Communicating God’s word in a clear, biblically faithful, culturally relevant, and engaging manner is crucial for creating healthy churches. Great preachers are not necessary for renewal, but good preaching is. A seminary degree is not required, but a heart to be a lifelong learner and to improve your preaching is mandatory to effect health and church renewal. It’s not enough to be appreciated for being a loving shepherd. Pastors who want to see their churches renewed and healthy must preach well prepared, text driven, gospel centered, missionally aimed, and contextually applied sermons.
Ultimately it is the Word of God alone that will bring health and renewal to a church. Why? Because essentially renewal is transformation of human hearts that takes place through the Word of God - either through conversion or sanctification. ¹What kind of preaching effects church renewal? What are the essential elements that need to be incorporated in our approach to the preaching task? In one sense, all of the following elements are important in any preaching context—but they are especially critical in a church revitalization setting. The following are some ideas as it relates to preaching for renewal.
First, preach the text expositionally. Although there are a variety of approaches to preaching, e.g., topical, thematic, narrative, etc. – research has shown that a majority of churches that experience renewal tend to utilize verse-by-verse (expositional) style of preaching. ²There are several advantages to preaching expositionally through books of the Bible, such as providing a better understanding of the word of God, protecting the preacher from riding certain hobbyhorses, forcing the preacher to address difficult passages and topics, mapping the preaching calendar for months in advance and many more. Most importantly, consecutive exposition seems to be especially helpful for churches in need of renewal.
Second, preaching for renewal requires contextualization. Another way to put this is: preach missionally. You need to know your community before you preach to your community. It’s essential that we “preach the Word” but it does little good unless truth is presented in a way that can be received by the hearers. Paul was no compromising post modernist, but he understood that he had to frame his messages based upon the audience he was addressing. When he was in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:13-41) he framed his message by starting with the Old Testament history because he was addressing Jews in a synagogue. But when he was in Athens in Acts 17, speaking with non-Jewish philosophers and intellectuals, he started at a completely different place—that they were very religious—and he utilized their altar with the inscription “To the unknown god” The point is not to begin with the audience instead of the text, but to faithfully bring the truth of the text to bear on the issues that are framed for your particular context.
Third, preach the gospel. This does not mean that you just preach an evangelistic message every Sunday morning. It means that your preaching needs to be saturated with the gospel. That is, preaching for renewal brings people back to the gospel as the center of their obedience, the impetus of their motivation, and the foundation of their sanctification. It continually reminds them of who they are in Christ. Many churches that fall into decline and are in need of renewal have substituted moralism for gospel-centered transformation. As Ed Stetzer observes:
It is too easy for preachers to slip into becoming moral teachers–religious instructors who pass out rules for spiritual living without pulling back the curtain on God and ourselves; pulling back that curtain is what our people need the most!³
Fourth, preach for personal and corporate application. It is commonly expected that the preacher press for personal application of the spiritual truths being presented. The faithful preacher will help his congregation navigate their way toward personal application. But especially for a church renewal situation, corporate application is also essential. A church in need of renewal must see where they need to go and be shown a vision of what they are to become. That requires that the preacher think carefully about how the truths presented apply to the corporate body. His preaching needs to be laced with “we” and “us” language: “This is how this applies to us…” “This is why we need to do this…” “This is what we need to be…” A church in need of renewal should understand that they are a collective body heading toward a destination. Corporate application of the preached Word allows them to see that shared responsibility.
Fifth, preach an objective, scriptural vision for the church. Oftentimes, a church in need of renewal has lost the biblical vision of what God has called them to be and what he has called them to do. The task of visionary preaching is to recast before the church God’s vision for the local church as revealed in Scripture. In your preaching, paint a picture of what a healthy church is supposed to look like. Some of the truths that your people need to see afresh are: The Supremacy of Christ over the Church, a vision for the glory of God through the local church, their part in God’s redemptive plan for history, the nature of a healthy church, and the mission of the church.⁴
An unhealthy church often gets caught up in the minutiae of week-to-week survival and forgets God’s vision for the local church. Preaching for renewal is about resurrecting that vision so their eyes will be opened to where they are and where they need to go.
Sixth, preach well-prepared sermons. Churches in need of renewal do not need lazy preachers who throw sermons together at the last moment and revert to their favorite topics Sunday after Sunday. Preaching is hard work. It requires dedicated, serious, and diligent pastors who are willing to expend the effort necessary to deliver the whole counsel of God’s word. A well-prepared sermon will vary depending on the pastor’s other responsibilities - whether he serves full or part-time, the efficiency of his preparation process, and other factors. However, whatever the particular context, there is no excuse for coming to the pulpit unprepared.
Seventh, preach for a resolution. Every sermon should present a problem – a spiritual dilemma to be addressed. In a church renewal situation, this is especially true, where there may be a multitude of individual and corporate sins to confront. However, as spiritual needs are exposed, the preacher should give opportunity for resolution of the problem. That can be expressed in numerous methods – a “come forward” invitation, a time of personal reflection and application from the pew, or an invitation to meet with the pastor, deacons or elders after the service. Whatever the method, it is important for the preacher to give his people an opportunity to respond to the message in a culturally appropriate way.
Eighth, preach for the discipleship of your people. Discipleship in too many of our SBC churches in the past has focused mainly on informational transfer—what one might receive from taking a class or attending Sunday School. Often from the pulpit, the objective was making decisions, not making disciples. Preaching is an essential ingredient in building a culture of discipleship in the church. Preaching toward discipleship means taking the long view of your ministry—that you are preaching for depth rather than breadth, preaching to build attenders rather than merely building attendance.
These are just some of the principles involved in preaching for renewal. Obviously, this only scratches the surface of this topic. However, the pressing point that must be heard is this: there can be no church renewal unless a high value is placed on biblical preaching. Sermon preparation and delivery are not the pastor’s only responsibilities, but they are his most important ones. ⁵Faithful, biblical, and Spirit-empowered preaching does not guarantee that a church will experience renewal. Unhealthy congregations can decide to resist the truth. But faithfulness to the preaching task, in season and out of season, is its own reward.
The preacher’s work is to “preach the Word”—a well-prepared, biblically contextualized, personally and corporately applied, discipleship-focused Word—and to rest the results with God. The health of our churches begins with what is happening in our pulpits. May God help our pulpits be aflame with faithful and skilled proclaimers of God’s Word!
In His Service,
Dr. Wes Rankin
Association Mission Strategist
Footnotes & Citations:
¹Davis, Andrew M. Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again (p. 79). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
²Ed Stetzer and Mike Dobson, Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can Too (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2007), 91.
³https://edstetzer.com/2017/03/preaching-that-sticks/
⁴Davis, Andrew M., Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again (p. 109). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
⁵Acts 6:1-4.