The Conclusive Importance of Conclusions in Expository Preaching

The conclusion of a sermon is of such crucial importance that it may make or break the thrust of your sermon.  While some preachers may think this concept is decidedly unfair, it is nonetheless true.  A poor, weak, or meandering conclusion will leave the congregation restless and feeling flat, rather than this being used as a crisp call to action.

The old adage of “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them” has some merit.  Your conclusions are there to drive home the theme of your sermon.  How so? 

1. Conclusions could use an appropriate illustration to tie into the theme.  An apt quote, a story from the life of a great man or woman of faith, a contemporary vignette dealing with that theme—having these types of conclusions will be of great use.  Jesus used illustrations to help illumine a specific spiritual concept.  Expositors must never be opposed to using stories to help bolster the theme. 
2. Put the period at the end of the sentence.  By that, I mean to be careful about meandering.  Put the period on the end of the sermon.  As one preacher said regarding conclusions and sermons:  “Put a bow on that puppy.” 
3. Conclusions, by their very nature, are what the congregation remembers most because it is the last portion they hear.   When the conclusions powerfully drive home the theme and thrust of the sermon, your listeners will consider the sermon a “good” sermon, even if the rest of it was mediocre.  Such is human nature.  Use this to your advantage.  You want your people to leave with the point of the passage impressed upon their hearts and minds. 
4. Work on your conclusions just as much as your introductions and points.  If you plan out your sermon from front to back, likely what will suffer most is the conclusion because this will be the last thing you get to.  Yet, given the truth of #3, your conclusion should receive just as much attention as that of the body of the sermon. 

What are some other important issues regarding conclusions in expository preaching?

Preacher-Onlys Are Not Good Preachers

Tim Keller gives some great advice to those pastors who see themselves as preacher-onlys, at the expense of developing other areas of their leadership.  Here’s an excerpt:

I have often seen many men spend a great amount of time on preparing and preaching lengthy, dense, expository messages, while giving far less time and energy to the learning of leadership and pastoral nurture. It takes lots of experience and effort to help a body of people make a unified decision, or to regularly raise up new lay leaders, or to motivate and engage your people in evangelism, or to think strategically about the stewardship of your people’s spiritual gifts, or even to discern what they are. It takes lots of experience and effort to know how to help a sufferer without being either too passive or too directive, or to know when to confront a doubter and when to just listen patiently. Pastors in many of our Reformed churches do not seem to be as energized to learn to be great leaders and shepherds, but rather have more of an eye to being great teachers and preachers.

I’d point us to the example of John Calvin himself. No one put more emphasis on expository preaching as central to ministry. And yet ..

(To read the rest, click here.) 

When External Issues Affect Your Exposition

Every so often as a preacher of the gospel, you will have external issues which will affect your thinking and your countenance prior to your entry into the pulpit.   Issues that happen at home, or just before the service can take the wind out of your sails and affect the tone of your sermon.   What are some steps you can take?

1. Get as much ready at home on Saturday night.  Lay out the clothes for all your children and yourself on Saturday night.  Get a good night’s sleep so that Sunday morning is not rushed–which may mean arising out of bed a half-hour to an hour earlier than normal.
2. Set up boundaries regarding conversation before your sermon.  This morning, a deacon approached me about something.  I told him, “If this is bad news and can wait until afterwards, can we talk about it then?”  He told me, “Preacher, I wouldn’t do that to you”–then he smiled.   Emergencies will come up (such was the case with us when we had flooding downstairs) that need immediate attention.  But otherwise, address these issues at a later time, for the morning preaching is far too important.  The preacher needs all of his faculties in working order.
3. Be aware that Satan will do all he can to ruin our disposition before we walk out of our house.   Need I say more?
4. Be sure you are bathed in prayer during the first portion of the service. Engage in the congregational singing and prayer.  Enjoy the fellowship you may have with your people.  Greet visitors and let them know how thankful you are they came and how you’d like to partner with them in prayer.  But ask the Lord to bring you into His presence so our minds and hearts are focused on Him and His Word!
5. Be sure you know your passage well! You never know what will happen on the morning of the preaching event, so the preparation during the week is absolutely critical.  Like a football player who knows his routes or blocking schemes through the weekly preparation and repetition, so does this apply to preachers of the Word.  The week should be having the Word on which we shall be preaching simmering in our hearts and minds as a grid for all we do.
6. Remember your calling! Strengthen your people!  Share the gospel!  Fulfill your ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit!  You have the risen and victorious Christ empowering you!

