Who preaches on a regular basis?
- Thread starter Ivan
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Ivan, there are various ways to approach the selection of texts, etc. I usually preach through books of the Bible, one passage, and or verse at a time. My D.Min. dissertation was entitled, "High Expectations: an investigation into the quantitative element of time upon the art of expository sermon preparation." It is basically a little handbook on time management for the new preacher, and the seminarian. It also deals with the mechanics of sermon preparation and delivery, including the selection of the text. How do you usually go about deciding what to preach?
"In Christ"
Bobby
"In Christ"
Bobby
Ivan
Pastor
Good Evening Bobby,
Your D.Min. dissertation sounds interesting. Where did you get your D.Min?
As to your question, I do not preach on a regularly basis, at least not every Sunday. I share the preaching responsibilities with the pastor of our church and generally preach once a month at my home church and am looking forward to preaching, as the Lord gives me opportunity, at neighboring churches.
To be specific, when I preach at my home church it's generally from the lectionary, because that is what my pastor follows. However, I am free to venture out and use other passages.
I notice you are a PhD. candidate at Whitefield. I'm considering the seminary. What have been your impressions of the school?
JonathanHunt
Puritan Board Senior
Forgive my ignorance, but I have never heard of 'preaching from a lectionary'. What means this?
JH
JH
JonathanHunt
Puritan Board Senior
Indeed.
But preaching from a lectionary? That consists of reading what someone else has written... hardly a sermon.
Are you meaning roughly basing a message on a lectionary or just reading it out?
JH
[Edited on 13-12-2004 by JonathanHunt]
Ivan
Pastor
Hmmm...never heard of reading a lectionary of "what someone else has written". The lectionary is simply a list of Bible passages from the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament readings come from the Psalms and a couple more from elsewhere. The New Testament has a Gospel reading and one from the Epistles. They generally run a consistent pattern through a book of the Bible. It generally follows the Church Year.
I know there are books of "sermons" written that follow the lectionary, but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean only the Scripture itself. You and the Lord come up with the sermon!
VirginiaHuguenot
Puritanboard Librarian
Just to interject for a moment (for the sake of clarifying a definition and offering a Presbyterian perspective), a lectionary is simply a book which contains readings, or lections, from the Scriptures which are designed to follow the church calendar. They are most commonly found in Anglican/Episcopalian, Lutheran or Roman Catholic churches. From my perspective, to the extent they adhere to the church calendar, they are objectionable. To the extent that they are merely readings from the Scriptures, I can see profit in them. However, I think lectionaries tend towards taking the determination of which Scriptures to read out of the hands of the minister and they yoke the readings to an ecclesiastical holiday system which undermines the liberty of Scriptural worship which we have in Christ (cf. Gal. 5.1; 4.9-10). My own preference as far as (expository) preaching is concerned is to hear the Bible preached through from Genesis to Revelation with breaks for topical preaching as may be warranted by providential circumstance and the minister's or session's judgment.
Ivan
Pastor
Agreed. Our church is not "married" to the lectionary. The present pastor started using it several years ago because he was simply running out of things to say, I suppose, at least that's the impression I got from him. At least he does preach from the Word and his sermons are expository. He does not always follow the lectionary. From time to time he does get inspired!
If I were running the show.....
Seriously, when I was a pastor I preached through books of the Bible. For me, that's the only way. Perhaps, one day, I'll be able to stand behind the pulpit again on a regular basis and preach through the Bible.
I pray so.
I preach the last Sunday of every month and whenever the Pastor is on vacation or sick. Currently I'm preaching through the Epistle to the Philippians.
My first few sermons I agonized before the Lord in prayer until He placed a heavy burden on my heart to preach a particular topic or series of messages. I've also been commissioned by my Pastor (in the past) to preach a series on the Doxology.
My sermon choice is dictated by the climate of the assembly. Is there a relevant issue that needs to dealt with (Christian Liberty, Sanctification, Prayer, etc.)? It's also determined by the burden the Lord places upon me in the prayer closet or in the study. Lately He's been pressing on my conscience a burden to preach through Jonah (keep me in prayer). This will be my first time preaching through an OT book.
I recommend Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges, Pastoral Theology by Thomas Murphy, and Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon for further mediatation.
I'm Stated Supply at a PCA church in Tchula, MS. I am going through Exodus in the morning and 1 Peter in the evening.
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