“A passion to preach without a burden to study is a desire to perform.” - H. B. Charles
The longer I’m in ministry, the more I’ve come to despise half baked unprepared preaching.
If you’re a full-time pastor or evangelist who steps into the pulpit unprepared, simply rambling through the same talking points that get easy Amens, are you really preaching? Or are you just performing?
I’ve seen laymen in my own church handle the text with greater care and fidelity than many pastors standing in pulpits.
Preaching is declaring the Word of God.
And it’s nearly impossible to declare it faithfully if you haven’t done the hard, prayerful work of studying it deeply.
One of the best decisions I ever made was shifting from topical, idea driven, illustration heavy sermons to slow, careful, verse by verse expository preaching through entire books of the Bible.
It doesn't mean I don't give illustrations.
It just means they aren't the main thing.
It doesn't mean I just read from my notes.
It just ensures I stick with the text.
It doesn't hold back the Spirit of God from working in lives.
It just moves me out of the way so He can do His work.
Verse by verse preaching forces you to wrestle with every word, every sentence, and every context. It’s far more demanding than slapping together a few observations and stories around what you think the passage means.
But it’s also far more rewarding for the preacher and the church!
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15
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