Preaching that melts

I want to thank Matt Friedeman for a post he put on his blog (January 25.2008) title,"Preaching that melts..."

From George Whitefield's Journal:

Tuesday, November 27, 1739 - ...I preached from a balcony to above six thousand people. God strengthened me to speak nearly two hours, with such demonstration of the Spirit, that great numbers continued weeping for a considerable time.

Tuesday, April 30, 1740 - Towards the conclusion of my discourse, God's Spirit came upon the preacher and people, so that they were melted down exceedingly.

May 14, 1749 - I believe there were near twelve thousand. I had not spoken long before I perceived numbers melting. As I proceeded, the influence increased, till, at last, thousands cried out, so that they almost drowned my voice...What tears were shed and poured forth after the Lord Jesus...After the last discourse, I was so pierced, as it were, and overpowered with the sense of God's love, that some thought...I was about to give up the ghost. How sweetly did I lie at the feet of Jesus. With what power did a sense of His all-constraining, free, and everlasting love flow in upon my soul! It almost took away my life.

What kind of preaching melts hearts today?

Deep Preaching!

I want to thank Scott Chapman, pastor of The Chapel in Grayslake, Illinois and the folks at the preaching today blog for this amazing article of what it means to have "deep preaching"! I give them full credit for this article. I have simply pasted it to "You must go and say" blogspot. It has 2 parts: I have embedded the direct links for part I and part II within the article if you wish to view the original. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bless you and anoint you and me to preach "deep"!

PART I: (written on April 27.2010)

Five Veins of Deep Preaching (part one)

by Scott Chapman

When our church said, “We want deeper preaching,” here’s what they meant.

Several years ago, our teaching team decided it would be good for us to get some feedback from our people about our preaching. Their overwhelming response was "We want deeper messages." I was surprised and a little taken back by this since I felt that we already were creating reasonably deep messages. We decided to probe further by asking people what depth meant to them. Again their answers surprised and confused us. While everyone wanted deeper messages, they differed widely on what “deeper” meant. Not only were our messages missing the target for many people, they disagreed on what the target actually was.

After analyzing their responses further, though, the feedback started to make sense. We were able to group people’s ideas about deeper preaching into five areas, and we began thinking through how to increase the depth of our sermons in each of these areas. As we began viewing depth as a multifaceted reality, it revolutionized the way we planned series and developed messages. Our preaching team now digs down for five aspects of sermon depth.

1. Biblical depth
Biblical depth centers around exploring the primary passage of the message. This involves processing the richness of the original context, leading people through the nuances of the text, and helping them to develop a broader biblical framework by connecting the passage to other parts of Scripture. Biblical depth opens people's eyes to the value of Scripture and anchors them to the truth of God's Word. While people are generally less interested in the conjugation of Greek and Hebrew verbs and the opinions of various commentators, they do value exploring the world of the biblical writers and connecting their thoughts to the broader themes found in Scripture.

As an example of a pastor who provides biblical depth in an accessible way, I think of John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California.

We recently did a message series at our church entitled, “Kings,” in which we used a Discovery Channel approach to understanding the kings of Israel and Judah. We handed our people an oversized playing card that contained the names of each king, placed on a timeline, with key pertinent information and a simple visual reference to the trajectory of their spiritual life (for example, a spade represented a king that turned away from God). This helped to make a difficult biblical history both understandable and fun.

Biblical depth matters because our words lack the capacity to transform people in the way God's Word does. No matter how thoughtful, eloquent, or persuasive our messages may be, they are only as powerful as our ability to connect the hearer to the heart of Scripture.

2. Intellectual depth
Intellectual depth brings added reflection to the main idea of a message, thinking through the questions, issues, and perspectives raised by the Scriptural text. This depth gives greater context by connecting to a range of thought and opinion on the subject.

My tendency is to focus on the “what” of a passage (What does this passage say?) and then move quickly to the “how” (How does this work in our lives?). I easily neglect the “why” question (Why is this important to God? Why do we struggle with this? And so on). Intellectual depth comes from probing the “why” questions that arise from a passage of Scripture.

Of the preachers whom I regularly listen to, the ones who excel at connecting people to the “why” question are Timothy Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, New York, and author and speaker Ravi Zacharias. The intellectual depth of these preachers expands people's thinking, demonstrates the depth of God's wisdom, and proves that Christian thought can not only stand alongside but also lead its secular counterparts.

Last fall we spent several weeks exploring what the fourth chapter of Philippians says about joy. Some of the “why” questions we asked were: Why do we wrestle to have joy? Why do Christians battle against depression and anxiety? Why do Christians, who believe that joy comes from God, often choose to look for it in other places? This process of working through what was behind our struggles to have joy transformed this series from an encouraging reminder into a voyage of discovery.

PART II: (written on April 29.2010). Click here for the direct link

3. Experiential depth
Experiential depth opens a supernatural dynamic in the message. Strong preaching not only comments on what God had to say long ago, but it also invites him to speak in the moment. People need not only to learn about God, they need to experience God. One way we do that is by creating moments for hearers to become more aware of God’s presence during the course of our messages. Those moments can be as simple as a time of reflection, a moment of prayer, or an activity designed to draw people into the immediate presence of God.