Any other thoughts?

Another Case For Expositional Preaching

This morning, I had the privilege of preaching from Matthew 6:25-34 on the subject of anxiety.  I mentioned that faith cures anxiety, but anxiety kills faith.  This sermon landed on a Sunday when our church will have a Q&A time concerning the possibility of a new building.  As you can imagine, a lot of anxiety comes with that.  Do we have the money?  Is it really necessary?  With the economy the way it is, is it wise?  The questions and concerns can pile up.

This passage, though next in line in the series on the Sermon on the Mount, landed perfectly because of our God’s sovereign providence.  If we seek primarily the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then God will take care of the necessities of our life.

Last week, I preached on Matthew 6:19-24 on a sermon I titled “A Better Economic Plan.”  You see, all that week, we saw the Dow drop, and drop, and drop.  God tells us the futility of laying up our treasures on earth because we allow those treasures to govern who we are and what we do.  I did not change my sermon for the occasion–God knew from eternity that our people would need to hear that message that Christ preached on the Sermon on the Mount.

We may believe we know what our people need to hear, but don’t give up on expositional preaching through the text of Scripture.   The Holy Spirit laid out the Scriptures in a certain way for a certain reason, so it would behoove us as preachers to preach them from that inspired layout.

I hope to post more in the future (been a bit sparse over the last two months).  Thanks to those of you who have inquired about this.  It’s encouraging.

Giving Opportunities to Young, Aspiring Ministers

I am now in Florida, celebrating mine and my wife’s tenth anniversary. In my absence from my pulpit at Boone’s Creek, God really laid something on my heart. He basically said, “My son, you have three young men in your church who feel a call into the preaching ministry. You know My hand is on them. Give them an opportunity to preach My truth.”

And so this morning, I just got off the phone with Eric Masters who will be preaching this morning. Eric has grown up at Boone’s Creek and I know the temptation he may be facing — for I faced it sixteen years ago. Since this is his home church and he is preaching on Sunday morning, the temptation is to make the home church folks proud. As I prayed with him, I simply prayed that his authority and grounding would be found in God’s Word and in nothing else. You see, when I preached my first sermon as a 21-year-old in front of my home church, I was so concerned that I wouldn’t let them down, that I really butchered His Word because, in hindsight, God’s Word was not the focus of my sermon — those people were.

Cameron Potts, a college student at EKU, will preach tonight. Boone’s Creek is not his home church, but we are his home away from home while he’s at college. Cam feels a call into the preaching and pastoral ministry.

Bo McMillan will preach on Sunday morning, August 10. He’s also a college student at EKU as well. He feels a call to work with Campus Crusade for Christ.

God has gifted each of these young men in different ways. We would do well to remember Paul’s admonition to Timothy:

2 Tim. 3:16-4:5
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righ teousness, [17] that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
[4:1] I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: [2] preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. [3] For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4] and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. [5] As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Churches, are there young men being called out of your church into the ministry? Then take up the mantle to give them opportunities to serve and exercise their gifts among the body of Christ.

When the Delight of Preaching Becomes Routine

Many times, the rigors of ministry make the primacy of our calling as expositors dim. Here what Spurgeon has to say:

Unless we are careful, we shall be likely to say to ourselves, “Monday evening here again, I must give an address at the prayer-meeting. Thursday evening, and I have to preach, although I have not yet a topic! Sunday morning, Sunday evening; I have to preach again! Yes, preach again! Then there are all those extra engagements; it is for ever preach, preach, preach! I am always preaching. What a weariness it is!” Preaching ought to be a joy, yet it becomes a task. Constant preaching should be constant enjoyment, and yet, when the brain is tired, pleasure flies. Like the sick boy in the prophet’s day, we are ready to cry, “My head! My head!” We ask, “How can we keep up our freshness?” It is hard to produce so much with such scant leisure for reading; it is almost as bad as making bricks without straw. Nothing can maintain us in the freshness of our beginnings but the daily anointing of the Spirit” (The All-Round Ministry, Pilgrim Publications, 1973, pp. 134-135.)

