Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Declaring The WORD!
Ed Stetzer wrote about 3 approaches to preaching
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The inspired approach. We probably know this better as the "I had a word from the Lord" approach. In its best form, this approach reflects a preacher who has been impressed by the Holy Spirit concerning a particular truth in Scripture. It is, in a sense, firstperson: "The Lord led me, and I want to tell you how He is leading." In some ways, it reminds us of 1 Peter 4:11: "If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God's words."
The danger here is that if we aren't binding ourselves to the Word of God, it isn't difficult to get off the path of truth and allow our hearts--which the Bible calls deceitful--to guide our preaching more than we allow Scripture to guide us.
The proverbial approach. The book of Proverbs is a remarkable compilation of wisdom sayings inspired by the Holy Spirit for our instruction. Since Scripture teaches in that manner, it makes sense that we are also teach by providing common-sense life principles people deeply need to hear. Messages with a proverbial approach include phrases like, "It makes good sense to do this." The danger here is that if we don't tie the message to the person of God, we only offer powerless slogans and pithy sayings. In and of themselves, they aren't bad. But if our message is only pithy proverbs, detached from the biblical text, it removes the Holy Spirit's primary instrument for changing people's lives.
The moralistic approach. The Bible tells us to do and not do certain things. Scripture gives us commandments that must be preached. From the Ten Commandments to the Sermon on the Mount and to all the imperatives in our New Testament epistles, God's call is to "do."He suggested some different approaches, but not the one I thought of. - "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." - You want to proclaim the Word? Then flesh it out. Live it. Let me see in your life the reality of the words you utter.
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