Hebrews 5-10

Last Sunday I preached on Hebrews 5-10 (sort of), while focusing in on the application in 10:19-25. I would love for you to listen, and to give any comments below. Mahalo!

 

Exodus 1-2

A savior arrives, and YHWH’s sovereignty over all of history to bring His plan to pass is on display.

 

Preparing to Preach or Teach

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul instructs Timothy to communicate the message that Paul delivered to him to the brothers in Ephesus. If he does this, he will be a good servant of Christ who is trained in the truth and good doctrine. Undoubtably, this training involved discipline and work. Paul commands Timothy to train himself in godliness, explaining that they “toil and strive” because of their hope in God. Timothy must have studied. He must have worked hard at practicing godliness and understanding good doctrine.

The call to prepare, study, and train one’s mind and body was taken seriously by many in Church history. Stott quotes Calvin as saying that a good minister of the word is first a scholar. He also quotes Spurgeon that any minister that has stopped studying will no longer reap in the pulpit. Jonathan Edwards would typically spend thirteen hours a day in study!

There are different slants on how one should go about studying and preparing for a sermon. Stott proposes the following steps for sermon preparation:

 I. Choose your text

II. Meditate on it (What does it mean? and What does it say? All bathed in prayer. Possibly in the context of a community meditating together)

III. Isolate the dominant thought

IV. Arrange your material to serve the dominant thought

V. Add introduction and conclusion

VI. Write down and pray over your message

Whereas Kaiser, in dealing specifically with Old Testament texts, lists different steps:

 I.   Find the extent of the pericope.

II.  Find the focal point of the pericope.

III. Find the homiletical key word.

IV. Find the interrogative.

V.  Make the main points relevant and contemporary.

VI. Conclude the sermon by making a final appeal.

Taking these two (and others) into consideration, I would propose the following as a basic process for preparing for preaching and/or teaching:

1.   Prayer approaching the text
2.   Read and study the larger and immediate context
3.   Meditate on the text through rereading and discussing it with others
4.   Study and research the text
5.   Determine the focal point/dominant thought
6.   Create an outline around the focal point
7.   Make applications of the text to the current culture/context
8.   Pray over the sermon

 

Moralistic Preaching

Click here for a concise explanation of moralistic preaching from Julius Kim (Westminster Seminary California). I know that moralistic preaching is something that I definitely struggle with. It is partly because that is the kind of preaching that I was raised with, and therefore I am used to it. The other reason is that moralistic preaching is easy. It doesn’t require the preacher to think deeply and draw everything back to the Gospel.