Those who have heard me preach will know that I do not jump all over the Bible trying to make a point. Those who have heard me preach will also know that I do not use my time in the pulpit to try and solve all the world's problems or scratch everywhere the people itch. My approach to preaching is to take a single unit of biblical text and try my best to explain it clearly and thoroughly, clarifying what the proper response to the particular Scripture would be and calling for obedience. There have been times when someone has asked me, "Where do you get ideas for your sermons?" Never once in all my thirteen years of preaching have I tried to come up with an "idea" for a sermon. I just take a passage of Scripture, explain it, and apply it. Allow me to take just a moment to show you why I have taken that approach to preaching.
The first reason is the preacher's authority. The Bible is the very Word of God. It is God-breathed. It is the very thoughts, words and ideas of God communicated to man through the medium of human authors. Because it is the very Word of God Himself it carries His authority. The Bible is God speaking to man and what God says is absolutely authoritative, whether or not men accept it as such makes no difference. What all that means is if I am preaching what God has said my preaching carries with it the authority of God's Word. If my message is my own then it has no authority because I have no authority. But, if the message I speak is God's message it carries His authority. So, if I want my preaching to be with authority I must limit myself to saying what God has already said in the Bible.
The second reason is the hearer's need. What man needs and what man thinks he needs are two very different things. What man thinks he needs is a solution to all his temporary, earthly problems. What man thinks he needs is the key to health, wealth and worldly success. What man really needs is God. Why would a surgeon give a nose job to a patient with two days to live? Man is dead in trespasses and sins. Dead people don't need things they need life. Trying to solve all man's temporary earthly issues without dealing with his spiritual condition is like giving a nose job to a patient with two days to live. What man really needs is to hear what God has to say. His words are life. As a preacher that means I resist all the temptation to scratch where people itch and tell them what they most need to hear. What they most need to hear is what God has said in His Word. The Bible does have alot to say about the earthly issues we face, but the answer is always to focus on a right relationship with God and trust Him to take care of the rest.
The third reason is the sermon's objective. I do not preach to gain a following for myself. I do not preach to make a name for myself. I do not preach so that people will speak well of me. I preach that people may follow Christ. I preach that Christ may be known. I preach that His name may be great in all the earth. I preach for His glory not my own. In every sermon I preach He is to be the hero. In every sermon I preach He is to remain at the center. In every sermon I preach it is faith in Him at which I am aiming. The intent of the Bible is both to reveal and make much of Jesus Christ the Son of God and to show men the way to salvation and life in Him. Therefore, if I just stick with what the Bible says my sermons will be what they ought. I will be exalting Him, not myself.
I do not profess to be a great preacher. But I serve a great God and that demands that His Word be handled with the utmost of integrity and caution. My goal in preaching is to say what God has said: nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. Many preachers will stand and give their own thoughts and opinions, their own made up interpretations of Scripture, and attribute it all to God. Some men may think it a small thing to put words in God's mouth. I do not!
