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Here
we will be listing, quotes, thoughts, or studies that
will assist you as you
prepare your sermons,
or teaching lessons.
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| BOOK REVIEWS |
| In his
book The Pastor’s Primer, O.S.
Hawkins tells
of 353 unchurched people interviewed by Dr. Thom Rainer.
Their responses show the importance of preaching. The first
question to them was, “Did the pastor and his preaching
play a part in your coming to the church?” 97% answered
in the affirmative. The second question was, “What
factors led you to choose this church?” 90 % said “the
pastor and his preaching.” This confirms what I firmly
believe. That is that preaching is the highest priority of
the pastor. I Corinthians 1:21 |
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| I have been deeply touched by Raymond Ortlund, Jr.’s
book entitled When God Comes to Church.
In it he shares an excerpt
from Jonathan Edward’s description of the revival in
New England which he calls the “Surprising Work of
God.” It reads, “There is a spot of ground, as
we are here informed, wherein there are twelve or fourteen
towns and villages, chiefly situate in New Hampshire, near
the banks of the river of Connecticut, within the compass
of thirty miles, where in it pleased God, two years ago,
to display his free and sovereign mercy in the conversion
of a great multitude of souls in a short space of time, turning
them form a formal, cold, and careless profession of Christianity
to the lively exercise of every Christian grace and the powerful
practice of our holy religion. The great God has seemed to
act over again the miracle of Gideon’s fleece, which
was plentifully watered with the dew of heaven, while the
rest of the earth round about it was dry and had no such
remarkable blessing.” |
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Ray
Stedman—His book on II
Corinthians entitled Authentic
Christianity brought new joy to me as I was moving from a performance
based Christianity to a grace based one. I collected many
of his sermons that were sent out from the Peninsula Bible Church of Palo Alto.
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   John
Piper —His
writings such as Desiring God, Future Grace,
and The Supremacy of God in Preaching can provide a year
of reflection and application.
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If
you want to read brief writing of note worthy preaches
to get a feel
for the help you might receive from them I would suggest two of
Warren W. Wiersbe’s books: Walking with the Giants and Listening
to the Giants.
What
I am suggesting is not for speed reading, but a reflective meditative interaction
with the writer. They will become life long friends and mentors.
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| POEMS |
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THERE! little girl; don't cry!
They have broken your doll, I know;
And your tea-set blue,
And your play-house, too,
Are things of the long ago;
But childish troubles will soon pass by. --
There! little girl; don't cry!
There! little girl; don't cry!
They have broken your slate, I know;
And the glad, wild ways
Of your schoolgirl days
Are things of the long ago;
But life and love will soon come by. --
There! little girl; don't cry!
There! little girl; don't cry!
They have broken your heart I know;
And the rainbow gleams
Of your youthful dreams
Are things of the long ago;
But Heaven holds all for which you sigh. --
There! little girl; don't cry!
James Whitcomb Riley
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Christmas Greetings
I’ve had my first Christmas in Heaven:
A glorious, wonderful day!
I stood with saints of the ages,
Who found Christ the Truth and the Way.
I san with the Heavenly choir:
Just think! I, who longed so to sing!
And oh, what celestial music
We brought to our Savior and King!
We sang the glad songs of redemption.
How Jesus to Bethlehem came,
And how they called His Name Jesus,
That all might be saved through His name.
We sang once again with the angels,
The song that they sang that blest morn,
When shepherds first herd the glad story
That Jesus, the Savior, was born.
O, how I wish you had been there:
No Christmas on earth could compare
With all the rapture and glory
We witnessed in Heaven so faith.
You know how I always loved Christmas;
It seemed such a wonderful day.
With all of my loved ones around me:
The children so happy and gay.
Yes, now I can see why I loved it:
And oh, what a joy it will be
When you and my loved ones are with me,
To share in the glories I see.
So Dear Ones on earth, here’s my greeting:
Look up till the day dawn appears.
And oh, what a Christmas awaits us.
Beyond all our partings and tears!
Dr. Albert Simpson Reitz
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| QUOTES |
"Let
worship prevail in your preaching." That precept
is emphasized by the theologian –preacher James
Denney. He was quoted by Frank Cairns in his Warrack
Lectures in 1934. “What can be more
truly described as worship than hearing the Word
of God
as it ought
to be heard, hearing it with penitence, with
contrition, with faith and self consecration,
with vows of
new obedience? If this is not worship in spirit
and in
truth, what is?”
“I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked
if I might help Him. I ended up asking Him to do
His work through me.” Hudson Taylor (Along
this line when I was a young preacher I prayed often, “Lord,
use me.” “I begin later to pray, “Lord
make me useable.” JLH
“All that is not eternal is out of date.” C.S.
Lewis
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“To love to preach is one thing—to
love those to whom we preach, quite another.” Richard
Cecil
“More
men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent.” Billy Sunday
“We always find it more acceptable to have
God speaking to us directly rather than through our
wives!
But we may learn a great deal by listening to what
He says to us through them". Paul Tournier
“Keep company with the more cheerful sort of
the Godly; there is no mirth like the mirth of believers.” Richard
Baxter
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THOUGHTS
ABOUT PREACHING
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Although these words come from another era they
represent my feelings toward preaching.
“His
throne is the pulpit: he stands in Christ’s
stead: his message is the word of God; around
him are immortal souls; the Savior, unseen is
beside him; the Holy Spirit broods over the congregation;
angels gaze upon the scene, and heaven and hell
await the issue. What associations,
and what vast responsibilities!” Matthew Simpson in his “Lectures
on Preaching”
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This
might be a prayer worthy of placing in the front
cover of the Bible one uses when preaching.
O LORD MY GOD, I AM NOT WORTHY THAT THOU SHOULDEST COME
UNDER MY ROOF; YET THOU HAST HONORED THY SERVANT WITH ANNOINTING HIM TO
STAND IN THY HOUSE. BE EVER WITH ME IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ALL MY MINISTRY;
IN PRAYER, TO QUICKEN MY DEVOTION; IN PRAISES, TO HIEIGHTEN MY LOVE AND
GRATITUDE; AND IN PREACHING, TO GIVE A READINESS OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION
SUITABLE TO THE CLEARNESS AND EXCELLENCY OF THE HOLY WORD. GRANT THIS FOR THE SAKE OF JESUS CHRIST.
From The Office of the Institution of Minister,
the Book of Common Prayer.
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