Have you ever thought about the purpose of a sermon?
Why is it that every week we come and after singing a few songs, praying or listening to someone else pray, participating in communion and giving away of some of our hard earned cash, we then have to listen to someone (usually me) speak about something or other for half an hour!
From a worldly perspective it seems a very odd (to say the least) thing to do. But there is a purpose in preaching. 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness……..” in the very next chapter, Paul says to Timothy “ Preach the Word….”
Preaching is to fulfil that charge from Paul and I believe today we are in need the same way to hear from God through the Word as were those in Timothy’s time. His Word is still powerful and useful for every need today.
Another word for preaching is prophecy. Bringing a word from God to a congregation is a privilege and is not or be taken lightly. Properly prepared and prayerfully constructed sermons should be a prophetic word from God for the Church and the charge from 2 Tim 3:16 should be followed.
My philosophy of preaching is to inform , encourage, sometimes correct and hopefully always to teach, but it is more than that. Preaching without application is just a lecture and I am of the opinion that unless we can take something away that will (or aught) make a difference when we get out of bed on Monday morning , then I have failed in my duty. Jack Hayford, whose study I used for this current series on the ‘Goodness of God’ says of preaching, I t must contain three elements 1) The love of God, 2) The purpose of God and 3) Deliverance from your circumstances to see the purpose of God in your own life.
I hope that I can live up to that standard and for all you budding preachers out there, you could do a lot worse than to make that your goal as you develop your own preaching skills.
Blessings
Blair
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