Preaching Class with John Piper — 30 Videos
“John Piper—co-founder of Desiring God, former preaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, and author of The Supremacy of God in Preaching and Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship—has recorded 19 mini-lectures on preaching (about 10 minutes each, for a total of about four hours). This is then followed by a two-and-a-half hour workshop where Piper is joined by three younger local preaching pastors to talk through various issues. …”
– Justin Taylor draws attention to what promises to be a very helpful resource.
Preaching Mentoring
“This year, quite by accident, I have been involved in a number of preaching mentorships.
These mentorships are one on one, held on a weekly basis, and focus on preaching rather than other aspects of pastoral leadership. The sessions are held for half an hour and focus on either the next text to be preached or as a review of the last sermon preached.
Consistently, as with all Trust activities, there is no financial charge for any of our services or resources. The Trust is dependent on donors who meet all the costs of the ministry so that there is no financial pressure on those accessing any of our resources.
At the moment we are assembling a group of experienced preachers who will be available to mentor preachers via Zoom. …”
– A very practical and generous offer from David Cook at the Expository Preaching Trust.
What Can we Learn Today from the Preaching of John Stott?
“John Stott visited Australia in January 1965, and this visit, one of many, had a profound effect on Australian preaching.
Stott gave Bible studies on 2 Corinthians at the Anglican Church Missionary Society Summer Schools in several states in Australia. Much Australian preaching at that time was on ‘a text’, that is, on an individual verse from the Bible, often without much regard to its context.
In his Bible studies John Stott was demonstrating the obvious value of preaching from passages of Scripture, and from consecutive passages of Scripture. His example had a profound impact on Australian preaching, initially transforming preaching in Anglican churches, but soon also in other churches as well. …
Under God, he was part of a revival of systematic expository preaching in the UK in the 20th Century, which was achieved through Willie Still in Aberdeen, and Martin Lloyd-Jones, John Stott and Dick Lucas in London, and has spread around the world.”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Peter Adam’s article is an encouragement for preachers and their hearers.
Image: An interview with Peter Adam at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.
Engaging Preaching
“In his substantial biography of J.I. Packer, Leland Ryken interviews Dr. Packer regarding his literary and spoken style and rhetoric:
Did Packer consciously cultivate the stylistic and rhetorical strategies that I have explored?
I asked him that question and he said yes. He followed that affirmation with the explanation, “One of the things I am is a communicator”.
Ryken highlights Packer’s anticipation of questions in his hearers, ‘but someone will say’, or, ‘but wait a minute’, or ‘you may still be wondering’, all of which serve clarity…”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook shares encouragement for preachers.
Sydney Preaching Clubs Reopening in 2021!
News from David Cook and The Expository Preaching Trust –
“The Trust’s preaching clubs will reopen in Term 1, 2021. They meet four times each year, once each school term, in Abbotsford on a Thursday and at Cronulla on a Friday.
Membership of each club is free…”
– Learn more about this invaluable resource here.
Preaching the Wisdom of Proverbs
“Having won the NRL Premiership for the second successive time in 2019, the Coach of the victorious Roosters, Trent Robinson, was asked what he would do to win three in a row in 2020.
The coach responded that he would do nothing differently because 2020 would be different, different schedule of matches, injuries and weather conditions. The prize, he said, would go to the team which adapted best to change.
None of us could have anticipated then, how different 2020 would be to 2019.
None of us can predict with certainty what a day will bring but God knows and orders all things and, a Bible reading in the morning may become exactly the word from God we need to hear for that particular day. That is why we need to pay more respect to the random nature of the book of Proverbs.
There are three ways to preach the book of Proverbs …”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook shares some helpful tips on preaching from the Book of Proverbs.
Also on Proverbs:
When Solomon’s Fool Created a Social Media Platform – Tim Challies.
“The fool of the book of Proverbs is a vivid illustration of practical atheism, for this foolish man lives as if there is no God and as if God isn’t concerned about human behaviour. The fool may not actually deny the existence of the divine, but he practically denies it by choosing to live according to his own way rather than God’s. Though wisdom is available, personified in the form of a woman who cries aloud and begs everyone to follow, the fool chooses to go his own way instead and displays all the devastating consequences of such rebellion.
Solomon’s fool is relevant to every age, and certainly not least to this age when we have such ready access to forms of communication that in any other era would be considered the stuff of science fiction.”
