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The Extensive Gallup Poll Analysis

Decent Essays

“Our Homiletical Task” The extensive Gallup Poll conducted for Christianity Today in 1979 indicated that a large majority of American pastors (56 percent) felt that preaching was one of the most important things they did. Preachers invest much of their lives in thinking about sermons. However, if they preached regularly, they would be too aware that their praying, Bible reading, planning, studying, outlining, writing, practicing, and delivery involves a major time expenditure. Proper time and preparation are very important factors (Hamilton). In Dodd’s view, New Testament preaching was always evangelistic, while teaching involved the doctrinal and ethical matters of Christianity. Preaching was carried on outside the church and teaching was carried on inside. Traditionally, preaching has been carried out in the mood of speech making. The word sermon comes from the Latin …show more content…

5) Preaching mediates not only God’s authority, but also His presence and His power….. (Hamilton). J. Daniel Baumann asserts that a preacher, therefore, should be a good craftsman, but never a mere technician. He should not devote too much time to form and too little to content, if a preacher studies the use of form as something apart from content, then he may become a rhetorician, an attractive speaker, but will turn out to be something less than a preacher of the gospel. God still intends for preaching to be a part of the church’s ministry (Hamilton). The final commission of the Lord includes a reminder of His authority and His continuing presence with those who would spread His message. God can and does use the “foolishness of preaching” to accomplish His purposes. The theological realities which saw the first-century church stress the preaching/teaching of the Word have not changed. God still reveals Himself and His will for people through verbal propositions. God’s Spirit still empowers the authentic spokesman

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