1. We must exegete both the text and our culture.
2. Continually distinguish the gospel from religion.
3. Always be reading a top 10 best seller to stay current.
4. Know the questions people would ask in the text and how it applies to them.
5. If we wound with the law, we must heal with the gospel.
6. I must deal with my own heart before preaching / preach as a broken man who needs the gospel as the chief of sinners. So don't just prepare the message; prepare the preacher.
7. Preach to minds as well as to hearts (emotions/affections) and motives, emphasizing that the power for change and the right motive resides in gospel-faith (Jesus is my righteousness), not self-effort.
8. If I am not believing the gospel, I am under the influence of an idol -- idols must be uncovered in sermons and replaced with the gospel.
9. Speaking to non-Christians, addressing their issues, questions, fears, etc. (even if they are not yet present) in sermons will equip Christians to share with non-Christians. If we preach this way, non-Christians eventually will be present.
10. Can my message pass Bryan Chapell's 3AM test? If roused from sleep at 3am on Saturday night, could I state clearly and confidently the main point of that morning's sermon? In other words, would hearers be able to tweet the main point of the message (140 words or less)? 

Yesterday I watched a National Geographic documentary on the tombs of Egypt. As archaeologists dug into millennia old burial chambers for relics of that ancient civilization, they used great care as they chiseled, brushed and swept away sandstone debris from their treasures.

As I watched, I began thinking of expository preaching. Okay, so I'm a preacher and everything is an illustration. However, the illustration is helpful. For when we de-posit something, we put something in. When we ex-posit, we get something out. So, just as archaeologists exposited valuables from ancient tombs, so also preachers exposit truth from ancient texts. It takes a great deal of work and prayer to study and mine in this way, but, as the dusty Frenchmen in the sands of northern Africa would tell you, it is worth the effort.

And that is what I want to define my teaching this year at Creekstone. Gospel-focused, expository preaching that digs, verse by verse, into passages in the same way an archaeologist would an underground chamber in the valley of the kings. As many of the Egyptian relics now are on display for the world to see, I desire for the treasures of grace to be displayed for us from every passage that we explore together as we uncover spiritual riches beyond imagination!  

If you are in the Dahlonega area, I hope that you will consider joining the expedition. We begin our dig into the Gospel of Mark this Sunday.

For more information on Creekstone, see our website, www.creekstonechurch.com.

I've been preaching and teaching for so long that you'd think I'd have it down by now. 'Fraid not. Even tonight, after the message, I went home thinking, "Man, you made a powerful, simple truth way too complicated. You preached far too long. Just make it simple next time, okay?" Okay, I'll try. But no promises. Because preaching is like sanctification. A couple steps forward, then one or two (and sometimes many more) backward. But we learn from those backward steps, don't we? They profit us in some providentially kind, though ironic, way. The fact is that, just like my preaching effectiveness and skill seem to go backwards at times, I will never "have it down" with regard to following Jesus. I will never be the master. Always the disciple. Always learning. And I pray that I will learn from every backstep is just how dependent upon God's grace I was, am and forever will be. Now that is a lesson worth learning... even if it is learned the hard way.

Still want to listen? The message is here.  

I am looking forward to preaching this Sunday for Christ Community Church in Acworth/Kennesaw, GA, during their missions emphasis month. I'll be teaching from Psalm 40:1-3, a message entitled The Propulsion of Grace. Can't wait to see my CCC friends- we deeply appreciate your prayer and financial support of Creekstone Church in Dahlonega!  

 And yes, I'll be back in the evening for Creekstone's fourth preview service. We're gathering at 5:30 to pray- everyone is welcome. The service begins at 6:00 p.m. 

I stand duly convicted by these words of Jim Cymbala in his book, Fresh Power (p. 46).  But my heart echos his. I do not need more of my (in)ability in my sermons, I need more of the Spirit. O Lord, let me pray and preach like the helpless man that I am.

"Isn't it tragic that many pastors often spend hours polishing every nuance of their sermons while hardly investing any time at all in prayer and waiting upon God to be freshly filled with the One who can supernaturally assist them? What we need today is not cleverness or oratory—we need messages from God's Word set on fire by the Holy Spirit!"

I recently read a book by Timothy J. Koegel (thought it was going to be Timothy J. Keller, didn't you!) entitled, The Excellent Presenter. Although not specifically written for preachers, I found the material to be extremely helpful for preparing sermons–and I need all the help I can get! However, I think that it would benefit anyone who ever speaks publicly, from speech class to a sales call. If you read it, let me know what you think. 

This is a well-known quote to many from the late Martyn-Lloyd Jones. If more of us would preach like this, I think we'd see more controversy in our churches. But I think we'd also see more conversions and a much greater sense of vitaltiy and renewal among genuine believers. Here goes:

"There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel... I would say to all preachers: If your preaching of salvation has not been misunderstood in that way, then you had better examine your sermons again, and you had better make sure that you are really preaching the salvation that is offered in the New Testament to the ungodly, the sinner, to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, to those who are enemies of God. There is this kind of dangerous element about the true presentation of the doctrine of salvation." (from Lloyd-Jones commentary on Romans 6, pp 8-9)

Oh how I long to be a dangerous, radical-grace preacher, and long for others to join me in this pursuit, for the glory of Jesus and the joy of his people.