Skip to main content

When the Sermon Preparation Is Finished, One Essential Still Remains...

When the Sermon Preparation Is Finished, One Essential Still Remains
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

There comes a point in the sermon preparation when the exegesis and crafting of the sermon has been completed. After a week of study, the outline is done, the sermon is full of flesh, muscles and bones, and the content is well structured and well argued. The gospel is clear and application runs throughout. But there comes that point when the message is done and the preacher must quiet himself before the Lord and beg for God’s help, God’s strength, God’s enabling, God’s empowering, and God’s unction.

1. ILLUMINATION.
Pray for the illumination of the hearers as the Word of God is preached on Sunday from the pulpit. Pray for the Spirit of God to shed light upon His truth as the believers hear it heralded. Pray for the unfolding of God’s Word to give light to His people. Beg that the Spirit of God would do what only He can do — give much light to the pure Word as it goes forth.

2. TRANSFORMATION.
Earnestly ask God to transform the hearers as they come face to face with the Living God through the preached Word.  Pray for the Lord to work through the proclamation of divine truth to change the heart, capture the mind, win the affections, and conform the life of each hearer to Christ and His image.

3. REVIVIFICATION.
Wrestle with God in fervent prayer that He might grant revival. Only God can give revival and bring newness of life to the lost. Only God can revive the heart, bring change, give life to those swallowed up in coldness. Pray and pray on and pray believingly that God would rend the heavens and descend to bring revival.

4. REGENERATION.
O that preachers would spend as much time crying out to God to save souls as he does exegeting the text. He should pray with passion and fervency for the Lord to awaken dead souls to new life. Unless sinners are born again, they cannot see the Kingdom of God.

5. UNCTION.
Unction describes that act of the Spirit where He powerfully comes upon the message so that it goes forth with life-giving power, soul-transforming grace, and heart-wooing beauty. Pray for the Spirit of God to grant unction as you preach God’s Word. What you’ve worked hard to prepare all week, entreat the Lord to take the Word like a sword and thrust it perfectly and precisely into the hearts of the hearers precisely where needed.

6. PROCLAMATION.
O that men would preach with urgent proclamation and passionate pathos! Pray that you would stand in the pulpit and proclaim with verbal strength. The minister should storm the throne of grace with confidence and ask the Lord to aid his proclamation. He must ask for clarity, passion, order, heavenly-mindedness and confidence in his preaching.

7. AFFECTION.
Men must feel what they preach. If ministers are not affected in their own hearts by what they preach, there is no way his hearers would be stirred to action. If a man does not feel his text, and preach it from the bowels of his heart, then his preaching will be lifeless, apathetic, and futile. Let a man pray for affection, drive, pathos, and zeal.

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 58:10 - Rejoice at the Destruction of the Wicked?

Does the Bible really say that the righteous will rejoice at God's vengeance upon the wicked? Yes, it does. First of all, the Bible no where advocates or condones people rejoicing over the downfall of the enemy because of personal vengeance . All vengeance must be left to the LORD (Deut 32 and Rom 12). Nevertheless, when the Christian has a God-centered perspective, it is absolutely reasonable—yes, required—that believers rejoice at the destruction of the wicked. (Again, this is not personal vengeance or gloating that the wicked are finally cast into hell.) But in my sermon last night I provided seven reasons why the righteous will rejoice at the judgment of the wicked: 1. God commands it (Rev 19:1-10) In a mysterious way, God commands believers to rejoice because His judgments are poured out upon the wicked. Just read Revelation 19:1 (which immediately follows Rev 17-18 and the cataclysmic destruction of Babylon, the false religious system and the false political system durin
Read more

Quotes on God's Sovereignty from AW Pink

Yesterday I read Pink's classic work again in preparation for my sermon on Psalm 47 this week at Church. God is good and He truly is the Sovereign King. Quotes from A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God . Revised edition. Reprint, 1928. Carlisle , PA : Banner of Truth Trust, 1998. “From every pulpit in the land it needs to be thundered forth that God still lives, that God still observes, that God still reigns.” (p.15). “Learn then this basic truth, that the Creator is absolute Sovereign, executing His own will, performing His own pleasure, and considering naught but His own glory. “The Lord hath made all things FOR HIMSELF. (Prov 16:4). And had He not a perfect right to do so? Since God is God, who dare challenge His prerogative? To murmur against Him is rank rebellion. To question His ways is to impugn His wisdom. To criticize Him is sin of the deepest dye. Have we forgotten who He is?” (p.30). “Because God governs inanimate matter… when we complain about
Read more

The Upright of Heart as a Metaphor for Integrity.

The Upright of Heart as a Metaphor for Integrity Psalm 11.2 says that the wicked seek to destroy those who are “upright in heart” ( לְיִשְׁרֵי־לֵב). The LXX renders the Hebrew phrase as: τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ (“the straight ones [=upright] of heart”). The Aramaic Targum renders the phrase in its oft-expanded way:  תקיני  לתריצי לבא (“the firm stability of the upright ones in heart”). Why is this language used to speak about integrity? Why does this describe the godly? I want to offer a few observations concerning this phrase. 1. This phrase refers to the godly person being one who is unbending and standing straight up for the Lord and for His Word. The Hebrew root for “upright” (יָשָׁר) speaks of that which is straight and right. So then, the person who is upright in heart is one who is straight in his life, straight in his course, unbending in his convictions, unswerving in his conduct. Joshua was told not to turn away from the Law of God either to the right or the left (Josh 1.7;
Read more