foundational preaching week 2

1 corinthians 15:

1 Corinthians 15:9–11 KJV 1900

9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Foundational Preaching week 2

Today, I want to dig a little bit deeper into some of the items that we touched on last time we were together.

The mind of the preacher

See it before you say it

Illustration: When I was a child, the night before a big game…for example a little league baseball game…I would lay awake visualizing how the game would go. I would envision various aspects of the game and usually, my imagination would portray me succeeding in the various elements of the game. I would also think through the areas that I that I was aware could be a potential challenge.

To add to these “daydreams”, my dad (who doubled as my coach) would often quiz me with various scenarios to cause me to think through what my response would be.

These exercises within my mind helped to build mental preparation and subsequently, confidence.

When preparing to preach we should allow the Spirit to illuminate our imagination.

In the book of Ezekiel chapter 37 we see the well known story of the Valley of Dry bones.

This passage is a vision that God gives Ezekiel.

The final 4 verses give us insight as to the purpose of the vision:

Ezekiel 37:11–14 KJV 1900

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

The vision was preparation for him prophesying to Israel

God is providing Ezekiel a vision of the results of the words that he will prophecy to Israel.

As you prophecy, there will come healing and restoration!

As this message of restoration and recovery are being into the heart and the mind of Ezekiel he is able to visualize the response and the reaction of his prophetic words.

My experience has been, that...

the process of visualizing the sermon being preached, before it is preached, is a tremendous factor in the delivery as it is preached.

If we visualize an element of what we are preaching, and no bones are coming together…there probably isn’t any life in those words.

If we visualize that the congregation is confused and doesn’t clearly understand what we are saying…there is a good chance that the point we are trying to make needs to be clarified.

When we are able to visualize people receiving the Word that has been preached, we can then preach with confidence.

Isn’t this the very definition of faith? The substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen?

When we are able to visualize the people responding to the preaching, this stirs our passion.

Many times when I am visualizing myself preaching, the Spirit of God will begin to expound on a point and speak things to me that I hadn’t been able to think of before.

Visualize people saying “amen” when you are preaching.

(which is a good indicator that they understand and receive what is being communicated).

Visualize the congregation receiving breakthrough in your preaching…

The spirit of the Lord led Ezekiel to watch as muscle and sinew came upon the skeletal structure laying before him…It’s not egotistical to envision the Word working in the lives of people!

Visualize people responding accordingly in the altar…

if you have preached a message of conviction…visualize people repenting.

If you have preached encouragement....visualize people being uplifted

If you have preached deliverance....visualize people being set free.

The final point that I will state concerning this idea of envisioning yourself preaching before you preach, is that..

many times during this process, God will highlight certain people that he desire to minister to.

As a pastor, I obviously have more liberty to pursue these while in the pulpit…but God can and will identify people that he is wanting to minister to through His Word.

This leads us to the second point concerning the mind of a preacher and that is...

2. Confidence

Last time we were together we talked about preparation.

Now, I hope that you all don’t think that because I am not building a 2 hour lesson on the importance of prayer that this doesn’t mean I don’t think prayer is important. I am trying to equip you all with tools to be more effective. If you aren’t a mechanic, the tools wont make a difference…and having a consistent prayer life is more about you first being the right kind of man or woman of God…

Nothing can replace confidence in the effectiveness of preaching.

Areas that we need to be confident:

We need to be confident in the power of the Word of God!

We are not just preaching a fable or a story that stirs the intellect, we preach the Living Word of God that is able to change the very heart of humanity.

Confidence in our understanding of the Word of God

This is where the issue of preparation is so important.

When you walk up to preach and you haven’t spent time familiarizing yourself with the text. Haven’t studied…haven’t prayed…You are likely not going to be very confident in your delivery.

Confidence in the Grace of God

the fact is that preaching is foolishness. () At our best, as mortal, sinful humanity, we are going to fall short of fully and effectively communicating eternal truths. We must have confidence in the grace of God. That when we fall short, he will make up the difference. That when we are dealing with our own fears, insecurities and failures…his grace is sufficient!

