Communication

The story is told of a preacher who was very fond of speaking on baptism. It appears as though he chose a text on baptism for every message that he gave. The elders of the church became weary of his continuous preaching on this subject. They decided to solve the problem by suggesting the text from which they would like him to speak. They asked him to speak from Revelation 9:1-12, a passage that does not even mention water. The next Sunday, the preacher stood, read Revelation 9:1-12, and then began his message by saying, "By the way, do you realize that this is one of the few texts in the Bible which does not mention baptism? Speaking of baptism, let me say this...." The kind of preaching needed today is the preaching of the Word. If one is preaching the Word, there are three things which characterize his preaching:

1. His message is the message of the text. Instead of leaping from the text, he leaps into it. Instead of preaching around the Bible, he preaches the Bible. Instead of using an emotional experience, catchy phrases, or personal opinions as his "bible", he uses the text.

2. His message is the message of the context. Suppose a friend made three statements to you: 1. "I stayed in John's house." 2. "John had a fire in his fireplace." 3. "It reminded me of hell." If you only repeated the first and third statements made by that person, you would begin telling people that your friend said that he stayed in John's house. It reminded him of hell! That is a far cry from what your friend actually said. The second statement makes all the difference. To understand what was said, you must understand the complete context. Some take verses of the Bible out of context when they preach. They preach the words of the Bible, but not the Word. The preaching that is needed today is preaching that unfolds the Bible in the context in which it was written. When the preacher interprets a sentence or verse, he interprets it in light of the paragraph in which it is found. This demands a careful study of God's Word.

3. His message is in the context of life. A Christian took a friend to hear a guest preacher. Several minutes into the message the friend turned to the Christian with a convicted look on his face and asked, "Did you tell him about me?" When the preacher's message is in the context of life, the listener feels as though the preacher lived in his house, or talked to his friends.

A message that is in the context of life brings God's Word down to life where the listener is living. In simple and clear terms, he explains how God's Word, written to people living then, applies to people living now. There is a "thus saith the Lord" about his message.

(adapted from Larry Moyer's "The Preaching Need In Evangelism Today")

At Dothan Community Church we believe that biblical preaching is the message of the text in its own context delivered in the context of life.