Preaching in the Days of the Virus
“The English philosopher Bertrand Russell said, ‘Most people would rather die than think and most people do so’.
God urges his people to think – to think about history, to think about what he is doing in the world. God is not aloof and distant; he is involved in human history, nothing happens apart from his permission.
History is indeed his story and when one takes a bird’s eye, rather than a worm’s eye view, God’s hand in world and personal events is readily apparent. …”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook has some valuable suggestions for preachers in “the Days of the Virus”.
(Picture: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Some Research on Preaching in the Presbyterian Church of Victoria
“In March each year the Presbyterian Theological Centre in Victoria runs a Pastors’ conference to encourage faithful and engaging expository preaching in our churches. … I presented an audit report on preaching in Presbyterian churches in Victoria.
In conducting the audit I listened online to 40 preachers, with at least one from each of the 13 Presbyteries in the state. …”
– David Cook shares some encouragement – at AP, the National Journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.
(You might remember that Peter Jensen conducted a similar exercise in 2016.)
Still learning how to preach after 50 years preaching!
“In December 1967 I preached my first sermon at St Thomas’ South Richmond, soon to be demolished, to a congregation of 4 people. What a privilege! It was on the cross of Christ, but I forget what Bible text I used to launch my sermon!
I was from a non-Christian family, and had been converted in my last year in school in 1963. I first heard expository preaching in January 1965, when John Stott toured Australia, and gave Bible studies on 2 Corinthians. I thought, ‘That is how you should preach, and that is what I want to do.’…”
– Encouraging personal testimony from Dr. Peter Adam – at The Gospel Coalition Australia.
John Chapman Preaching Conference, September 23
The next John Chapman Preaching Conference is coming up at Moore College on Saturday 23rd September.
Dr Bryan Chapell is considering the topic Application in Expository Preaching.
Preaching as a Means of Survival
“The church’s only recourse in a secular city is to continue to do what it has always done, preach the Word.
We cannot hope that somehow we might stumble upon a third epistle to Timothy, which gives alternative ministry options to what Paul exhorts his protégé to do in Second Timothy. Our only hope is to continue to do what Jesus and the Apostles’ commissioned us to do. Whether we find ourselves in circumstances of cultural acceptance or cultural hostility, we must preach the Word.”
– The third and final post in a series on Preaching in a Secular Age, by Albert Mohler, is essential reading.
Related: Why I value expository preaching – Murray Campbell at GoThereFor.com.
Chappo’s legacy lives on with Preaching Clinics
“John Chapman was a much loved and great evangelist and preacher not only in Sydney but around the world. He was also a champion of engaging expository preaching and the need to train preachers well. He regularly used to say ‘There is nothing in the world like good preaching. Mind you, there is nothing in the world like the opposite either!’ …
The Chapman Preaching Clinics are part of an integrated program to help preachers keep improving from the day they commence preaching until the end of their ministry.” – News from Moore College.
(Illustration from a Department of Evangelism videocassette cover, 1986.)
Expositional Preaching – new 9Marks Journal
The latest 9Marks Journal is out. It’s on expositional (otherwise called expository) preaching.
Worthy of double honour — Expository advocating
“Paul was telling the truth when he said that preaching the gospel is folly, but he also says, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” (1 Cor 1:27).
A commitment to expository preaching takes a firm belief in the power of God’s Word and a humble recognition that the God-appointed means of preaching is better than whatever impressive or efficient model we might devise. God will build his church through expository preaching, and it takes a committed fool to believe it and do it…”
– encouragement from the Southern Blog.
Best books on Preaching
Adrian Reynolds at The Proclamation Trust has been posting a series of brief thoughts on the books on preaching. He’s up to number 7 in his list –
“When The Trellis and the Vine came out, many of us thought ‘this is an excellent book, but where is preaching mentioned or championed?’ The answer was – if only we knew it – that we were waiting for volume 2. And it was worth the wait.”
His posts so far:
1. I Believe in Preaching by John Stott,
2. The Glory of Preaching by Darrell Johnson,
3. Expository Preaching by Haddon Robinson,
4. The Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash,
5. Preaching and Biblical Theology by Ed Clowney,
6. Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd Jones,
7. The Archer and the Arrow by Phillip Jensen & Paul Grimmond.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…