Deep Preaching Seminar Challenges Students
In an age in which fog machines and strobe lights are commonplace in worship services, Dr. Edwards believes that it is the sermon that will captivate and change hearts. Deep preaching, Dr. Edward’s passion, was the subject of last week’s preaching seminar at which he was the guest speaker.
After years of preparing sermons and receiving unpredictable responses from his congregation, Dr. Edwards realized that good sermons are about ideas, not simply filled with content. “The world is changed through good ideas”, he notes, “So I began a study of how to preach the ideas that God has placed in His Word”. He seeks to preach the idea that the original author intended, “When I communicated that idea, lives changed”.
Dr. Edwards shared that simply following a sermon outline leaves little room for the Holy Spirit. In deep preaching, he seeks to take the idea of Scripture before God and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance through prayer and meditation. “On their own, the disciples were constantly missing the big idea of what Jesus said…with the Holy Spirit…they got it. At Pentecost, they had a remarkable insight into the Word,” Dr. Edwards said. “We are not taking advantage of the resources God has given us…I am not smart enough to fully understand what God is trying to communicate. I need help; I need the Holy Spirit,” Edwards adds.
Edwards shared five concepts for preachers to work through in sermon preparation: “look backward” to the original intention of the author, “look upward” to understand what the passage says about God, “look inward” and apply the passage to yourself, “look outward” and dream about applications of the passage in the Church, town and world, and finally, “look forward” asking God in prayer to show how Satan might counterattack.
For those in attendance at Friday’s seminar, Dr. Edwards hopes, “That they would craft sermons, they would build their ministry by intentionally involving the Holy Spirit in every way that they use the Bible.”
Dr. Edwards graduated from Tyndale with an M.Div. in 1989 and is currently Professor of Preaching and Leadership, and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He lives with his wife Nola, and two sons, Nathan and Jonathan, in Orange County, CA. Dr. Edwards is the Pastor of Oasis Community Church in Yorba Linda, O.C.
Missed the conference? Listen or download the audio below
2012 Preaching Conference Part 1 (Download mp3) [swf file="http://www.tyndale.ca/sites/default/files/2012-03-02_Kent_Edwards_1.mp3"]
2012 Preaching Conference Part 2 (Download mp3) [swf file="http://www.tyndale.ca/sites/default/files/2012-03-02_Kent_Edwards_2.mp3"]
2012 Preaching Conference Part 3 (Download mp3) [swf file="http://www.tyndale.ca/sites/default/files/2012-03-02_Kent_Edwards_3.mp3"]