Brevity of Sermons
By Pastor Scott Thomas
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit… I will be brief. ~William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Church planters generally have a lot of vision, passion, drive and urgency to communicate the Good News to others. How do these excellent characteristics translate into the sermon length—particularly for those of us who have a high view of Scripture?
The length of a sermon does not necessarily equate to a message centered on the Gospel. A good sermon may be long, but rarely is a long sermon good. Just because some great communicators preach for an hour, does not mean that it is the new covenant for church planters.
It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what other men say in whole books - what other men do not say in whole books. ...
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You may be familiar with James MacDonald as friend of Acts 29 Co-Founder, Mark Driscoll, from when they went to see the devastation left by the Haiti earthquake last year, and formed Churches Helping Churches. James is senior pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel and has overseen the planting of 69 churches through Harvest. He also established Walk in the Word, a Bible-teaching broadcast. James is a great Bible preacher and has been a friend and teacher to many in the Acts 29 Network - and will be speaking May 26 at our Nashville Boot Camp.
Excerpted from his blog:
A pastor I have known for 20 years was fired recently. I wish I could tell a tale of harsh Elders, or demanding congregants, but based upon first-hand accounts, he hung himself. Not ...
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Adapted and excerpted from Matt Chandler's message at the recent Dallas Boot Camp.
Before thinking about mission, let’s first look at how the Scriptures talk about transformation.
2 Corinthians says: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” It’s important for us to understand how this ‘new creation’ occurs. The Puritans used the term vivification – which is when we get caught up in the righteousness of Christ so that we are transformed in how we live our lives.
Transformation is nothing like “I quit looking at porn so Jesus would love me.” That’s not how this thing works. Neither is it “if I could just be good enough, then ___________.”
Earning our righteousness is a death trap. In fact, ...
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Posted in: Preaching, Mission
Tags: affections, john owen, transformation precedes mission, transformation, mission, 2 corinthians 5:17-18, matt chandler, dallas boot camp, acts 29, 2011, the church planter's mission
Preaching the Mission: Click to View Series
In 2007, Darrin Patrick (Lead Pastor - The Journey) spoke at the Seattle Boot Camp on "Preaching the Mission." Here is an excerpt from his talk where he explains the issue of delivery in preaching, specifically that of preaching the Gospel.
A couple of questions preachers should ask themselves:
Preaching the Gospel
What does it mean to preach the gospel in every text?
What is the difference between Christ-Centered and Gospel-Centered preaching?
You can hear the full version of Darrin Patrick's Preaching the ...
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Preaching the Mission: Click to View Series
In 2007, Darrin Patrick (Lead Pastor - The Journey) spoke at the Seattle Boot Camp on "Preaching the Mission." Here is an excerpt from his talk where he explains the last step in sermon preparation - editing.
A couple of questions preachers should ask themselves during this stage of sermon preparation are:
Editing – Streamlining content for effective communication
How can I apply the principle “less is more”?
How can I be faithful to the text and preach it to the level of the congregation?
You can hear the full version of Darrin Patrick's Preaching the Misson ...
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