A Pastor’s “Right to Be Heard?” (Motyer)

Some pastors spend much time on the road speaking at conferences, retreats, classes, and church events. A question arises: how can they do that and shepherd the local congregation the Lord has called them to serve? Alec Motyer addresses this situation well in the following excerpt from his book, Preaching. Our position as ministers in …

Why Is Preaching Effective?

I was thinking about Christian worship and preaching today, which led me to chapter four of Michael Horton's book, A Better Way. In chapter four, Horton gives a biblical overview of how preaching works. Here are a few helpful insights from this chapter: It is important for us to realize that preaching is effective not …

The Difficulty of Good Application in Preaching

For me, one of the hardest parts of writing and preaching a sermon is application: bringing the truths of Scripture to bear on our daily Christian lives. This is a big discussion for sure. And for those of you who aren't preachers, let me just say it's not easy to do solid and edifying application …

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 …

Pastors Need the Gospel Too! (Newton)

On June 13, 1772, John Newton wrote a letter to a fellow pastor who had been struggling with sin in his life. Newton comforted his Christian brother by pointing him to Christ. He also noted that a pastor's struggle with sin helps him preach better to fellow struggling sinners. Furthermore, a pastor's realization of his …