The Power of Preaching

In 1883 Herman Bavinck wrote an article about the sermon and the worship service called “De Predikdienst.” You can find it today in a book containing Bavinck’s other essays on preaching called Preaching and Preachers. In his article about the sermon and the worship service, Bavinck explained the power of Christian preaching. Here’s what he wrote:

The Lord has joined his blessing to the preaching of his word. It is by this preaching that the congregation remains strong and has done so throughout history. Through preaching, in connection to the signs and seals of the covenant, the congregation is strengthened and built up in the most holy faith and incorporated in the body of Christ. Through preaching, the congregation is protected in its purity, encouraged in its battle, healed in its sufferings, established in its confession…. The meaning of preaching cannot be easily overestimated….

As Scripture itself puts it,

God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe (1 Cor. 1:21 NASB 2020). 

(The above quote is found in Herman Bavinck, Preachers and Preaching, p. 62-3.)

Shane Lems
Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Hammond, WI, 54015