From the book, “What People Ask About The Church,” by Dale A. Robbins — 75 — Preaching means to orally "proclaim" something, and is
usually used to describe the act of bringing forth a sermon or message. It is viewed as an
important ingredient of a church service, largely because the whole foundation of the
Christian faith, and the very reason for the church's existence, is derived from the Word
of God, the object of preaching. Scripture has a prominent place in Christian worship, just as it did
in the Jewish Synagogue on the Sabbath. It was in this setting that Matthew's Gospel
recounts a reading in Nazareth's synagogue by the local, rising young prophet, Jesus.
Remarkably, it was on this occasion that He revealed His Messianic identity, that He was
the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah 61:1, from which He read. "The Spirit of
the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has
sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable
year of the LORD" (Luke 4:18-19). Preaching was considered a primary thrust of Christ's mission on
earth — a task that He passed on to the church to continue. He commissioned His
followers to evangelize the world with Gospel preaching (Mark 16:15), and later when the
church came together on Sundays, the course of worship would also include ample preaching
or teaching, sometimes of a lengthy nature. "Now on the first day of the week, when
the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to
them and continued his message until midnight" (Acts 20:7). (Now doesn't this make
you feel better about the length of your pastor's sermons?) Preaching is always intended to bring about some desired result. To
the unsaved, hopefully the preaching will inspire a decision for Christ. For the
believers, the objective is to edify them spiritually. Dr. Jay Adams, a widely respected
professor of homiletics, says "the purpose of preaching is to effect changes among
the members of God's church that build them up individually and that build up the body as
a whole. Individually, good pastoral preaching helps each person in the congregation to
grow in his faith, conforming his life more and more to biblical standards. Corporately,
such preaching builds up the church as a body in the relationship of the parts to the
whole, and the whole to God and to the world."¹ Customarily, preachers will organize their message into the form of
a sermon, which is "a speech with an organized collection of thoughts." It is
usually constructed around an outline of key points, combined with an array of scripture
references, metaphors, or illustrative stories to help convey the point. A sermon may also
be referred to as a "homily," derived from the Greek HOMILIA, a mutual talk or
set discourse. There are a variety of sermon formats used by Bible preachers today: (1) A Textual sermon is one that limits itself to one certain
thought or topic suggested by a particular scripture text. Many of the philosophies surrounding sermon rhetoric (the style and
structure of oratory) were handed down from John Chrysostom, the fourth century preacher
of Antioch and Bishop of Constantinople (A.D. 350-407). His preaching gift was enhanced by
his childhood studies of Greek oratory. From the 6th century, he was referred to as
Chrysostom, which means "Golden Mouth," due to the eloquent structure of his
written homilies. Hundreds of these were preserved and upheld as model sermon outlines for
generations of preachers. Besides sermon structure, there are other great diversities in the
styles of preaching, mainly due to the different personalities of preachers. The 19th
century theologian, Phillips Brooks said, "Preaching is the communication of truth by
man to men. It has two essential elements, truth and personality. Neither of these can it
spare... Preaching is the bringing of truth through personality."² Personality
refers to the distinctive traits of a preacher — his speaking ability, his
disposition, manners and enthusiasm — which deliver the message to the hearers. It is generally not encouraged, but preaching styles are frequently
influenced by the styles of admired peers and well known ministers. Billy Graham is one of
the most emulated preachers in history — primarily due to his wide exposure through
broadcasting. It is not uncommon to hear a preacher who sounds very similar. I know of
several pastors who (perhaps unconsciously) use similar phrases, mannerisms, and the same
rhythm of speech, which makes them sound very much like Graham. One might assume that preaching is always based on scripture, but
this is not always the case. Ministers in some contemporary churches rarely refer to
scripture, if at all. Unfortunately, such sermons become nothing more than secular
speeches or lectures, contrary to the pattern of New Testament preaching. More than
anything else, people need to hear the unadulterated proclamation of God's Word that has
power to transform their lives. The Apostle Paul's instruction to his young understudy,
Timothy, was not to make speeches or sermons — he said to "Preach the
word..." (2 Tim 4:2). A Godly lifestyle, combined with the calling of God are the most
important qualifications for a preacher. One doesn't have to possess a formal education to
preach, any more than did the earliest disciples, many of whom were common fishermen and
tradesmen. But it's to the preacher's advantage if he can attend a Bible college or
seminary. Besides a need for mentoring and Biblical instruction, there are two preparatory
studies especially helpful to the preparation of preaching. (1) Hermeneutics, "the
science and art of Biblical interpretation," (derived from the Greek, HERMES,
mythical herald of the gods and interpreter of Jupiter), and (2) Homiletics, "the art
and science of preaching," (from the Greek "HOMILIA," a mutual talk or set
discourse). ¹ Preaching With Purpose, Jay E. Adams This article is copyrighted © by Dale A. Robbins, 1995, and is a publication of Victorious Publications, Grass Valley, CA 95949. Unless otherwise stated, all scripture references were taken from The New King James Bible, © Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.You may download for personal use as long as you retain credit to the author. Obtain permission before reproducing copies for any reason, by filling out our simple permission form. For media reproduction rights, or to obtain published quantities of this title, email us. |
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