Archives For Expository Preaching

You Can’t Pack Everything Into Your Sermon

Erik Raymond —  May 1, 2013 — 4 Comments

Recently my family of 8 packed into our mini-van for an early Spring vacation. When I say “packed in” you may be thinking in terms of seats (i.e. a Honda Odessy only has 8 seats, therefore, we were packed in). This is not what I mean. We were packed in. The trunk was filled to the top, the floor had shoes, books, bags, and blankets. The front seat was full of distractions for the little kids as well as entertainment for adults and big kids. We were packed in. But then when we got closer to our destination (10 hours away from home), we went to Costco to buy food for the week. In this we were now officially fully packed in. Kids balanced cartons of eggs, coffee, vegetables, and milk while we finished our course.

The vacation ended and my normal duties resumed last week. I prepared a sermon and then delivered it on Sunday. After I was finished I was reflecting upon it and critiquing various elements of it and I was drawn back to our road-trip.

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My Favorite Commentaries on First John

Erik Raymond —  April 15, 2013 — 3 Comments

I’m just finishing up preaching through First John. It has been a rich blessing for me, and I pray, our church as well. I often get questions about what resources were useful, so here is a list for pastors or anyone looking to dig in a bit and study the Epistles of John.

Here are my top 5 in order of my preference:

D. Edmond Hiebert: This is a very strong, textual commentary. Hiebert works through all of the issues by swimming through and out of the text. By the end of this series I looked forward to reading this each and every week. It’s great. (Amazon)

John Stott: If you are looking for an entry level commentary that will help you in your devotions and simplify some of the issues for you, then this is the one. Stott is incredibly simple and faithful. A must have if you are going to study the book. (Amazon | Westminster)

Robert Yarbough (Baker): As with the other commentaries in this set you can relay on it to provide solid contextual comments while also wading into various interpretive issues. Really good stuff. (Amazon | Westminster)

Collin Kruse (Pillar): Again, as is the case with the rest of the series you can’t go wrong with Pillar. Very readable and concise. Kruse is a worker; he helps you to think and reason. Even though I didn’t agree with every conclusion I knew and respected how he got there. Solid. (Amazon | Westminster)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones: This is more of an expositional commentary (sermons). In this you have 5 volumes of sermons from “The Dr”, one of the 19th Century’s best preachers. This is so good for your soul when you are preaching or studying. And if you are preaching, Lloyd-Jones will greatly help you with illustrations and interrogatives. (Amazon | Westminster)

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Beware of These Preaching Shortcuts

Erik Raymond —  March 18, 2013

We like shortcuts assuming that they get us to where we are trying to go. If they do not then they are dangerous, unproductive detours. In his book The Priority of Preaching, Christopher Ash argues that there are no shortcuts for preaching with authority. He writes, “The authority is a wonderful authority, but it is an authority borrowed only at great cost. This is why there are no shortcuts that work.”

Ash then helpfully warns preachers of three common shortcuts that preachers are tempted to take. I’ll state his points and briefly summarize them.

1. Beware of the shortcut of individual interpretation. This is the notion that we can just beaver away at the passage like we were the first person to ever read it. Many, many Christians have gone before us and wrestled with these same passages. No matter how trendy it is today to have our own interpretation of things Christians preachers must know that they we are accountable to God and one another to hear what the passage really means. “We must not be lazily idiosyncratic.”

2. Beware of the shortcut of second-hand interpretation. When listening to others we must not just copy others. Ash tells the story of how early in his ministry he heard a famous preacher nail a sermon and figured that he and his hearers would be better served if he just copied the sermon and delivered it as his own. The result was a true failure. Why? First the context was completely different, so the style didn’t translate well. Secondly, the sermon was terribly superficial. He had not been gripped and shaped by the passage. In short it wasn’t in them. You can’t expect to put the sermon in someone else if it is not in you first.

