The Use & Abuse of Sermons
Preachers, a good note of caution from The Gospel Coalition Website:
A NOTE ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF SERMONS
The instant availability of thousands of expository sermons and
addresses prompts us to reflect a little on how they should not be
used, and how they should be used.
To take the latter first: many of our Council members avidly read
the sermons of others, or, increasingly commonly, listen to them while
they are driving or walking or jogging. Good preaching not only opens
up texts, but helps us learn how others tackle the challenge of
structure, apply Scripture to their particular congregations, relate
their texts to the central themes of God and the gospel, and much more.
We soon sense their urgency and God-given unction. We are sent back to
the study and to our knees to become better workers who do not need to
be ashamed of the way we handle the word of truth.
The bad way to listen to the sermons of others is to select one such
sermon on the topic or passage you have chosen and then simply steal
it, passing it off as if it is your own work. This is, quite frankly,
theft, and thieves, Paul tells us, will not inherit the kingdom of God
(1 Cor 6:10). Yet in some ways that is not the most serious aspect of
this form of plagiarism. Rather, it is the deep damage you are doing to
yourself and others by not studying the Bible for yourself. Ministers
of the gospel are supported by their congregations so they will give
themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer. That demands
rigorous study. A faithful minister of the gospel is never merely a
biological tape recorder or CD, thoughtlessly parroting what someone
else learned, thought through, prayed over, and recorded. Indulge in
this exercise and before long you will starve your own soul — and, no
matter how good the sermons you steal, your ministry will sooner or
later, and deservedly, become sterile, for the stamp of inauthenticity
will be all over you.
One helpful suggestion: Listen to many sermons, not just one or two.
You will be far less likely to steal, and far more likely to be
stimulated and helped, if you listen to five or ten sermons than if you
listen to one.
The Race, Hebrews 12:1-13
Here’s my sermon from Sunday, The Race, Hebrews 12:1-13:
Listen: The Race
Download: The Race.mp3
Silicon Valley Fight Club
Has anyone else seen or heard of this before? ESPN did their research and made this video just 3 months ago, but apparently the Silicon Valley Fight Club has been in existence for several years–a gathering of Bay Area males who work in high tech and who fight each other (oftentimes using keyboards, Martha Stewart magazines, and toilet seats as weapons). Part of me wants to join. Part of me thinks this is ridiculous.
Are The Suburbs Killing Your Manhood?
Men, this is a great article: Are The Suburbs Killing Your Manhood?
An excerpt:
The problem comes when our environment begins dictating our behavior and thereby stripping men of the very things that feed our manishness…
But maybe the truest calling of man lies in the wilderness
of life; in learning to thrive in the environments where complete
control is not possible.Think about every man you looked up to as a kid. Chances are they
continually faced environments outside their complete control.
Environments in which there was no guarantee of safety or success.
Where one can only hope to influence rather than rule. Firefighters
dueling with fire, soldiers battling the fog and friction of war,
explorers traversing foreign territories, pilot’s pushing the
boundaries of flight, or even the missionary working in inner-city New
York. Each learning to thrive without being in control.
HT: McCoy/Subtext
San Francisco: The Most Walkable City in the U.S.
This week San Francisco was awarded as the most “walkable” city in the nation.
See the full rankings at WalkScore.com.
See the Chronicle article on San Francisco’s award.
Note: this study did not factor hills into its analysis. If it had factored in hills, as walkable and wonderful as San Francisco is, I’m sure the rankings would’ve come out differently.
31 Years
Mom and Dad, happy anniversary! Happy 31 years (7/17/77). I love you. Thanks for giving me the gift of two parents committed to each other for 31 years. I praise God for the grace he’s poured out on your marriage.
PS. Dad, I think it’s time to bring back the mustache and sideburns.
9 Truths That Must Take Root for You To Be Fully Alive to God
From J.I. Packer’s introductory essay in In My Place Condemned He Stood:
- “Only where these nine truths have taken root and grow in the heart will anyone be fully alive to God.”
(1) God…”condones nothing,” but judges all sin as
it deserves: which Scripture affirms, and my conscience confirms, to be
right.
(2) My sins merit ultimate penal suffering and rejection from God’s
presence (conscience also confirms this), and nothing I do can blot
them out.
(3) The penalty due to me for my sins, whatever it was, was paid for me
by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in his death on the cross.
(4) Because this is so, I through faith in him am made “the righteousness of God in him,” i.e. I am justified; pardon, acceptance and sonship become mine.
(5) Christ’s death for me is my sole ground of hope before God. “If he
fulfilled not justice, I must; if he underwent not wrath, I must to
eternity.” (John Owen)
(6) My faith in Christ is God’s own gift to me, given in virtue of Christ’s death for me: i.e. the cross procured it.
(7) Christ’s death for me guarantees my preservation to glory.
(8) Christ’s death for me is the measure and pledge of the love of the Father and the Son to me.
(9) Christ’s death for me calls and constrains me to trust, to worship, to love and to serve.
J.I. Packer & Mark Dever, In My Place Condemned He Stood
For the past two months I’ve been feasting on J.I. Packer and Mark Dever’s excellent book, In My Place Condemned He Stood. I don’t say this often, but I’ll say it here, every Christian leader should read this book.
Tim Keller’s endorsement for the book puts it well:
“The essays in this volume by Packer and Dever are some of the most important things I have ever read. If you want to preach in such a way that results in real conversions and changed lives, you should master the approach to the cross laid out in this book.”
Rest, Hebrews 3:7-4:13
Here’s my sermon from Sunday, a sermon on Rest from Hebrews 3:7-4:13.
Download: Rest.mp3
Listen: Rest
