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.” e 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. e
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.
