Sermon Tone Analysis

Biblical Perspective

Old Testament Example

Proclamation of the good news

There would be liberty for the captives

Isaiah is sent of the Lord and anointed

New Testament Example

There are responsibilities that all have such as serving tables

these serving responsibilities should not get in the way of the ministry of the word

Some should be set aside to spend their time in prayer and preaching, not serving tables

makes it clear that we are to serve, but we should not be overwhelmed by the need

Neither position is better than the other but both are essential for a flourishing church

Theological Perspective

Theology Proper- God is a triune God and each person in the trinity has spicific roles.

As stated before, there are different roles, none of these roles is more valuable

Just like the Trinity

Anthropology- Mankind has fallen, and no longer has right relation with God, therefore we must be reminded

This is why the role of the preacher is so important in our churches to remind us of the good news

Christology- Christ is great, preachers preach the greatness of Jesus and frees them from needing to be glorious like he is, because of who Jesus is we are free to be who we are.

Pneumatology- Preaching is useless without the work of the Spirit.

The spirit is the one who gives the gifts, if he gives the gift of preaching then it must be a part of our ecclesiastical life

Ecclesiology- It’s through the proclamation of the word that the Church experiences growth

Historical Perspective

Patristic period

Battles against heresy with Athenasius, Irenaus and Augustine

Christianity was not legal so preaching was not done in public as much

Preachers who pulled from greek custom would stand, others from hebrew culture would sit

Preachers heavily leaned on the letters that they were written from the Apostles because the scripture was still in the process of canonization

Medieval Period

Decline in preaching

Corruption in the Church

Shortened homilies

St Francis of Assisi preached to peoples hearts through his own experience and spoke a lot about the beauty of Gods creation

St Francis of Assisi

Also monasticism

Reformation period

This is the turning point for preaching

John Calvin and Martyn Luther resurrected the passion for exegeting Gods word

Church was now defined as a place where the word is preached, baptism and communion are practiced

Preachers preached multiple times a week

In general history the gutenburg press was invented which allowed the sermons and thoughts of these men to spread everywhere

Preaching during this time period was done from pulpits in churches

The Modern Period

Time of intellectual reasoning led to classicly held Christian beliefs to be challenged

The age of skeptisism had begun and as a responce the church saw a rise in exegetical scholarship in their preaching

Charles spurgeon preached during this time

Spurgeon

He built the London Metropolitan Tabernacle which sat 6,000 people and filled twice each sunday

He preached at one point to upward of 23,000 people with no amplification

Preaching was done both outdoors and in pulpits

Postmodern period

Preaching is needed for us in an age where previously people wanted to find the truth, to now people wanting to define what truth is.

men like Martyn loyd Jones and John MacArthur have helped pave the way of keeping people grounded in the truth

Contemporary and General Revelation

Preaching these days is not listened to as much as it has been in the past

Postmodernism has shifted the way people think from looking to the bible for truth to looking at themselves as the truth makers which makes it easy to discredit something that someone else has to say.

Many people know a little about the christian religion but do not know Jesus as their savior

There are however some good aspects to postmodernity

People are open to conversation even if they dont agree

The North american Church has responded to postmodern thinkers in two ways

Seeker sensitive churches

Skeptic sensitive churches

General Revelation

Two types of knowledge

Accumulative knowledge is the gaining of facts

Transformational knowledge helps people come to conclusions on their own, the same way that Jesus asked questions to his followers

Ministry Practice

I have learned to take my preperation time more seriously

Its not helpful for people if you try to wing it

I can also look back into the past and be encouraged by late preachers

How did preachers preach during times of persecution

How did they preach during times of apathy

How did they preach during times of revival

Another way that I have grown through this is by seeing the nessessity for more preachers

So train up and encourage young preachers

The final step would be to spending more of my time in the ministry of the word

Conclusion

I set out to prove that preaching is a vital subset of ecclesiology, and that it has been since the outset of the Church.

The Bible supports this because it clearly shows that Peter preached at Pentecost ().

It is Theologically clear that we should include preaching in our ecclesiology because mankind is fallen and needs to be reminded of the glory of the Trinity and the grace that we have been given, which is illuminated to us through preaching by power of the Holy Spirit (, ).

Historically the protestant church has made the claim that preaching the word of God is one of three things necessary for a church to exist (The other two being baptism and communion).

Contemporary churches have been fighting postmodernism and shortening attention spans, but still see great fruit from the preaching of Gods word.

So my question for you class, now that you have seen why preaching is an important subset of ecclesiology, when you go to church on this sunday, will you see preaching the same?

What stands out to you now that didnt stand out before?