I can entirely sympathize with this, but am continually thankful that God continues to replenish and supply. What steps do you take to remain fresh in your preaching ministry?

How Tim Russert’s Legacy Could Teach Expositors

As many of you are aware, Tim Russert, NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief, died of a heart attack on June 13, 2008, at the age of 58.  

 

As someone who follows politics a great deal, I found myself quite saddened by this loss.  Russert brought such dignity and class to this area.  I learned a great deal from him without really being aware of it.  I would like to include some quick thoughts on Russert’s legacy that I believe could be some great lessons for expositors.

1. Family was a priority.  His love for his dad and his son shone through.  In 1994, the Buffalo Bills (an American football team for all you internationals) had made it to their fourth consecutive Super Bowl.  They had lost the previous three, so he ended the newscast with his dad being with him and a plea to God for him to give the Bills a win.  Tom Brokaw chastised him: “Oh, you Irish Catholics… you can’t pray on TV.”  Russert just smiled.  When the Bills eventually lost 30-13, Brokaw shouted over to Russert, “I guess God’s a Southern Baptist!”  That one slice of his life showed how he loved his family and his hometown.  Russert wrote a book about his dad entitled, “Big Russ and Me” as a tribute to his dad.  Many commented that is seemed only fitting that he died on Father’s Day weekend.
2. Preparation was a must.  To a person, his fellow journalists lauded him for his preparation.  He always had the great question as well as the great follow-up question which went to the heart of the real issue and was the real news.  I took note here.  I find it a great compliment when congregants and fellow pastrs note how prepared a preacher seems.  Nothing is a substitute for preparation.  Expositors should/must know this.  Never come before your people unless you have come before God and His Word.  It will show.
3. Congeniality at its best.  Russert always struck me as fair in dealing with politicians from any party.  Some newscasters show their true colors.  Should we be modeling James 2:1 in how we deal with others? 

Like I said, just a short word.  Our heartfelt condolences go out to Tim’s family and to the news division at NBC News.  The presidential election coverage will not be the same. 

 

Why Pastors Fail To Take The Mantle of Authority

Sadly, few who are in leadership positions in our churches actually lead our churches. Spurgeon noted in his Lectures that the pulpit is often a haven for the coward. This is true. Yet, with a false sense of humility, many pastors hesitate to lead from the pulpit. Part of the problem is giving in to the culture’s hatred and hesitancy of authority figures, especially in the church. Part of the problem too is that pastors need to show the same type of leadership and personality in the pulpit as well as outside of it.

In an age where prevalent and influential preachers reject the mantle of “preaching the word” as a herald and would rather have a conversation with the congregants as a way to connect, we can see why the church has turned into a wishy-washy institution with little power but a whole lot of opinion and conjecture.

The commentator

John Jason Owen elaborates:

Teaching is a part of the duty of the herald of salvation. Not only are men to be taught the way of salvation, and thus be brought to Christ, but also after conversion, they are to be instructed in the duties and obligations of the gospel, and prepared for usefulness on earth, and the enjoyment of Christ in heaven.[1]

What are these pastors to do with Hebrews 13:17 when the writer urges the Jewish Christians to:

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Obey? Submit? Yes! God has established authority in the church for the good of our souls. Pastors, you are going to have to give an account for your souls. So does the Apostle Paul tell Timothy, “Preach the Word!” That’s a command — an imperative!

Lead, pastors! Lead! Study! Pray! Praise! Thank! Compel! Motivate! Urge! Plead! Implore! Exhort! Rebuke! Challenge! Love! Just read the pastoral epistles and see! Don’t shy away!

Second Timothy 1:6-8 says:

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, [7] for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. [8] Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

---

[1]Owen, 414.

How Preaching the Hard Texts Can Endear You To Your People

Whereas conventional wisdom in most evangelical circles dictates that pastors would do well to avoid the hard texts, my contention is that pastors should never shy away from this.  While the Joel Osteens and the Robert Schullers of the world will shy away from such dealings , I believe that many in our pews are just wanting a pastor who will deal directly with what the Bible says and address the issue at hand.

