Choosing to Preach Discussion

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Kallie Hutton on Aug. 25, 2010 at 00:28

Thinking back over the hundreds of sermons I’ve hear over the course of my life, I can think of several that have not mentioned Jesus name explicitly. Sometimes this was to the detriment of the sermon and it seemed more of a self-help talk than the word of God. But the majority of these sermons (mostly First-Testament based), were explicitly Christian even though they did not mention Jesus. Although the coming of Jesus was the climax of the Biblical story, it does not mean that it must be the sole focus of a message or even present in every message. God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, was at work in the world and in the lives of people in all the events that led up to the coming of Christ. If we ignore these evens of diminish their value, then we are missing out on a huge part of God’s message to us.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Josh Buys on Oct. 30, 2009 at 16:42

My feelings on this subject revolve around the idea that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Let me explain. I agree that one must read the Old Testament through the lens of God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ because in Jesus we were given an even fuller picture of God’s nature, however, Jesus’ life does not nullify God’s revelation previous to His incarnation. Jesus was present at the creation of the world, He sat in judgement of Sodom and Gomorah and He approved of Joshua’s annihilation of the inhabitants of the promised land. This may make us feel uncomfortable, but the truth is it is the same God in both Testaments. This is why I think that if we preach from an Old Testament text we should do so with a fuller understanding of God through Christ Jesus, but it is not necessary to include the gospel for the message to be Christian because Christ was present in the Old Testament and therefore it is Christian in its very existence. Now I know that God has changed some of the requirements of His people, but most remain the same and a sermon on Elijah’s belittling of Baal for God’s glory remains an accurate picture of a jealous and all powerful God who takes back from other gods/idols/distractions the glory which has been stolen from Him. We could then ask where God’s glory is being stolen from the listeners lives and urge them to give it back to a jealous and righteous God. Now I understand that this would more than likely end with a call to the foot of the cross and repentance, but I also see where it wouldn’t need to in order to promote change or be Christian. I’m still working this through in my mind so forgive the rambling and the semi-complete thoughts. I hope I have made myself at least slightly clear.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Shiya Janzen on Sep. 28, 2009 at 23:33

I think it’s interesting that the book of Esther does not mention the name of God. Variations exist which have attempted to make it more “religious”. But in the book of Esther I see God’s work implicitly, whether or not the words in the book make it explicit. I also think it’s interesting when preachers “anachronize” Jesus in their treatment of Old Testament passages. While the heroes of that ancient witness certainly looked forward to God’s anointed one with great anticipation, they did not know the Messiah would be Jesus of Nazareth nor of what His life and ministry would consist.

I agree that our view of Scripture must necessarily be through the lens of 2000 years since the resurrection – how could it be otherwise when we are who we are today because of it? I also agree with some of the earlier posts that artificially “inserting” Jesus will lose its lustre for a group of listeners… Perhaps more importantly is to not shy away from preaching Jesus boldly and with conviction when He is central to the passage being preached.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Chris Maclure on Mar. 26, 2009 at 11:57

The story of God reconciling the world to himself climax’s with the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. He is the fulfillment of the law and the only one through which salvation is found (Acts 4:12). It is only through him we have been given the Holy Spirit for power for life and ministry (Jn 16:5-15), as well as a guarantee of our inheritance (Eph 1:13-14). Therefore, every sermon must lead to Christ. The presence of our "living hope (1 Pet 1:3) is what distinguishes Christianity from every religion, and the work the world does in the face of great societal challenges. As Christ is the climax of God’s Kingdom work, preaching must culminate in him.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Ryan Bajema on Dec. 08, 2008 at 19:08

For me, all of the scriptures seem to point towards the incarnation of Christ. The message of Jesus embodies the gospel, and I argue that our sermons must indeed be Christocentric! While I understand that sometimes when we are preaching the OT, integrating Christ into the sermon is a bit more of a challenge, I still think we owe it to preaching to ensure that in some way our listeners have encountered some element of who Jesus is. I think of Peter’s sermon in Acts. He used the OT Scriptures to point to Christ, and continued to communicate to the crowd…"this Jesus", "this Jesus". There is a way to dovetail Christ into the text of God’s word, but this must be done well with clearly defined intentionality, not in a cheap, cookie-cutter/insert Jesus style.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by John Jeong on Nov. 27, 2008 at 18:15

I think it’s good when preachers have Jesus Christ somewhere in their preaching. Since Jesus is the climax of the Bible, they need to speak of him. However, it does not mean that they have to speak Jesus’ name all the time. Why?
1. The Bible is the Word of God and it is Word of Jesus Christ: Word of God is also a word of Jesus Christ, so when pastors preaching sermon, although they don’t say Jesus’ name, they automatically conveying the message of Jesus Christ. (Legitimate interpretation is needed)
2. Not every word portraits Jesus Christ: the Bible contains teachings, wisdoms, history and many other things
3. Speaking of His name is not that important compare to speaking of Jesus-oriented message. (Pastors can bring a Jesus-oriented message without saying his name) The actually issue is whether preachers recognize that they convey the message of Jesus Christ or not.
4. Must speak Jesus’ name when we talk about the gospel.
5. Sometimes, using Jesus’ name in every preaching can lead preacher to misusing of His name. (personally, I hear very often that pastors say “Jesus says,” but the problem is that they just use Jesus name in order to make people to listen)
Conclusion, I believe the Bible is the Word of God and His Son, so every time I preach I try to portraits Jesus, however even in the time when I do not mention his name and his life I have no doubt that I share Jesus Christ because every single message from the Bible is the Work of Jesus Christ.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Kevin O'Coin on Nov. 16, 2008 at 20:12

I am not sure that every sermon has to mention Jesus Christ, and I think I am sometimes suspicious of pastors who manage to work Jesus explicitly into a sermon every time. What about Psalm 88, which ends without hope, let alone Jesus? I guess I have just heard too many sermons where the conclusion can be so facile — "this passage may be about the despair of the psalmist, but we know we have nothing to despair because we are in Jesus." It feels like Sunday school, where the answer is always Jesus. I guess you don’t want to send people on their way after a "no-hoper" of a sermon on a Sunday morning, but I think we can do a far better job of dwelling on and affirming the tensions we face as we struggle with feeling God’s presence. The affirmation of Scriptures like Ps 139 is that God is in all places, but we don’t always feel that, so why do we feel the need inject Jesus into every text? The fact is, the whole Bible is considered the Christian Scriptures, so if we are preaching from the Bible, it can be considered a Christian sermon, though I suppose a Jewish person could equally preach from the OT and call it a Jewish sermon….

