How to preach a good sermon

JOLLYBLOGGER shares his thoughts with us on sermon preparation and Blogotional has an interesting quote on the difference between sanctification and justification. The quote seems to imply that man has nothing to do when he is saved. Whilst I understand where this is coming from, there is no doubt in my mind that saving faith and repentance involve us- God grants us the grace to be able to do so but WE are commanded to believe. In common with many misconceptions about faith I think that the one that this quote might lead us to is undone if we translate the word “faith” as trust. We are commanded to trust Christ for our salvation from beginning to end. Thus, my opening position is that the same faith we excercise at the moment of salvation is the faith we are meant to excercise throughout our christian lives.

Meanwhile the new blogger at unveiled face wades into the preaching debate as I thought he might-

Nobody would surely think Rom 13:11 was addressed to unbelievers – it is addressed to the Roman church. And so is Romans 1. Paul was not writing evangelistically when he wrote Romans – just evangelically, in its true sense. And so my brief proposal here is that preaching should be the same – a proclamation of the gospel, for the salvation of believers as well as unbelievers, and ultimately for the glorification of God. In Romans, Paul proclaimed the gospel because it is the power of salvation for all who believe. How? Because the gospel reveals the righteousness of God! And when we reveal the righteousness of God, the righteous can live by faith.

So I would agree with Sheep’s Crib that God’s glory is the ultimate end in preaching, but I would also add that “transforming” people is never really a preaching goal so much as revealing God’s righteousness through the gospel – which leads to both transformation and salvation through FAITH. People get faith from the word being preached – not just unbelievers, but believers too. Which is why it’s so imperative to avoid the moralistic preaching that is so prevalent. If we take a bible character, highlight some moral strength he/she had, and urge our listeners to be like them – then I don’t think we’ve really preached. But if we show how God is revealed to or through that character – then we’re getting somewhere!