A case in point: the past two Sundays, I have preached on two rather “hard texts”: one dealing with the role of women in the church, the other on the necessity of giving.  After each of those sermons, one of my deacons came out and said, “Man, I thought you’d be black and blue right now — you really laid it out there.”  But the reaction couldn’t have been different.  By the grace and glory of God, I received thank you’s for being willing to tackle such issues and helping to make things clear.

Why should we preach the hard texts as well as the other types to our people?

1. Those texts are in the Scriptures! Obvious, yes.  But I have had well-meaning ministers tell me that just because it is in the Bible does not necessarily mean it will be appropriate to preach on.  This is why I make the case for expositional preaching: if forces you to deal with a text that your flesh may tempt you to avoid.
2. For all the talk about our people despising authority, I believe they are looking for solid ground on which to stand.  We all are.  All this noise about postmodernism winning the day is far too premature.  It may be prevalent, but it hasn’t won anything.  If anything, our culture feels more in the dark than ever because many people’s spiritual journey is leading them down some deadends.  Preachers must never forget the supernatural transformational power of the Scriptures that are breathed out by the Spirit of God himself!   Never give up preaching!  The world may deem it folly, but to those who are being saved it  is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
3. People, especially Christians, long to be dealt with honestly. Many in my generation are becoming angry at the church for their failure to teach them the things of the faith.  They praise God for churches sharing the gospel with them and showing them Jesus, but afterwards they become afraid of being too doctrinal (read: divisive) and therefore they do not “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
4. People feel patronized when pastors fail to deal with a text or issue.  When pastors avoid these texts, they are in so many words telling their people, “You really can’t handle this right now.”  Yet, pastors who stay with their churches and invest their time in their people can take them along slowly and help them step-by-step.  Young pastors especially need to remember that you don’t need to tell them everything you know (or think you know) in one sermon.  Pour yourself out into your people and teach them with patience (1 Timothy 4:13-16).

What do you think?

The Driving Question of Faithful Preaching Ministries

I find myself pondering the place of the preaching ministry not just in the life of the church in general, but in my church in particular. Having been here almost five years, I am now seeing the importance and the cruciality of leading from the pulpit. The pastor is the primary vision-caster and mission developer of the church by virtue of his leadership status but also due to his studious diligence in his primary duty, preaching and teaching the Word. In Acts 6:1-4, we read:

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. [2] And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. [3] Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. [4] But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1-4, ESV).

This oft-quoted passage really stresses the necessity of why “prayer and the ministry of the word” is so important. Prayer crafts our hearts to the framework of God’s will and way. The Word helps give us an objective anchor to the relevation of God through the person of Jesus Christ. The pastor is the intercessor and the point person for each local church assembly to connect with God and then in turn connect God’s people with God’s vision for them.

Ultimately, God’s vision for his church is found in Romans 8:28-29:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

God’s vision for his local church is to conform his people to Christlikeness. And the preaching ministry should and must drive every person and every other ministry to this pursuit.

Where churches encounter trouble is when we forget the ‘why’ of a particular ministry or program and simply get caught up in the ‘what.’ If a missions program exists, we are tempted to focus on the ‘what’ of that program and how we should have that program because its that program. But when asked ‘why,’ the response can be boiled down to the following: ‘Because this is what has always been done.’ It can be any other ministry in the church.

The pulpit ministry of a church should encourage Christlikeness and challenge the traditions, mindsets, and ministries of the church by asking this question: “How does this exalt Christ, His gospel, and the believer’s transformation to Christlikeness and (to be redundant) holiness?” Pastors must challenge their people in this, regardless of the age or influence of the church. When churches begin to lose sight of this, it is because their leaders have lost sight of this.

So pastors, use the pulpit for not only to faithfully exposit the Word of God, but prayerfully consider how to apply this to your individual people and to the corporate ministries of the church. Evaluate, question, challenge, encourage, love, support, motivate, compel, and pray over everything that takes place under the banner of your local church and, ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastors must not be afraid to lead. Hebrews 13:17 says:

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

What think ye?