3. Beware of the shortcut of mystical authority.“We need desperately the fresh filling of God’s Holy Spirit when we preach, and can accomplish nothing without his sovereign power; but that power does not in general come upon preachers who have not bothered to prepare, and the filling of the Spirt is not a God-given compensation for willful idleness.” In short: Get to work bro, God will show up in your study too. Don’t presume upon God’s mercy and grace while serving your laziness.

Good reminders. More from Ash’s book here.

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Pastors: An Idea for your next Sermon Series

Erik Raymond —  February 12, 2013

ezra nehemiah emmaus bible church

Preachers love to preach. We love to dive down deep, mining God’s Word for glorious, eternal treasures and then to swim back up to the service, sharing them with our church each week. But sometimes we get a little preacher’s cramp in so far as what to preach next. After preaching through Ezra and Nehemiah, I am thoroughly convinced that pastors, in particular church planting pastors, should prayerfully consider preaching through these books.

Here are some reasons…

New Beginnings: Ezra starts out with the people of God in Babylon. Within a verse or two God is strirring the heart of a pagan King (Cyrus) to send his people back to Israel to rebuild the temple and reestablish the covenant community. It is time for a new day. In particulur for a church plant this helps to show how God works in people and communities to build something new.

Idolatry: The books are repleat with examples of what idolatry is. Everywhere from the neglegence of the weak in Nehemiah 8 to the ignorance of the Sabbath in order to make wine in Nehemiah 13, God shows how the elevation of good things to ultimate things is actually a replacement of what is ultimate, namely the worship and adoration of the Lord God. This primes the pump for a crucial discussion on idolatry.

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The Missing Ingredient in Many Sermons

Erik Raymond —  August 21, 2012

So often it’s the little stuff that makes the biggest impact.

This is true in my home as I am blessed to enjoy delicious meals on a regular basis. I often ask, “What is in this?” when enjoying a new dish or a new twist on an old dish. My wife will usually give one-word answers, “Lime.” “Cardamon.”  ”Turmeric.” “Honey.” “Pesto.” I am always surprised. I am always delighted. We rarely eat bland, ordinary, lifeless meals—for this I am daily thankful.

Like cooking, preaching can become bland. It can fail to have that freshness worthy of the gospel table. There are many reasons why. One could identify a lack of preparation, lack of understanding, poor delivery, and shallowness. We would not disagree that under-cooking the homiletical meal is a problem. But there is something else that can make preaching bland: the deadly reality of not being personally wowed by the subject.

I have seen this in some otherwise terrific sermons. Guys can be exegetically sound, communicate with clarity, illustrate with profundity, and then at the end of the sermon it tastes like grandma’s meatloaf: somewhat filling but not so memorable.

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How Your Preaching Can Hurt Your Church

Erik Raymond —  May 31, 2012

I love preaching. I love to preach myself and I love to hear others preach. Preaching is a God-ordained means of grace (1 & 2 Timothy). It is a good gift of God given for our blessing and benefit. But like so many blessings from God we can elevate them to become a distraction or even an idol.

In my young pastoral career (7 years) I have seen some unintended consequences of my love for preaching. I have observed a few ways in which my love for preaching has hurt our church. These observations do not diminish my love, appreciation, or priority of preaching. Instead, they helped me to regain pastoral balance and focus.

Here then are a few ways in which the idolatry of preaching can hurt your church:
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5 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Preaching

Erik Raymond —  May 16, 2012

Every preacher I know wants to get better; we are all clawing forward amid the windstorm of our own inability. In this I don’t pretend to be an expert but I do have the sand in my face. I’m with you trying to get there.

Previously I cited 4 ways to improve your preaching from a more administrative, preparatory way. I have also highlighted ways to help in prayerful preparation. However, in this post I want to talk about a few items that you can do in the delivery of the sermon that I have found to help. Let’s call them 5 friends that you want to invite to every one of  your sermons.

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