THE PRIMACY OF PREACHING

In the book, “The Whole Counsel of God,” the author, Tim Patrick, makes the point in chapter nine that the Word of God is to be central in worship. Practicing what he is preaching, he grounds this exhortation in Scripture, underscoring Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

The foundation of doctrine—teaching, instruction, exhortation, application—was central to the church as the apostles gathered the people for worship. From that flowed fellowship with one another, as truths they held in common united them, and inspired them in obedience to Christ’s command to partake of the Lord’s Supper and directed them in their prayers. See Patrick’s diagram shared below.

Patrick points out that the church had abandoned preaching—and no wonder it plunged into heresy. Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation by the truth of Scripture and demanded that preaching be restored to the worship of the church.

In this chapter, the author quotes Kent Hughes,

“God’s word must infuse everything. The careful reading of the word must be central. Hymns and songs must be word-saturated. Prayers must be biblically informed, redolent with biblical reality—often reflecting the very language and structure of Scripture. The preaching of the Word of God must be the Word of God. Such service requires principled, prayerful thought and hard work . . . it must happen in our hearts. Corporate worship must be word-centered if it is to glorify God as it ought.” (Worship by the Book, D. A. Carson ed., p. 159).

Paul commanded, 

“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Tim.‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭16‬‬).

His final exhortation to his protege was to, “Preach the Word!” (2 Tim. 4:2a). Let us make sure that when we gather for worship that there is the primacy of preaching. It is why our pulpits are not off to the side, but centrally located. The focus is on the Word of God—not the human instrument, but the Divine message—and all flows from that.

MAPPING OUT YOUR MESSAGES

 When preaching through books of the Bible, first determine the overall message of that book, then look to how the book naturally divides. You can start with chapters and look at topics from the headings, but remember that chapters are constructed typically to give a more uniform reading pattern, and sometimes break up the particular theme and topic. Referring to study Bibles and commentaries in preparing the sermon series will help with this. Typically, they give an overall outline of the book. Then, after breaking them down, take the calendar and insert the individual messages as you determine the title, text, and thrust for each sermon. Here is an example of part of the sermon calendar I worked up as I preached through Luke’s Gospel.

FEED THE FLOCK

In preaching through books of the Bible, we must realize that our aim is not to just get through a book, but to get through to the people. We are not just giving out Scriptural information, but aiming for spiritual transformation.  In feeding the flock, the sheep need a well-balanced diet.  They may be lacking in a particular area, where a weakness needs to be addressed.  How can a good shepherd know unless he is regularly among the sheep in ministering to them.  His pastoral care informs his preaching choice.  Weigh these words:  

“A good preacher should know the flock intimately and have a consciousness of both their immediate circumstances as well as their characterizing values, idols, strengths, and challenges. For example, a church made up of people who are very confident in their salvation as a result of a robust understanding of justification, but who at the same time lack care for one another, might need to hear a series on James. On the other side, a congregation that has a very legalistic approach to being Christian might need to consider Galatians or Romans. 

Just as each week’s sermon ought to be preached with an awareness of these things, so too should the entire preaching program be shaped with them in mind. This highlights for us again that the work of feeding Jesus’s lambs with his word is intensely pastoral and missional, and that it requires the local overseer to be walking closely and sharing life with his people. An internet preacher cannot do this for a congregation, and an internet preaching plan cannot serve them well either.” (The Whole Counsel of God, Tim Patrick and Andrew Reid, Kindle edition, location 791). 

PLANNING YOUR PREACHING

After my conversion to Christ, I began to devour Biblical preaching.  It fed my soul and fueled my spiritual growth. Most every sermon I heard was from great expositors: Stephen Olford and James Boice on Sunday morning and Stuart Briscoe on Sunday afternoon. Additionally, I began to listen to and read books by Bible preachers like W. A. Criswell and John MacArthur.  My wife’s brother, Jim Crayton, was such a solid preacher who influenced me when I was called into the ministry.  

I knew that was the kind of preacher I wanted to be. I just didn’t know how.  So, I enrolled at Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute as it was called before becoming a college.  There I sat under the instruction of the late Kenneth Ridings who inspired me to not only preach through books of the Bible, but informed me on the method of doing so.  

For nearly fifty years that was my pattern as I pastored churches. In my first church, Cane River, in Burnsville, I preached through the book of Genesis on Sunday evening, and was working my way through the Gospels on Sunday mornings. My intention was to systematically preach through the entire Bible. Serving there for three and one-half years did not allow me the time to finish!  Yet in the churches I served after that, we also had a Wednesday night service that gave me additional opportunities. In four churches—during which my longest tenure was six and one-half years—I preached through numerous books of the Bible.  Coming to Pole Creek, God privileged me to pastor those dear folk for twenty five years.  My planning for my preaching became much more intentional.

By fall, I would go away for several days all by myself.  It was just the Lord, me, and my Bible.  I had been thinking about what the needs of the church were currently and what the next book of the Bible would be helpful in addressing where we were spiritually.  Was our worship lagging? Maybe I ought to preach from Psalms.  Had our evangelistic zeal waned? God might be leading me to preach though Acts.  Was there some conflict and moral issues needing to be confronted? 1 Corinthians would address those.  Did we need a better understanding of how the church needs to function?  1 and 2 Timothy would hit that head on.  So, prayerfully I would determine the book of the Bible I would preach through each year—or several books, if they were shorter—and I would over the course of a few days, map out the direction of my preaching for the next calendar year.  I would lay out the title, text, and thrust of each message.  Then, I would share it with our worship leaders, so that the services would be planned around that day’s theme—especially music that reinforced the message.  There were times that I even suggested songs that enhanced the exposition.

God blessed this. I could have stayed and followed that pattern on and on until the Lord called me home.  The very practice taught the congregation to reverence God’s Word and the relevance of His Book, as well as what truths the individual sermons brought to them.

Here is how Tim Patrick states it in his book, “The Whole Counsel of God.”

For many of us who are preachers, it may be a good discipline to set aside something like a week or even half a week each year just to plan our preaching programs. Perhaps this could even be a time when we get out of our normal routines altogether so we can really focus on this critical high-level work. A few days away from the office, or at least with regular meetings cancelled and regular lines of communication closed, can make a significant difference to doing good, deep work rather than just quickly cobbling something together without properly thinking and praying through it all. It is always hard to carve out this time, because there is never a shortage of work to do in pastoral ministry, but we would argue that if pastoral ministry is grounded in good ministry of the word, planning this ministry deserves time and attention. Just because it is possible to get by without doing this does not mean that is acceptable or good in the long run. It may also be possible to get by in Christian ministry without visiting church members or without much prayer. But that does not mean either of these practices is faithful or healthy. We give time to the things we value, and if we preachers value our people and the whole Bible, we ought to give time to preparing a balanced diet. (Location 1567, Kindle edition).