I'll Be Honest

The Lord designs some to specifically have a special calling to preach that is above and beyond the norm. It is God alone who knows how to create a preacher. He does this in a few people so that believers may be taught, instructed, and built up through the Word of God.

We need to be content with the gifts that God has given to us. I find many men are not content, especially when it comes to the place of preaching. Many men are not content if it were to be found out that God had given them an unusual gift of serving instead of a preaching gift.

One of the things that happened when I stood in that pulpit, that first time, is my legs barely carried me into the pulpit. When I got there, it was like such a sense of peace descended upon me; all my faculties, my mind was absolutely clear, strength was in my legs, and my mouth was ready to speak. The thing is as I looked at those people... such a burden came over me for their souls... that I had a truth that they didn't know, that I needed to impart it to them. - Tim Conway

Abiding in Christ is not some kind of passive approach to the Christian life. Scripture is plain and straight forward that we must go and put to death what is earthly in us. This is no vain call for Christians to do what we cannot do, but we have the power of God mightily working in us for this to be accomplished.

When it comes to a study on sermon preparation we must not neglect the topic of the preacher's holiness. If there is unholiness in the preacher's life, it will destroy any power from being present in the delivery of the sermon. This is because God is involved in what happens in that pulpit and if you are seeking to preach with an unclean life you will not have any power.

Those who are not disciplined and do not give priority to prayer in their life should not be preaching. Their prayerlessness is a statement that they have not yet grasped who is sufficient to preach. Those who are sufficient to preach are those who realize they are insufficient in their own power! When one recognizes their insufficiency they are driven to prayer. Prayer is for needy people who are desperate to get God’s help. Prayer is for those who say, “I am not sufficient for these things, Lord help me!” If you can bypass prayer, you are basically being self-sufficient, independent, and proud.

When it comes to rightly handling the Scriptures we want to seek for perfection. The preacher's goal is to articulate the truth of God exactly as it is and to not make clumsy statements.

Tim starts by asking, "Did Saul actually fall off his horse on the road to Damascus?"

Parents must consistently train their children at home in order for them to behave properly during a church service. Having family devotionals is an excellent time for that training to take place; as well as giving them Biblical truth which is of most importance.

When studying the Bible for sermon preparation you must ask questions of the text. Then when preaching bring some of those same questions up to the listener. By doing this, you are seeking to have the listener face the dilemma of the text with you.

Does the content of your sermon bring forth what God intends to be said from the text? Are you rightly handling the Word of God? We must preach the Scriptures and get to the root of the meaning of the text. Do not pull a verse out of its context and sever it from all its ligaments and arteries.

Do you know God both intimately and intellectually? Jesus Christ didn't die just to give you doctrine and insights into the nature of God; He died to bring us to God Himself. That is, for us to know the Lord intimately.