What Preaching Is

Week Two Writing Assignment
Theology of Preaching
What Preaching Is By definition, preaching is the act of declaring or proclaiming the Word of God through a sermon. It is part of the Great Commission given by Jesus, “…go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15, NIV84). In Luke 9:2 (NIV84), it says “…and He sent His disciples out to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick.” Preaching, only by the grace of God is the declaration of a new way of life. It is the proclamation of the Good News of God’s Kingdom to save, to heal, to deliver, to redeem and so forth. If the preacher does not declare the Good News of God’s Kingdom, the preacher is not preaching. In brief, preaching is: 1) the declaration of a specific message, 2) a call, a privilege and a standard, 3) only by God’s grace and power, and 4) for every person and every season. When preaching is done in God’s grace, it will: 1) convict of sin and call to action, 2) correct and encourage, and 3) make way for the miraculous. A Specific Uncompromising Message – God ordained Biblical Preaching is a specific message, with a very clear sound. Preaching has one central focus and message, and that message is “the Kingdom of God is here, and Christ crucified”. In chapter 1 of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he both informed them and exhorted them by saying “…we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Corinthians 1:23, NIV84). Christ crucified must be the central focus of all preaching because it is through the crucifixion of Christ that the Kingdom of God is available to all that believe. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul strongly denounces any other gospel, and declared condemnation on any one that preached any other gospel. Galatians 1:8-9 reads “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (NIV84). Finally, as it relates to the specific uncompromising message that preaching is, Paul gives his spiritual son Timothy both a charge and warning. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul charges Timothy to be prepared to preach the Word in and out of season. He then warns Timothy that the time will come when men will not care for sound doctrine, but will instead gather preachers that will say what they want to hear instead of what God says (my paraphrase). Paul is charging and warning his son not to compromise on what the Word says. The gospel has a clear and specific message, and it is not to be watered down or adjusted to suit the hearer. A Call, A Privilege, and A Standard – Preaching the gospel is not something just anyone can do, it carries with it a great sense of responsibility and accountability to the originator of the message. Preaching is the result of submitting to a burning call to share the goodness of God to all that will hear. Paul alludes to this several times in Scripture, first in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! Paul is saying that preaching is the result of an appreciation for the gift of salvation and a burning revelation of God deep inside that cannot be denied its expression. In his book “Preaching”, Fred Craddock says, “to preach as though nothing were at stake is an immense contradiction” (Craddock, 2010). The preacher stands to preach knowing that denying the call within him or her is at stake if they do not preach. The preacher stands knowing that an eternal truth worth hearing is at stake if they do not preach. Furthermore, in Romans 10:15, building the case for preaching Paul asked the question “…how can they preach unless they have been sent…” this question tells me that preaching is the result of being sent or called to proclaim God Word. Paul continues by referencing Isaiah 52:7 when he says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. This is the privilege of those who preach, the joy of bringing good news of the kingdom to the lost and oppressed. Finally, preaching has a standard that is lived both before it is proclaimed and while it is proclaimed. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians emphasizes the importance of this while addressing the spiritual fitness necessary as a believer. He says and I paraphrase, just as athletes must keep their bodies in shape physically, I also work on my spiritual body to keep it in shape spiritually, otherwise when I have finished preaching to others, I myself am disqualified. Preaching is a standard that is both lived and proclaimed! By God’s Grace and Power – Preaching is a declaration made through the preacher by the power and grace of God. All throughout Scripture, preachers preached but only as a result of the power of God in and on their lives to do so. Luke 9:1-2 says that Jesus gave His disciples power and authority, and then sent them out to preach and held he sick. Then in verse 6, it says they did just as Jesus gave them power to do, “…they went from village to village preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.” In Acts 2, Scripture tells of Peter preaching Christ to the multitudes. This was the same Peter whom had once denied Christ three times (Matthew 26:69-75), but now is preaching Christ. The difference in the life of Peter from the Gospels and Acts 2 is that in Acts 2, Peter is empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach. In addition, in Acts 4:27-30 the Apostles were being threatened by the leaders and people of the city, and the Apostles prayed and asked God to enable them to speak the Word boldly. Verse 31 says, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. In order for a preacher to preach rightly, he or she must depend on the grace and power of God. In addition Paul says in Ephesians 3:8, “…this grace was given to me to preach…” Preaching is an empowering work given to preachers to carry out on by the grace of God, and it is His grace and mercy that we preach. For Every Person and Every Season – Preaching is for all and to all; it is for peaceful times and chaotic times, for joyful times. No era of time nor race of people is ever exempt from hearing the good news of the Kingdom. Once when Jesus was preaching in a certain town, the people tried to keep Jesus from leaving them but He said to them “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). In another passage, Paul told Timothy to preach the Word, both in season and out of season (II Timothy 4:2). It means that the gospel is a year-round necessity and so it should be preached at all times, to all people. Preaching by the grace of God has an answer for every situation and every time in life. The preacher is to aim to be conditioned to by time with God in prayer and in the Word to ready to address those seasons and times. Preaching is not something that is only done when it is comfortable or feels right, but also when it is uncomfortable and doesn’t feel right.
What Preaching Does Convict of Sin and Call to Action – Preaching is not preaching if it does call people to make a decision or take a specific action for the Kingdome of God. In Matthew chapter 3, the Bible says “…John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Further in verses five and six, it says that people came from Jerusalem and Judea and the whole region of Jordan, confessing their sins and being baptized. Preaching is effective when it gives the hearer an action to take, and or a decision to make; otherwise the preaching is powerless. In Acts chapter 2, an even clearer picture of the preached Word convicting people of sin and calling them to action is seen. Peter full of the Holy Spirit, stands to address the crowd of non believers, and during his sermon, the Word he preached convicted them of their sin by his telling them “you handed Jesus over to be killed” (verse 13), “you disowned the Holy and Righteous One” (verse 14), “you killed the author of life” (verse 15). He then called them to action by telling them to repent and turn to God, and declared to good news that their repentance would make available to them (verse 19). Corrects, and Encourages – When the preacher preaches the Word with grace and power, has the ability to challenge and encourage every believer to stand strong in the faith and press on in faith in God. Hebrew 4:12 says that the Word of God is active and alive, and has the power to cut and divide. When the Word is preached, it is able to cut and divide way those things the believer needs to let go of from those the believer needs to keep. The word of God is alive with faith, and when the preacher preaches the faith that is in the Word, the hearer’s doubts and fears are rebuked and the believer is encouraged to yet believe. Romans 10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” The hearer hears the faith in Word, when the Word is preached, but if the Word is not preached the hearer will not receive faith to serve God. The word of God is seasoned with all that a hearer needs, however; the preacher must be diligent to preach the full weight of the Word so that it produces all that it has within it. Makes Way For the Miraculous – The result of preaching is repented hearts, converted lives, healed bodies, exorcized lives and more. The preacher partners with God, and releases a faith filled Word of God that God then moves upon and confirms with miraculous signs. Mark 16:20 says that the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it. The preachers words are not his or her own, but those that God will confirm once preached and believed in. Again, Romans 10:17 says that the Word of God is faith filled and when preached, the believer receives that faith filled Word for the deliverance they so desperately need, for the change of direction they are looking for and or the breakthrough the that need.
References
Craddock, F. B. (2010). Preaching (p9). Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

References: Craddock, F. B. (2010). Preaching (p9). Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.