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Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Expository Preaching


Expository Preaching

Let me invite you into the preacher's head so that I can share with you my basic approach to preaching.

My first preference in preaching is to do what are called "expository" sermons. This kind of lesson "exposes" or reveals the teachings of a certain text of Scripture. It uses as its basis one particular passage of Scripture, develops the ideas that are presented in the passage, and applies those ideas to our daily lives.

The main alternative to expository preaching is topical preaching. A topical sermon begins with an idea or topic (for example: "Love", or "How to Be a Better Christian", or "Things Young People Should Avoid") and then finds several verses throughout Scripture that provide ideas related to the topic.

The advantages of expository preaching are many. For one, it presents the teachings of Scripture the way they were written: in context, presenting the ideas as the inspired writers presented them. Although I might add stories, illustrations, and applications, I try to present the main idea that is presented in Scripture. I enjoy preaching through books of the Bible because, again, I am presenting the Word of God the way God presented it to us. Dealing with the Scriptures this way also forces us to consider the difficult passages, maybe the ones we would rather not think about or have always had questions about. Studying them in context often helps us find the answers we need.

Expository preaching also helps me avoid my weaknesses in preaching only topically. If I preach on topics, I find that I wind up pounding the same drum over and over - the drum of my favorite topic, you see. If I just do topics, I might pull a verse out of context to try to make my point, and that isn't a good way to study Scripture. Also, I can easily just deal with the "hot topics" and not get beyond the "current issues" to deal with the more central matters. Expository preaching gets to the issues, but it does so in the context of how those issues are addressed in Scripture. Topical preaching also tends to start out with man's thinking ("What topic can I come up with?" "What topic do I think people need to hear about?), whereas expository preaching starts out with God's thinking ("What has God revealed to us in this passage or book?").

I certainly preach topically on many occasions. For one thing, people think topically. We usually don't wonder "What does Matthew 21 say?" but we want to know, "What does the Bible say about this or that topic?" In addition, the Bible is sometimes written topically. Paul sometimes gathers up several passages to prove the point he is making. But as we today try to get across the message of Scripture accurately, we need to think of books and passages and contexts. That will give us a good grasp of the Scriptures so that we can understand what the Bible says about the topics we want to know about.

Articles:
The Crisis in Expository Preaching Today
By Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
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Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Fresh Illustrations

Devotional Thoughts and Teaching Illustrations About Fresh




*Clickable Quick Links Are Below:

#Fresh
#Freshly
#Freshness
#Fresher
#Fresh-cut
#Refresh
#Refreshed
#Refreshing
#Refreshes
#Refreshment
#Afresh

Proverbs 18:15 (MSG) Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.
Proverbs 16:22 (MSG) True intelligence is a spring of fresh water, while fools sweat it out the hard way.
Acts 3:19 So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day];
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
James 3:11 - Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and saltwater?
Mark 2:22 - And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”


DAY ONE-FRESH START

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

Life is made up of beginnings, endings and more beginnings. Winter ends and spring begins. Spring ends and summer begins. Summer ends and winter begins. We are ending one decade and starting a new one with the challenges of the past year behind and the challenges of a new year ahead. We end childhood and begin young adulthood. We end being young adults and enter middle age. We end middle age and become senior adults. We are born, we live, we die, and then if we know Jesus, we live again.

I have found that the older I get the harder it is to begin again, the harder it is to move forward and not to stop. For many of us it becomes harder to try something new, the easier it is to do nothing. We sometimes think we have done enough.

How do you begin again, how do you move forward with life, how do you really live as long as you are living? This verse in 1 Corinthians 15:58 gives us some direction as to how to do that. The first instruction that Apostle Paul gives us about how to begin again, how to live is this: “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….” He is saying that we should let nothing in this world deter us, keep us from living the abundant life that Jesus came to give us (John 10:10). We should let no bad thing, no evil thing, not even a good thing keep us from living our lives for the Lord.

For the early Christians, there were some obstacles to living the Christian life. If you were a Christian in Corinth you could count on feeling out of place, out of step with most of the people who lived there (sound familiar). If you were a Christian in Corinth you could count on encountering persecution in one form or another. Paul was telling them don't let that stop you from living like you should “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….”


Thought of the Day  What is it that Paul would say to you today? “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….…stand firm. Let nothing move you….” It’s time to get busy in 2020, we have a lot of work to do.


You Think About It!
Kevin Rayner


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Saturday, December 17, 2022

Rest Illustrations

Devotional Thoughts and Teaching Illustrations About Rest

Relaxation
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment…Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen.” These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and no idler he; he excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher.

Rest in Six Aspects
  • Creation rest, broken by sin Genesis 2:2
  • Redemption rest, secured in Christ Zeph. 3:17
  • The sinner’s rest, by coming to Christ Matt. 11:28
  • The saint’s rest, in communion with Christ Mark 6:30
  • Paradise rest, present Rev. 16:13 and 2 Cor. 5:1-8
  • Eternal rest, future Heb. 4:9; Rev. 22:5
From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W Noble, Chicago

Meaning of the Unstrung Bow
According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.
Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, “Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies.”
The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.”
People are also like that. That’s why we all need to take time to rest. In today’s Scripture, Jesus prescribed time off for His wearied disciples after they had returned from a prolonged period of ministry. And in the Old Testament, God set a pattern for us when He “rested from all His work” (Gen. 2:3).
Shouldn’t we take His example seriously? Start by setting aside a special time to relax physically and renew yourself emotionally and spiritually. You will be at your best for the Lord if you have taken time to loosen the bow.
Our Daily Bread, June 6, 1994

*Clickable Links Are Blue with Underlines:


Video


Church Songs?

