How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? Romans 10:14.

'Going to worship' is more than 'going to preaching'. In the U.S. church advertisements in the local paper often have 'Dr. [So and so] preaching'. The question we have been accustomed to hear from someone who missed church is, 'What did the preacher say?'.

Homilies in some liturgical churches are polite sermonic essays which won't offend - or change anybody.

Well-educated preachers in some mainline churches fill their sermons with theological abstractions. Fundamentalist preaching is sometimes a loud reiteration of exhortations lacking theological substance. And other churches which may have better preaching often don't know how to be 'lost in wonder, love and praise' in their worship.

Good preaching on its own will not fill churches anymore, but bad preaching will empty them. The preacher stands between heaven and earth, speaking for God to us, and strengthening our faith, hope and love. Good preaching is inspired and inspiring, bringing the Bible to life, and life to the Bible: rooted both in the text in our needs.

Lord, bless all preachers with special insights into your truth, and the ability to organize and expound these. May many come to faith and increase their faith through hearing your word in preaching. Amen.

GOOD PREACHING (2)

How are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? Romans 10:14.

Good preaching is pastoral (comforting the afflicted) and prophetic (afflicting the comfortable). It is interesting, warm, 'confessional' (the preacher is a sinner needing grace too), dialogical and interactive. Preaching is 'communicating truth through personality' (Phillips Brooks). The best preachers are 'bilingual', understanding both the language of theology, and the language of the people.

Good preaching exalts Christ: our response is not 'what great oratory!' but 'what a great Saviour!' Good preaching has both heat and light: heat without light leaves us scorched and brittle; light may help us 'see' (and as Horace Bushnell once said, there can be no preaching worth the name if there is no thinking), but knowledge without faith won't save anybody. Good preaching touches mind and heart and will: we learn, we love, and we change.

It goes without saying that good preaching is not constantly negative, opposing anything and everything. We shepherds sometimes spend too much time mending fences and not enough time feeding the sheep. There will always be a prophetic dimension to our preaching, calling us to repentance. Sometimes, in our unwillingness to offend, our message is so muted and implicit that it has no cutting edge, and the main point virtually escapes the listener.

Lord, may preachers understand both your Word, and our world. Amen.