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The phrase "Saturday night special" was coined by a journalist in 1917 to describe a cheap, easily obtained, often disposable handgun. Saturday night specials are notorious for being easy to get and dangerous to the shooter and the person he hopes to shoot. While Saturday night specials are a danger to the public, I want to discuss a different sort of Saturday night special. This type of Saturday night special is the sloppy sermon slapped together at the last moment. They usually appear after a week of little to no sermon preparation. The preacher is pressed for time and cobbles together something resembling a sermon. He takes this hastily prepared sermon to the church and feeds it to the Bride of Jesus. It's like providing fast food to an honored guest. It's not a good thing. The preacher will one day give an account of all the times he fed a spiritually deficient meal to the Bride. 

Let's consider the Saturday night special and how to avoid it.

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In this episode, we continue to talk about the vital matter of sermon application.

Perhaps the most challenging part of sermon preparation is applying the text to a modern congregation. The text of the Bible is ancient, and the same cultural-historical context which caused the Spirit of God to inspire the original text to the original recipients does not always apply to our modern congregations. While this is true, the ancient text contains eternal, timeless principles that do apply. Our job, as expositors, is to isolate and declare those divine principles which were true in the lives of the original recipients and which are still true today. Those principles will always be true in every culture, context, and congregation.

In this episode, we will learn how to make better biblical applications in our preaching.

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Perhaps the most challenging part of sermon preparation is applying the text to a modern congregation. The text of the Bible is ancient, and the same cultural-historical context which caused the Spirit of God to inspire the original text to the original recipients does not always apply to our modern congregations. While this is true, the ancient text contains eternal, timeless principles that do apply. Our job, as expositors, is to isolate and declare those divine principles which were true in the lives of the original recipients and which are still true today. Those principles will always be true in every culture, in every context, and in every congregation.

In this episode, we will begin the process of learning how to make better biblical applications in our preaching.

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Subscribe to this podcast, leave us a review, and tell others about us if you find it helpful.

Contact me at [email protected].

The podcast is a ministry of Dr. Alan Carr and The Sermon Notebook (http://www.sermonnotebook.org)

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My goal in this episode is to help us better understand how to read the Bible as a story, seeing how every part of Scripture fits together to reveal the glory of Christ Jesus—from Genesis to Malachi and from Matthew to Revelation.  2 Cor 4:6. 

Like a puzzle, the pieces of the Bible fit together in perfect harmony to reveal Jesus in all his glory. Understanding how the Bible works together will help us better understand the Bible’s unity and central message, which includes the ways Jesus is found in the Old Testament.

Seven places in the Old Testament where Jesus can be found.

1) Jesus is the Last Adam
2) Jesus is testified to by ‘the Law and the Prophets’
3) Noah: a Foretaste of judgment and salvation through Christ
In his story, two themes emerge, judgment and salvation—which offer a foretaste of Jesus in the Old Testament.
4) Isaac: Jesus is the “seed” of Abraham and the true substitute
5) Jesus is greater than the Law-covenant
A Greater: Exodus-Rest Matt 11:28-Prophet Deut18:15-Tabernacle 
6) Jesus is a greater future, King David,
In King David, all of God’s promises from Noah to Abraham to Moses converge. And yet, as with all parts of the Old Testament, the Davidic narratives look ahead to a greater future king. Psalm 72 explains how Jesus is found in this part of the Old Testament, which helps us look ahead to a ‘greater’ David, a future king.

Four dimensions to this future king, Jesus Christ, are revealed in Psalm 72:
Royalty with Righteousness, Psa 72:1–4; As Long as the Sun Rises, Psa 72:5–7;
A King for Everyone Everywhere, Psa 72:8–11; A Heart of Compassion, Psa 72:12–19. 

7) A vivid portrait of our suffering servant
“Salvation is of the Lord,” Jon 2:9. And all along the way in God’s story, the story of salvation advances a step further as the Lord takes the initiative to save. 

How will this salvation be accomplished? The Lord’s salvation is made possible through a sinless sufferer, which is tied to the traditional concept of a substitute—one cast in terms of the previous patterns but who now, in himself, solves the problem of sin fully and forever. 

