service length or minor theological priorities. All of this is trivial and misses the point.

Here’s what matters far more: Is God speaking to us as a congregation through the power and the preaching of His living Word through those He has set apart for the task? God has indeed set these people apart, since the beginning of time, to proclaim his Word of truth by the Spirit.

As 2 Peter 1:20-21 declares, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”.

May our minds be stimulated, may our hearts be transformed, and may God be glorified from our pulpits. May all of us be confronted by the scandal of Jesus Christ on the cross proclaimed from the Word. That’s what really matters.

What About Sermons Online?

Podcasts and online preaching are a blessing. We have an abundance of Bible-preaching pastors just an internet search away — and I myself am a regular listener.

But in our turn to online preaching, we have lost something, too.

We have become followers of particular preachers. Literally, we ‘follow’ them online. We have lost our critical discernment and create who they are and what they preach as our belief. What we are following is no longer contained within their preaching segment; it’s them as a person.

We peruse online sermons to find one that suits our bias and preconceived worldview, instead of coming to scripture to hear it as an objective truth.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Prominent preachers have become the new Bible. Their very character and lifestyle are on display and have begun to cloud their messages we listen to.

Paul warned us:

What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12)

This flood of online preachers that is available at our fingertips appears to be creating division, not unity.

Paul urges us:

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

I’m not saying don’t listen to online pastors. But our local pastors and preachers have a God-ordained authority in having been set aside for His word.

The Process of a Sermon

I’m new to the game in many respects. I may not have as many runs on the board or notches on my belt, but maybe my being green gives me a fresh insight into the uniqueness of being called to preach.

A sermon is not brought together because of the preacher’s biblical knowledge, although that helps. A sermon isn’t successful because the preacher is charismatic and engaging. In fact, a sermon has nothing to do with the preacher.

Every God-glorifying sermon comes as the preacher dies to themselves. Dies to their ability, their agenda, their knowledge and their pride. All of it dies in the lead-up to a sermon. By Sunday morning, you have a weak and humble preacher with nothing of themselves to give.

Then the process starts again, ready for next Sunday. Every week, a Jacob-like wrestle with God. The result: a Spirit-ordained word from God specific to that congregation.

Preaching is also relational. It’s relational between the preacher and God as God brings the preacher to the end of themselves each week, and through this wrestling, God provides the word for the congregation each Sunday.

The other relationship is between preacher and congregation. Ever started praying for someone and then all of a sudden had an overwhelming revelation that you have a love for that person that is far greater than a love that could have come from yourself? That’s the love a pastor is given for his congregation, a love that far exceeds his ability to love the congregation in and of himself.

A love found in the revelation that Christ laid His life down for the congregation and for me, the preacher.

Don’t Take Your Pastor for Granted

Keep listening to your favourite preachers. Enjoy them and learn from them.

But just know the love your pastor has for you. Incline your ear to the words he has to proclaim, because it is specific to you and your congregation. No online phenomenon can replace him.

All preachers worth listening to only have one drum to beat and one string to their bow:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.