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Karl Popke on Nov. 11, 2008 at 21:06

I read somewhere that Haddon Robinson counters the charge that every sermon has to lead to Christ and if it doesn’t it isn’t a Christian sermon. However, he also takes the view that his preaching is always theocentric, God is always the center of his sermons and to him there is no other God than the triune God we find in the Bible.

Not every sermon must make mention of Jesus or lead to Jesus, but it must be theocentric if it is to be considered Christian. Every sermon preached from God’s Word is a story that is leading the readers or listeners toward God. The Old Testament, as a whole, finds all of its themes leading in the direction toward the cross and its completion in Christ. This does not mean that we can now leave out the New Testament, but rather the Old Testament is the bases of the New Testament. Provided that a sermon is truly centered on the One and only triune God and draws the listeners into His presence it is, in my view, explicitly a Christian sermon.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Chris Payne on Oct. 10, 2008 at 14:24

I personally feel that you can preach a sermon without talking about Christ, but I think that if you do not prepare for that sermon without thinking about Jesus and how his life fits into the story, then you might not be preaching Christian, you might be just doing a Jewish sermon. The fact that we live 2000ish years past all the events of Jesus’ life and the fact that we are looking at the Bible as a whole and not fragmented letters, we see how the rest of the Bible points to Jesus and his effect on human life. Jesus is the lens that we look at the Bible through. We do not have to specifically give the alter call type message every time we speak, but Jesus is kind of key to our understanding of the Bible. Jesus takes passages that Jewish rabbis read one way and peels back the layers and gets to the point behind the passage, Sermon on the Mount is a great example of that. If we do not take and look at the Bible (OT and NT) threw the lens of Christ’s life and sacrifice then we miss the freedom and life giving message of the Gospel. For example, Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it, but if you don’t teach the law then the sacrifice of Jesus can be missed. But if you only teach the law and an adherence to the “rules” then you miss the sacrifice of Christ as well. Jesus came to fulfill the law and bring freedom, and Grace. Sermons can talk about other things in the Bible but Jesus’ life needs to be the lens that we read threw in order to get the big picture.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by George Bedlion on Dec. 03, 2007 at 00:29

I think scripture does show that Jesus didn’t always teach about Himself or what he had to do on the cross. So I don’t think every sermon needs to have an explicit message focused solely on Jesus Christ and the gospel. With that said, Christ is the reason we preach and the bible is usually expressing ideas of how humans can turn there hearts back to the Lord and follow him. If a text is focusing on an idea not directly focusing on the gospel message than be faithful to that text and that message. Preachers can’t always go for knock out gospel sermons, it would become redundant, boring, and probably everything the gospel is not supposed to be. So I guess we should hold the gospel close to our hearts and use every opportunity to share it- but let’s not force it where it doesn’t fit or suck out all its meaning through redundancy.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Keith Whitaker on Sep. 18, 2007 at 22:25

Interestingly, this question comes up in a section of the book that deals with deductive preaching. As such, a primary concern of the preacher is the original meaning of the text. It seems to me that we run the risk of “abusing” some Old Testament scriptures when we try and interpret them in light of Jesus’ work on the cross. That being said, we must affirm that the “good news” extended to us through Jesus is the pinnacle of the Biblical narrative and the lens through which we come to more full understand God, and his actions throughout the rest of scripture. So, I guess my answer to the question is that in preparing for a sermon the preacher must be careful to exegete the text on its own terms, but in the delivery of the message, she or he must give special attention to how the message of Christ brings a clearer revelation of God’s truth.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Andre VanWoerden on Feb. 16, 2007 at 17:15

I think it would be difficult to impose the gospel on any text of Scripture because ultimately all scripture finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Living in the post-resurrection era, our perspective on the Old Testament is shaped by our understanding of the work of Christ and every text has Christ-centered implications. However, I am not sure that every sermon must therefore focus on Jesus Christ or even mention the gospel.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Michelle Young on Jan. 31, 2007 at 22:07

I believe that every sermon must be Christ-centered though not necessary in the form of explaining the full gospel story (the death and resurrection of Christ). This is because the Bible is all about the love of God for humanity displayed in Jesus Christ. We can’t apply living a Christ-centered life without talking about the power and grace of Jesus which is available to His children.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by Brad Olsen on Jan. 30, 2007 at 22:50

It seems to me that the power behind preaching, the power to change lives, lies in the power of the gospel message. And the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of the gospel. If the "big idea" that forms the heart of the sermon is going to truly help people to hear from God, then it needs to somehow be shaped by the reality of the gospel.

re: #8 - Christ-ian Preaching

Posted by HeeJin Kim on Jan. 24, 2007 at 19:15

If a preacher were to talk about parables that have happened two thousand years ago, it would be hard for their listeners to relate to the sermons, causing them to stand afar like tourists. While the preachers must have Christ as the root of all their sermons, they should also choose deductive preaching and apply the Biblical texts into everyday life.