We have a problem: sinful humans must be reconciled to a holy God.T he Lord will accomplish a substitutionary sacrifice for sin. He will do it through the suffering of his obedient servant. The servant, who is our Savior is God’s answer to the tension we have highlighted time and again. The Messiah-Servant, Jesus Christ, will do two things in his substitutionary death: First, he will take what is ours—our iniquities. And second, he will give us what is his—his righteousness. He will provide an obedient covenant partner.  2 Cor 5:21.

We find a vivid portrait of the future death of Messiah Jesus, our Suffering Servant, in Isa 53:1-12.

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Resemblance - The first characteristic of a type is that a resemblance, similarity, or correspondence exists between the type and the antitype. However, this should not be thought of as some superficial relationship, but rather a genuine and substantial counterpart. It should be natural and not forced. Not everything that has correspondence is a type, though all types must have the element of correspondence. Numerous things in the OT are similar to things in the NT, but they are not necessarily types. A type has resemblance to that for which it is a type, but it has more than resemblance. The following elements are also necessary in order to have an official type.

Historical Reality - Persons, events, or things in the OT that are types of things in the NT had historical reality. A type in the OT is not something without reality. The types were persons who lived, events that happened, things that were seen. Seeing types in the OT does not mean the Bible student should look for hidden or deeper meanings in the text. He should stick with the historical facts as recorded in the OT. In other words the type should rise naturally out of the text, and should not be something the interpreter is reading into the text. The tabernacle is a type (Heb. 8:5; 9:23-24), but that does not mean that every small item in the construction of the tabernacle in some way depicted a New Testament truth.

Prefiguring - A type has a predictive or foreshadowing element to it. It looks ahead and anticipates and points to the antitype. A type is a shadow (Col. 2:17) that points ahead to another reality. A type is a form of prophecy. Prophecy is prediction by means of words, whereas typology is prediction by correspondence between two realities, the type and the antitype. Again there are many similarities and resemblances in the Scriptures, but not every correspondence or resemblance is a type. To be an official type, the correspondence or resemblance must have a predictive element, a foreshadowing and anticipation of the antitype. The type has a forward focus.

Heightening - In typology, the antitype is greater than and superior to the type. There is an increase, a heightening, an escalation. Christ is superior to Melchizedek. Christ's redemptive work is greater than that of the Passover, of which He is the antitype answering to the Passover, the type. 

Divine Design - Types are not mere analogies or illustrations which Bible readers note. Instead they are resemblances planned by God. The type was designed in such a way that it carried a likeness to the antitype, and likewise was planned by God to be the "fulfillment" and heightening of the type. Since centuries separated most of the types from their antitypes, it obviously required God's planning to have the types depict or picture the antitype.

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Preachers love finding types of Jesus in the Old Testament. It thrills us, and it makes for thrilling preaching. But is what we found a type, or is it merely an illustration? There is a difference. We talk about that difference in this episode. Listen in to discover what a biblical type is.

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In this episode, I explain and warn against the tendency we have to moralize the text and characters in the Bible. In our zeal to help people improve, we often fail to share the proper way to betterment with them: A relationship with Jesus Christ. Moralistic preaching is dangerous because it gives people false hope. Moralizing the text and calling upon people to do better without pointing them to Jesus sets people up for failure. Moralizing the text can lead lost sinners to believe they can become pleasing to God through their good works and positive life changes. The antidote to moralism in our preaching is to focus on Jesus in every sermon. 

Gove this episode a listen and let me know what you think.

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This episode will conclude our time talking about what I would say to my younger self if I had the opportunity to do so. I hope this little foray into this subject has been helpful in some small way.