The importance of illustrations

1 Corinthians 2:3–4 KJV 1900

3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

1 Corinthians 2:4 KJV 1900

4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

1 Corinthians 2:4 NKJV

4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

2 Timothy 4:3–4 KJV 1900

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

it is apparent, the danger of stories and illustrations in preaching. Paul repeatedly preached on the topic of fables and stories, warning the church to be aware of their dangers.

both, the gift and the danger of illustrations, like in the fact that they allow us to touch and deal with the emotions of people.

Obviously, Jesus himself chose to use parables to communicate Biblical truths…so there is some value to their usage:

W.E. Sangster cites seven uses for illustrations in his book “the craft of Sermon”

(1) They make the message clear.

(2) They ease a congregation.

( 3) They make the truth impressive.

(4) They make preaching interesting.

(5) They make sermons remembered.

(6) They help to persuade people.

(7) They make repetition possible without weariness.

In addition to those, there are additional powerful benefits of using stories and illustrations

Illustrations persuade, they motivate, they stir the will, the touch the heart, they explain, and they cause decision-making. It provides new ways to understand the wisdom of Scripture.

Various ways to use illustrations:

I like french fried. I like baked potatoes…but if I had to choose one side, it would be mashed potatoes and gravy.

I love to use an illustration to begin a sermon, if possible. That illustration immediately brings the congregation into alignment of thinking toward the truth that I hope to reveal throughout the sermon.

I use this illustration because I believe it is a clear picture of the relationship between Biblical text and stories and illustrations.

The most effective way to ensure that you get a good ration of gravy to potatoes in every bite, is to put the potatoes on your plate first…some even go the extra step of using their spoon or the scooper to make a little well in the potatoes and then pour the gravy into the well...

you start with potatoes.

A sermon that that uses scripture to substantiate an illustration is like putting gravy down on the plate and then heaping potatoes onto it.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t find an illustration first and then add the text later. Nor does it mean that you have to make the biblical point first and then add the illustration.

In fact, I like to use an illustration of some sort at the beginning of my preaching if possible, because it immediately brings the people into alignment with the principle that I am hoping to share.

Use the example of what I preached yesterday....(p.s. I’m not trying to sneak a preach…i know preachers love to get other preachers to hear what they preached....im simply trying to provide an example.

2. To emphasize a point

3. To encourage emotion…When people engage emotionally, they open themselves up…When they open themself up…transformation can take place.

We should use an illustration to emphasize and clarify a scriptural point.

4. To close a sermon…Many of the most effective sermons that I have ever witnessed being preached concluded with a powerful illustration that brought anyone that might have been hesitating to commit to whatever was being preached, to an unreserved and uninhibited response.

I don’t use the scripture to emphasize or clarify a story.

The relationship between the Two Testaments

It has been said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

At the end of the day, I should be able to say that the illustration that I used did not lead me to compromise the Biblical truth.

The stories and the history of the Old Testament are filled with truths that are declared in the New Testament.

for example…Paul stated in that he finds a law present within him that when he would do good, evil is present with him.

This powerful truth was demonstrated in the lives of so many men and women in the Old Testament…David with Bethsheba…Samson with Delilah…but rather than just having one passage to preach from philosophically about the evil that is present…You have an entire life to preach from with other factors that play into that truth.

For example, if I preach on David and Bethsheba…more than just talking about the law that is present…I can talk about the fact that David stayed home at a time when kings go to war…there are things I can do to avoid the evil…That after David committed sin with Bethsheba, the prophet confronted him and David repented…what to do when we do the evil that is present.

I love to preach from the Old Testament because it is filled with types and shadows that point, both to the person of Jesus Christ…but also to the truths of the New Testament.

Preaching the Old Testament allows us living examples with greater context with which to draw from.