BIBLE DICTIONARIES

The NEW BIBLE DICTIONARY (IVP), edited by I Howard Marshall, AR Millard, JI Packer, DJ Wiseman - is worth investment by any preacher.

Best Commentaries says:
Description:This magnificent and comprehensive Bible dictionary has set the standard for five decades. This third edition brings the work up to date with the latest developments in scholarship. The book is invaluable for everyone who wants to know the Bible better

Another good on-line dictionary is...
BAKERS EVANGELICAL DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

BEST COMMENTARIES

A great resource for info on, reviews and recommendations on Bible Commentaries and other resources.

BESTCOMMENTARIES.COM

PREACHING TO THE HEART 2

More from the Keller-nator...

2. HOW CAN YOU BE BETTER AT PREACHING LIFE RELATED SERMONS
Theology is the answers to the questions we have asked of the text
 So the meaning you attribute to a text – is the answers to the questions you have asked of it
 Not Realtivism – rather Biblical texts contain a surplus of meaning

1. Who do you converse with?
 We are always shaped by our contexts – and thus are our sermons
 The questions we ask of the text are moulded in large part by our situations
 So if you live in a world of theological controversy your sermons will heavily reference those issues – i.e. those were the questions in your mind as you studied the text
 Conversely if you spend time with non-Christians or are involved in pastoral situations – you sermons will reflect that (e.g. they will become more relevant & meaningful to non-Christians)

So beware becoming unbalanced in your focus – read & spend time with a diversity of people.

2. Who do you picture?
 Imagine yourself counselling a particular person with the text you’re studying (imagine the conversation)
 Anticipate the questions a range of people might have about what you’re saying – answer them!

Types of listeners: sensitive non-Christians, immoral pagans, intellectual pagans, non-church nominal Christians, church-going nominal Christians, new Christians, mature Christians, the sick & suffering, the persecuted, the dying, the spiritually dry, the tempted, the backslider….etc etc

3. Do you have 3 perspectives on situational?

Three ways to apply a text
 Doctrinalist: focused on objective truth
 Pietist: focused on inner life
 Cultural Transformationalist: focused on community impact

e.g. Exorcism stories in NT
 Doctrinalist: focuses on: Jesus as God, divine power, no dualism
 Pietist: focuses on: Jesus can free you from the things that enslave you today
 Transformationalist focuses on: Jesus overcomes the evil in the world – how do we challenge evil in society today.

Preachers will tend to be disposed to focus on one aspect –
 need to see all three and apply in all aspects over time (may privilege one at any given time).

Apologetics in your sermon = application for non-Christians

PREACHING TO THE HEART 1

Some notes I took at a Preaching seminar a while back...
Preaching to the Heart – Tim Keller Oak Hill College, 19/11/08

Tolkien noted that a good sermon involves:
ART / VIRTUE / KNOWLEDGE

Col 1:28-29
 Admonishing – preaching into lives & situations (SITUATIONAL)
 Labouring – aspect of personal experience and involvement (VIRTUE)
 Teaching – need knowledge / information / objective truth (NORMATIVE)

When you preach – people are assessing you personally
 Evangelicals don’t like that – tend to belittle the Situational & Virtue aspects
 i.e. it should just be about the truth I speak – but the reality is you can’t separate the message from yourself or your listeners

U.S. preaching – often excessively situational
 Big emphasis on performance / moving people emotionally / being anecdotal
 Big weakness is that it lacks knowledge
 Our weakness, on the other hand, is often we lack situational invlovement

NEW PREACHERS
 Main complaint – good exegesis but lacking in application
 The sermons are boney & lack flesh – their word hasn’t become flesh
 Can be due to lack of personal / pastoral experience

Jonathan Edwards: purpose of sermon not just to make truth clear but to make it real
 Purpose in preaching is to change people even as they listen

APPLICATION
 Shouldn’t be tacked on the end of our preparation
 But should be in our minds at the beginning of our preparation

Dt 29:29 - Revealed things are there to be obeyed / put into practise / followed
Therefore – there is no part of God’s revelation that is not practical
 Everything in the Bible is application
 Thus: if you don’t know how a text is to be applied then you haven’t understood it!
 Application & Meaning are not different.

Word / Act theory
 i.e. Knowing the definition of a word is not the same as understanding the intention behind its use
 e.g. Can study a Psalm and breakdown language / understand context – but then need to ask what is the Psalm designed to do?

First part of sermon – says what you need to do
 Second part – says this is how to do it (i.e. go to Jesus)

NOTES ON PREACHING SLOTS

Some guidance for those who will be giving talks on Stream nights...

1. KEEP TO TIME - your talk should be no more than 12mins (if you get to 15 we will have to interrupt and ask you to stop).
2. DON'T 'PERFORM' - we're not looking a 'performance', our concern is how you handle the passage not that you ooze 'Barak Obama-esque' oratorical skills. So relax and be yourself.
3. EXHAUSTIVE CAN BE EXHAUSTING: it's a 10-12min talk! - not a comprehensive analysis of everything that could be said (we understand that). So focus on the main point in what you say.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR...
1. Did the speaker get the main point of the passage? Did they make that the main point of their talk?
2. Could I as a listener follow what they were saying - did it make sense?
3. What it obvious that what they were saying was from their passage?
4. Were their illustrations (if any) helpful or confusing in understanding the passage.
5. Did they appropriately communicate the tone of the passage (e.g. were they chiding when the author's tone was conciliatory, or vice-versa)?
6. Did they apply it - i.e. did they give an example of the relevance of the passage for me today?

REMEMBER - we're all in this together & there is no such thing as the 'perfect sermon' - this is simply a chance for us to learn and encourage each other in this important ministry.