76. You will likely move many times or at least change churches.
77. When you have to leave a church, you will leave many friends too.
78. Spiritual warfare is real; the enemy will attack you and your family in ways you never imagined.
79. You will be discouraged and think about quitting often. (Most pastors call this day Monday.) The average length of a pastorate is 3.6 years. The way to stay longer is simple–don’t leave. Wait for God to move you. If the church fires you, you are free to go. Otherwise, stay where you are.
80. If you do have to leave, remember that the people will remember the end of your ministry more than they will the beginning.
81. Beware of making close friendships in your congregation.
82. Take care of your physical, mental, and spiritual health.
83. The church will go on when you are gone.
84. Prepare the church so it is ready for the man who follows you.
85. Don’t do full-time ministry for part-time pay.
86. Insist on an annual pay review.
87. Own your own home.
88. Encourage the church to pay into a 401K that you own.
89. Do not opt out of Social Security.
90. Never believe everything people say about you, whether good or bad.
91. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
92. Permit yourself to fail.
93. Own your failures.
94. Learn to laugh at yourself.
95. Learn to evaluate criticism.
96. Learn from your failures, and embrace your successes lightly. 
97. Be quick to say with sincerity these five things: “Thank you; Well done; I am sorry; I forgive you; How can I help you?”
98. You will never be as great as you think you are.
99. You will not change the world. (God called you to preach the Word.)
100. Strive to preach and be forgotten.
101. Learn when it’s time to walk away.
102. Live within your means.
103. Take your time when making major changes in the church. (No major changes in the first year.)
104. It will take you between 5 and 7 years to become the pastor of your church.
105. Respect is earned, not deserved, because we carry the title of Pastor.
106. Send ample time with God in prayer and Bible reading.
107. Jealously guard your time. No one else will.
108. Find balance, even when it seems selfish.
109. Reevaluate your spiritual life often.
110. Learn the secret of contentment.
111. Find your joy and happiness in Jesus, not ministry or the church.
112. Invest in the lives of others.
113. Keep moving forward, especially in the hard times.
114. Ground your theology in Jesus.
115. Remember, God always knows best.
116. It will all be worth it!

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Once again, we are talking about what I would tell my younger self about the ministry if I could travel back 40 years and speak to the younger me. Today, we will consider numbers 61-75 on my list.

61. When you don’t know what to preach, preach what you want to, as long as you preach the Word of God.
62. Preaching and pastoring will be the hardest thing you will ever do.
63. Integrity and love for Christ will not be enough; you have to be able to lead people.
64. People will avoid you and act weird around you simply because you are a pastor.
65. People expect you to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
66. Workaholism will be rewarded, but it will destroy your family.
67. When people stop attending your church, it will hurt.
68. Don’t get caught up in playing the comparison game.
69. Attacks from inside your church will be worse than attacks from the outside.
70. You must fight pessimism, bitterness, and even depression.
71. Your success in the eyes of others will be measured by how many people you can get in a room.
72. You will never be good enough for everyone in the church.
73. Your family will be profoundly affected, either good or bad.
74. Without a seminary degree, you will be considered less qualified.
75. Money will be a constant problem.

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In this episode, we continue to consider what I would tell myself about preaching and pastoring if I could talk to my younger self. We will consider numbers 30-60.

30. You will be misunderstood, maligned, manipulated, and misjudged.
31. Learn to forgive others without delay.
32. Learn how to apologize quickly and simply without rationalizing or justifying.
33. Some people will never accept you as their pastor.
34. Learn how to help your wife feel good about what you are doing and to find her role in your ministry.
35. Learn how to work with the elder and/or deacons.
36. Find a mentor.
37. You are not a professional; you are a pastor.
38. Understand your strengths and weaknesses.
39. Identify and use your spiritual gifts.
40. Make seeking the glory of God in your ministry the top priority.
41. Learn how to preach without imitating the last good preacher you heard.
42. Learn how to counsel the troubled.
43. Master the art of asking penetrating questions that will open someone’s heart.
44. Learn how to take criticism without losing your confidence or cool.
45. Learn how to respond to troublemakers the way Jesus would.
46. Learn how to choose staff members wisely.
47. Learn to be prepared for temptation ahead of time.
48. Learn to delegate some duties to church members so you can give more attention to your priorities as pastor.
49. Don’t try to do everything by yourself. This will overburden you and prevent others from participating in the church’s work. 
50. Take every second of vacation the church gives you.
51. You are pastoring a parade.
52. The people who demand the most often serve the least.
53. Always faithfully preach the Word.
54. Learn to preach scripture-based expository sermons.
55. Learn to preach and go home.
56. Never preach for the altar call alone.
57. Never preach for the applause of men,
58. Preach for the glory of God.
59. Always be Gospel-centered in your preaching.
60. Never waste a congregation’s time by preaching foolishness.

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The podcast is a ministry of Dr. Alan Carr and The Sermon Notebook (http://www.sermonnotebook.org)