Catherine Booth was a Wesleyan preacher from the 1860s.1 When compared to
the McDill 12 Essential Skills of Great Preaching, Catherine relates to bridging from
text to sermon. She used sermon authority which is “the connection of the sermon
with a text is its basis for authority.”2 There are four types of authority. “The
sermon has direct biblical authority when its central idea and purpose are the
same as that of the text. Indirect biblical authority comes to the sermon when a
secondary theme of the text is the main idea of the sermon. Beyond that the
sermon has only casual biblical authority or even corrupted biblical authority when
it does not reflect the central idea and purpose of the text at all.”3 Catherine’s
preaching was known to have been prompted by the Holy Spirit, her belief in the
authority of the Bible, and based her sermons upon Scripture.4 Catherine would use
direct biblical authority in her sermons.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne was a Presbyterian minister in 1830-40s.5 While in
college, M’Cheyne would explain the Word of God to his classmates, classmates
that looked forward to hearing God’s Word.6 He based his sermons upon
“communicating truth to the simplest hearer.”7 M’Cheyne embodied the skill of
Naming the Text Idea. He was able to master the language of the text and bring
the truth to his parishioners. The skill he used was being able to understand the
message behind the text and communicate it to his hearers in the best words
possible to understand the text.8
Alexander Maclaren was a Baptist minister who was known for “a preacher and
his primary contribution to the history of preaching is his unwavering commitment
to biblical exposition combined with relevant application for his listeners.” c His
commitment to the truth of Scriptures, being able to discover the biblical truth,
and sharing the truth in applicable ways to his listeners is an example of Bridging
the text to sermon skill. Skill 5 is understanding what the original writer was trying
to convey, then sharing the biblical truth in a frame of reference that the listening
generation can understand and apply to their lives. Maclaren was known to be
able to apply biblical truth to his generation in a way that they could understand,
relate, and apply to their own lives.
Rodney “Gipsy” Smith is a conundrum to describe his McDill skill in sermon
preparation. He never used notes during his sermons and is said to have never
actually written a sermon during his ministry.10 Smith spoke the truth of the gospel
and was able to connect with his audience. The skill I believe he most closely
resembled was naming the text idea. Naming the text idea is “aim is to designate
what the text writer is talking about with clear terminology.”11 The reasoning behind
this is that he never had formal training, he did not debate modern issues with
theology (modernism, scientology), and he always found ways to connect to his
audience. However, the greatest reasoning is “he brought the language of
everyday people into the pulpits of the world. Smith’s use of simple words and
sentence structures made the gospel message available to all, not just the
educated elite.”12 His simple terminology relates to skill 4 that uses clear
terminology to connect to the hearers. c
1 Benjamin K Forrest, Kevin L. King and William J. Curtis , A Legacy of Preaching,
Volume Two: Enlightenment to the Present Day (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019),
88.
2Wayne McDill, 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching (B & H Publishing
Group, 2015), 85.
3 Ibid., 86.
4 Forrest, A Legacy of Preaching, 90-91.
5 Ibid, 55.
6 Ibid., 53.
7 Ibid., 57.
8 McDill, 12 Essential Skills, 72.
9 Forrest, A Legacy of Preaching, 71.
10 Ibid., 135.
11 McDill, 12 Essential Skills, 64.
12 Forrest, A Legacy of Preaching, 148.