#Rest
#Work
#Relaxation
#Relief
#Sleep
#Sabbath

Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;And the government will rest on His shoulders;And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Psalms 116:7 (NIV) Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
Exodus 33:14 (NIV) The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Hebrews 4:9-10 (NIV) There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.
Psalm 127:2 ESV It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Psalm 4:8 ESV In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Exodus 33:14 ESV And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Mark 6:31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!



You Think About it!
Kevin Rayner




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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Touch of the Master's Hand

Illustrations About Change

*Clickable Links Are Blue with Underlines:





Touch of the Master's Hand
By Myra Ross Welch (1926)



Church Songs?

#Change
#Value
#Souls
#Price

#Scripture

You Think About it!
Kevin Rayner




'Twas battered and scarred and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile:

"What am bidden, good folks?" he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar! A dollar!" then "Two! Only two?"
"Two dollars, and who'll make it three?"

"Three dollars once, three dollars twice . . .
And going for three . . . " but no.
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow.

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loosened strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low
Said, "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.

"A thousand dollars! And who'll make it two?
"Two thousand! Who'll make it three?
"Three going once? Three going twice?
"And going . . . and gone!" said he.

The people cheered but some of them cried,
"We do not understand!
What changed its worth?" -- Swift came the reply,
"The touch of the Master's Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune
And battered and scarred with sin
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd
Much like the old violin.

A "mess 'o pottage"
A glass of wine
A game and he travels on.
He's "going" once
And "going" twice
And "going" . . . and almost "gone"

Then along comes the Master, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul or the change that's wrought
By the touch of the Master's Hand.





https://duckduckgo.com/?q="John+Maxwell"+Change&t=h_&iax=videos&ia=videos

When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town, and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.

=============
Making a Difference

An old man walked up a shore littered with thousands of starfish, beached and dying after a storm. A young man was picking them up and flinging them back into the ocean.
"Why do you bother?" the old man scoffed. "You're not saving enough to make a difference."
The young man picked up another starfish and sent it spinning back to the water.
"Made a difference to that one," he said.
You make a difference, every day.



=============

Imagine a world...

  • Where one small act of kindness turned into billions of acts, like a never-ending chain.
  • Where people value people and have a genuine love for one another.
  • Where every neighborhood was safe because the community looked after each other.
  • Where someone did something that unites us together instead of drives us apart.
  • Where that someone is YOU!

This world that you imagine... What if it was real? What if you really did have a voice in your world and you really could make a difference?

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Wednesday, January 01, 2025

Happy New Year Illustrations

New Year




Happy New Year! 2025
Feb 28, 2025 = A sermon by Preaching Minister Randy Johns on preparing for a new year, and what to expect from the pulpit in 2025!



"A New Start"
Jun 11, 1989



This program originally aired 6/11/1989.  
We are pleased to share this Classic well-loved “In Search of the Lord’s Way” from our Brother Mack Lyon.  Due to the age of the program, some items offered are no longer available.  Transcripts, CDs, DVDs, and Cassette Tapes are not available for Classic programs.  The email address mentioned on the Classic episodes is no longer used.
If you would like to contact us you can do so at searchtv@searchtv.org or by calling 1-800-321-8633.
This program is available only through YouTube.  If you enjoyed this program please share with your friends and consider subscribing to our channel “SearchTVMinistry”.
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Saturday, August 29, 2015

How to Start Your Own Podcast for Sermons


Step One: Narrow Your Topic and Find Your Niche
Step Two: Download, Install, and Set Up Audacity
Step Three: Record and Edit Your Podcast In Audacity
Step Four: Tag and Export Your MP3 File In Audacity
Step Five: Pick a Strong Name and Create a Cover Art Image
Step Six: Find a Place to Host Your Podcast
Step Seven: Get Your Podcast on iTunes

For details, head over to LifeHacker.
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Sunday, August 22, 2021

Email Updates

Blogger is no longer sending email updates, so if you would like to get the updates. If you would like to get email updates, please go to my google group at

https://groups.google.com/g/parable

or to subscribe from this link and start receiving emails, send a blank email to  parable+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Also, some posts on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/ParableIllustrations


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Saturday, August 29, 2015

Learn the Formula to a Funny Story for Your Next Presentation

How to share a funny story in a presentation.


Unless you're a natural comedian, it's hard to come up with our own comedic material. This three step formula helps anyone come up with an easily scripted joke.

Inc interviewed David Nihill and asked him how inexperienced presenters can add humor to a speech. He says it's easy to find a personal story that related to the topic you're presenting and using it to connect to the audience. Once you find that story, you'll need to:
  1. Set up the story in a relatable way. "You ideally want everyone in the room to be like, 'yeah, that happened to me,'" Nihill said.
  2. Get specific and make it about it you. Start telling them about your own crazy experience.
  3. Deliver the unexpected. At this point, the audience assumes that they know where you're going with this. But you're most likely to get a laugh if you can surprise them.

If you've watched Seinfeld, you'll see that they often follow this formula in some way. You may not get your own TV show by following this, but you'll be able to use humor to get the audience to chuckle a few times and stay engaged.

For more on this, go to
How to Be Truly Funny in Your Next Presentation | Inc.com

For humor, go to my blog at
http://off-the-church-walls.blogspot.com/
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