Show Notes: “View from the Pulpit” Podcast, Episode 2: Introduction to View From the Pulpit: Why a podcast about preaching?

Episode Theme: Recovering a love for, appreciation of, and devotion to preaching.

In this episode of “View from the Pulpit,” host Ben Smith shares his story of how God has transformed his understanding of preaching. Ben explains how he hopes to help the listeners grow in their understanding of God’s word and the ministry and role of preaching. He shares that he hopes this podcast will be used to recapture and recover the church’s love for, appreciation of, and devotion to preaching.

Key Highlights:

The Primacy of the Ministry of Preaching: Ben Smith explains that the primacy of the ministry of preaching is such that if you remove it, a church ceases to be a church, and every other ministry of the church flows from it.

Conviction over Education: While education is helpful, and theological education can be a great asset for a preacher, faithful preaching requires more than academics and education. Ben Smith shares a personal experience that revealed the necessity for those who preach to labor under the conviction that the Bible is the word of God.

Substance over performance: Everyone loves a good show and enjoys being entertained. There is a performative element to preaching, but faithful preaching must be much more than a performance. Ben Smith shares his personal experience of coming to appreciate biblically faithful preaching more than the performance of preaching.

Faithfulness over size: The hardest lesson for anyone who teaches or preaches is not to be enamored with the illusion of crowd size. Ben Smith explains how crowd size is not the only, most important, or most helpful metric in assessing the faithfulness of a preaching ministry.

Join Ben Smith for an insightful discussion of the importance of preaching and why a podcast devoted to the ministry of preaching will be helpful to the church.

Ben Smith is the pastor of Central Baptist Church, Waycross, GA.

For more information and resources from Pastor Ben Smith, visit www.BenSmithSr.org

For more information on Central Baptist Church, Waycross, GA, visit https://cbcwaycross.org/

Other podcasts by Ben Smith:

All For the Kingdom is a weekly podcast of pastor Ben’s preaching ministry. https://www.bensmithsr.org/bensmith-allforthekingdom

Sermon Shorts is a podcast of sermon clips that are 5 minutes or less. https://www.bensmithsr.org/shortspod

A special thanks to Jim Gibson for permission to use his recording of “Brethren We Have Met to Worship” for this podcast. Ben Smith shares his personal connection to Jim’s parents, James and Ella Gibson, and how their example and testimony of honoring the preaching of God’s word had a profound impact on his life.

You can find more information about Jim Gibson’s music and many other recordings at https://www.hickorycovemusic.com/.

Music by Jim Gibson. “Brethren We have Met to Worship.” Songs of the South III, @2003 Hickory Cove Music.

I chose the hymn Brethren, We Have Met to Worship because the lyrics emphasize the importance of preaching for the salvation of the lost and the ministry to the church,

Brethren, We Have Met to Worship, by George Askins

1 Brethren, we have met to worship
And adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power,
While we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit
Of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna
Will be showered all around.

2 Brethren, see poor sinners round you
Slumb'ring on the brink of woe;
Death is coming, hell is moving,
Can you bear to let them go?
See our fathers and our mothers,
And our children sinking down;
Brethren, pray and holy manna
Will be showered all around.

3 Sisters, will you join and help us?
Moses' sister aided him;
Will you help the trembling mourners
Who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior,
Tell them that He will be found;
Sisters, pray, and holy manna
Will be showered all around.

4 Let us love our God supremely,
Let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners,
Till our God makes all things new.
Then He'll call us home to heaven,
At His table we'll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself, and serve us
With sweet manna all around.