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.” d 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. d
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.
