MY GOALS AS A PREACHER OF THE WORD OF GOD.
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Pastor, Christ Fellowship Bible Church
As I preach God’s Word, I have goals that help me as I study and pray over the Word, and craft and outline the sermon, and prepare and deliver the message. Here are some goals that I have as a preacher of the Word of God.
1. Understandable. I desire to be an understandable preacher. I want people to understand God’s Word from the text that lays before us. Whatever passage, or chapter, or verse I herald, my ultimate goal is this: did it help God’s people? Did they understand it? Did the text become clearer to them? I want them to understand God and His Word better after the sermon is complete.
2. Exegetical. I must labor hard and labor long in my study in the text of Scripture. The exegesis process demands much time, care, patience, prayerfulness, humility, and submission. To exegete the text means to go deep into the text of Scripture (in the original languages) so as to draw out — that is, to bring out — the meaning of the text. My exegesis always drives my sermon preparation. I must arrive at the meaning of the text before anything else can come together. I must know what the A/author intended to convey by the words of the text.
3. Faithful. In my preaching, I must be faithful to Christ and to His Truth. I want to be powerful and authoritative as an instrument of God for the good of souls. But to be useful to my Master, I must be faithful to Him in studying and interpreting His revealed Word. It is not my goal to be clever, or relevant, or funny, or entertaining. My goal is simple: am I being faithful to God and to His Word? Faithfulness demands truthfulness and trustworthiness. Whatever the text says should carry the sermon along. I would be unfaithful if I imposed my interpretation or meaning upon a text of Scripture. I must humbly submit to God’s Word and allow the text to speak for itself. I want to be a ‘faithful servant.’
4. Practical. In my preaching, I must be practical. I want people to know how the passage of Scripture, rightly interpreted and understood, must affect their lives, their conversations, their heart-attitudes, and their thoughts of God and about life. I never want to stand up and give a commentary or merely a lecture on a text. I must explain the meaning and give the truth of the text. But faithful preaching drives it home powerfully, forcefully, clearly, specifically, individually, and inescapably so that all the hearers (both saved and unsaved) know that it calls for a verdict and demands that they do something in light of what they heard.
5. Powerful. When I stand to herald the oracles of God from His Word, I have no intention of being a talking head or another oratorical speaker. I long for power. I want power. I crave for spiritual unction. This, I believe, only comes through lingering long in God’s presence in desperate prayer and calling upon God for His Spirit to fill me, take control of me, and be the authoritative divine voice, working through my mouth, to change and transform my hearers. My goal is to preach with Almighty power. Thus, I resolve to make God’s Word the center of my message.