For instance, one of my favorite services of the year is on Good Friday. We have a tradition that has become meaningful for our people. We set aside a portion of our service to reflect on our individual sins and to write down the specific ways in which we have failed God over the previous year. After processing through the list with God and asking his forgiveness, every person carries their sins to a wooden cross and drives a nail through them, connecting them personally to Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. It is a transcendent, sacred moment that powerfully communicates the message of the gospel. Our history has shown that in that experience, the presence of God often touches people.

Bill Hybels and the teaching team at Willow Creek Church in South Barrington, Illinois, are well known for providing experiential depth in their sermons.

We have found that the more we create opportunities that invite God to work, the greater the work that our people experience him doing. Of course, God always lives in the preaching of his Word and is active in the hearts of listeners, and we are not looking to manufacture manipulative, emotional moments. But people in our culture increasingly process life through an experiential lens. Usually the younger the congregation is, the more this holds true. Our ability to lead the next generation spiritually hinges on our capacity to connect them to the presence of God through our message.

4. Cultural depth
Cultural depth targets greater insight into relevant cultural issues. There is a constant flood of ideas emanating from our culture—from politics, technology, movies, books, music, mass marketing, the internet—that form a national conversation, of which our people are a part. This conversation is impacting their lives and shaping their perspective. Our role is to help people understand how the ideas of Jesus intersect with and influence that discussion.

Last fall, we did a message series entitled, “Lost in Suburbia.” We understood that though suburbanites live in close proximity to one another, they are relationally isolated. We are all alone—together. We explored this phenomenon and how it connects to Jesus' teachings about relationships and community.

Too often, Christians have a knee-jerk reaction to our culture—either embracing it uncritically or rejecting it without really taking the time to understand it. Thinking through the nuances of our time and place in history is an essential part of contextualizing the message of Christ in a language native to our culture. This is a pivotal choice for the church as a whole—we cannot afford to be either spiritually compromised or culturally isolated. Rather, we must find ways to preach the unchanging truth of Jesus Christ in a way the people around us can understand.

Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Church in Atlanta, is an example of a preacher who provides cultural depth.

5. Applicational depth
Depth in sermon application provides a concrete pathway for people to integrate the ideas of the message into their everyday lives. This kind of depth is centered on specific next steps, easy-to-grasp handles, and clear how-to's—items people can act on immediately after hearing a message.

Our church emphasizes this. We regularly provide our people with take-home activities, guides, and resources to reinforce the message and help them take the first steps in making it real in their lives. Increasingly we have been finding ways to connect our message to social media such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter to create environments that continue and expand the dialogue around how to live out our faith.

We always ask ourselves, "As a result of this message, what are we asking our people to do—and how are we going to support them in it?" This intention shapes the way we approach our messages. Preaching can transform people not only on the weekend, but the other six days of the week as well. By helping people make good decisions, engage in healthy behaviors, and develop life-transforming habits, we lead them towards the abundant life that God has promised to all who follow him.

David Daniels and the team at Pantego Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas, is an example of a church that does an exemplary job at providing depth in sermon application.

With these five veins of deep preaching in mind, let me sum things up. Although we aim to preach with a multi-faceted perspective on depth, I've found it's better to focus on one or two areas of depth in any one message. Though we cannot drill down into each area during every message, we seek to balance them out over the course of a year. In developing our preaching calendar, we not only plan the subjects, we also prayerfully consider the depth gauges of various series.

In an age when we are literally flooded with information, we need to be sure that the message of Christ has staying power with our hearers. Depth adds value, sets our words apart from the background noise of our culture, and builds lasting change. When we embrace a multi-faceted understanding of depth into our preaching, we have the best chance to leave a lasting mark on the hearts of others.

Scott Chapman is pastor of The Chapel in Grayslake, Illinois.

The Mark of Christian Community: Pure Gospel Preaching

"The certain mark by which a Christian community can be recognized is the preaching of the gospel in its purity."—
Martin Luther

The Only Way to Preach

Referring to the Saul (to be Paul) in the Book of Acts...

"...how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the Name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the Name of the Lord." (Acts 9:27-28; NIV)

The Message translation says it like this, "...how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus' Name."

That's the only way to preach!

The Privilege of Preaching: Part II

Richard Wurmbrand continues his story about the "privilege of preaching" from his book, *"Tortured for Christ." Read "Part I" if you have not already.

The following scene happened more times that I can remember. A brother was preaching to the other prisoners when the guards suddenly burst in, surprising him halfway through a phrase. They hauled him down the corridor to their "beating room." After what seemed an endless beating, they brought him back and threw him--bloody and bruised--on the prison floor. Slowly, he picked up his battered body, painfully straightened his clothing and said, "Now, brethren, where did I leave off when I was interrupted? He continued his gospel message!

I have seen beautiful things!

*"Tortured for Christ" by Richard Wurmbrand, page 41

The Privilege of Preaching: Part I

In his book, *"Tortured for Christ", Richard Wurmbrand talks about the privilege of preaching while in prison for loving Jesus:

It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners, as it is in captive nations today. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal: we preach and they beat us. We were happy preaching; they were happy beating us--so everyone was happy.

*"Tortured for Christ" by Richard Wurmbrand, page 41

A Prayer of George Whitefield:

““Yea…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”

Thanks to http://preachers.wordpress.com/for the quote!