From a Pastor to His New Congregation (Kuyper)

When Abraham Kuyper arrived in Amsterdam in August, 1870, he gave an inaugural sermon to the Reformed congregation that he had been called to shepherd. This sermon is called "Rooted and Grounded" and it is found in the volume On the Church by Abraham Kuyper. In this sermon Kuyper talked about how the church is…

Preaching to the Heart (Bartholomew)

 It is true that in some churches sermons are often simply [dry] lectures in theology.  While good theology is a good thing, a sermon should not just be a lecture in theology. A sermon is theological, to be sure, but a sermon also involves the will, the emotions, and of course, the heart.  Craig Bartholomew…

The Lever of Truth (Warfield)

 Here's a great excerpt from a chapel sermon by B. B. Warfield on Acts 26:18.  It's especially for pastors or those who are studying for the pastorate: Mark, then, first of all, the function which the Ascended Jesus assigns to His witnessing servants. It is summed up in a single term—it is “to open men’s…

“The Preacher Who Takes Up Vos’ Biblical Theology…” (Clowney)

Over the past 15+ years I've come to a pretty strong conviction that an understanding of redemptive history is of utmost importance in the pulpit ministry.  Preaching that has no understanding of redemptive history is preaching that lacks.  There are nuances to this discussion of course.  I'm not an advocate of hyper redemptive-historical preaching.  And…

The Problems with Preaching

I'm enjoying Bryan Chapell's book, Using Illustrations to Preach with Power.  In the opening chapter Chapell talks about some recent and valid criticism of preaching and sermons.  One study on sermons found that (1) Preachers tend to use complex, archaic language which the average person does not understand; (2) most sermons today are dull, boring,…