Transcript
This will sound funny, but I haven't actually found most preaching books helpful. I'm not saying there's nothing in them that is helpful, I just don't think they're the things that have propelled me in preaching. I find the thing that is most stimulating and helpful for me in preaching is just reading good gospel-oriented, good communicating authors.
What Good Writers Teach Me
And there [are] two things I do. What is so beautiful about the content that they're writing? Why is it so encouraging to me? Why is it so helpful? Why is it so stimulating? How have they drawn it out of the particular passage of scripture that they're writing about?
But then the other thing is just the process of communication. By what means did they communicate these truths that made them come alive and be helpful? What are the illustrations that they've used? So good, solid gospel reading. There [are] wonderful gospel resources out now. There are, every month, new gospel resources and reading those will teach you about how to communicate the gospel, how to apply scripture, and will fill your heart with love and worship for Christ.
I think one of the things that makes an effective sermon effective is that the preacher preaching is worshiping his way through his own sermon. And I want to approach preaching with a hungry and a worshipful heart, so that preaching is the fruit of my own need. It's the fruit of my own celebration. It's the fruit of my worship. It's the fruit of my devotion and people who stimulate that in me make me a good preacher.
