Rev. Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City publishes a newsletter called The Movement which has a great article on preaching. The article made me realize how few Christ-centered sermons I've actually preached in my 24 years of preaching. Click here for the article titled "Keller on Preaching in a Post-Modern City."
What I've come to realize is that much of what we call Bible-based preaching is not really Christ-centered! Rather, sermons tend to be moralistic rather than rooted in the gospel. It's wonderful that even after preaching thousands of sermons in 24 years, that there is still so much to learn.
Not all Bible-based preaching is Chrsit-centered. We can approach the Bible in one of two ways: It is either about me or it is about Christ. When I approach the Bible in a me-centered way, then it is a book full of exmaples that I "should" follow. It is a book that teaches me to try harder to be like the characters in it.
But if I (rightly) approach the Bible in a way that says it's about Christ then I don't see the stories as examples but I see Christ there. It points me to Christ everytime whether I am preaching on Abraham and Isaac, David and Goliath, or on tithing. It all points to Christ. Tim Keller's article shows how to do this.
Let me know if this article was helpful to you and what thoughts it may have stimulated about your own preaching.
2 comments:
Yo bro, how goes it with you? I've seen in your blogs that you get to do a lot of vacationing. Awesome. I just read your latest blog and the linked article. Interesting, but I think Keller still misses a very crucial issue that makes morality such a frustating issue in the Church. My response will be too long to write here. My next couple of blogs hopefully will address the point. I'm developing another seminar on this issue that I personally find even more exciting than my Principles of Financial Increase. Take care. Regards to Beth and the kids
Thanks bro. Looking forward to your blog. This entry is actually super-brief to express everything going on in my mind.
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