What is the purpose of preaching?

Just spotted an old comment on my blog. It came from a man called Mick Porter who appears not to have a blog. I honestly hope he does get one at some point though.

Here is what he graciously said on a post in which I stressed the precious nature of good preaching, and how critical it is that we preachers strive to get closer to the heart of it:

I wholeheartedly agree with your comments. I am a “lay preacher” currently doing the majority of the preaching at a small church in Brisbane, Australia. Over the last couple of years I’ve read 19 books on preaching (as well as tons of others on other theological topics, obviously), but it can still be *really* hard to translate theory to practice.

I listened to your Joseph sermon – actually felt a little bothered by it, because I don’t think that your points really drew out the reasons why Joseph is there in the Bible. For a very good take on Joseph, check out a little book called “The Ancient Love Song” by Drew.

I’d love to know what sites you are referring to where good preaching is available for download? I listen to all of Piper’s sermons; who else distributes online?

I would love to be involved in any kind of discussions on this topic – I am totally determined to learn to preach in a way that glorifies God and communicates the gospel.

Here’s how I answered him in an email-

Mick,
Oddly enough, I listened to the Joseph sermon myself again recently. It would be great to chat some more about preaching. In my defense, I deliberately selected only one aspect of Joseph’s life to focuss on. I had one point to make and one point only- it is possible to serve God whilst working in a secular job. To me, the more years I preach, the more focussed I become. It is not possible to bring out every point that one might want to. The most important question to ask as one prepares is the “So what?” question-. How do I want people to think, feel or act differently as a result of my sermon. Of course one cannot produce a transformation in anyone unless the holy spirit annoints and the hearer responds, but I sure want to learn how to make that kind of transformation easier for my hearers.

If there are a few more preachers or consumers of preaching out there who want to journey along with me and a few others for a while as we look at preaching together in more detail that would be great!

Incidently, for Mick and others, there is a list of audio sermon sites made available at my church’s sermon page- I would commend that list as a good place to start if one wants to consume sermons online.