The four preachers mentioned in The Legacy of Preaching by Benjamin
Forrest best illustrate two of the six-step reviews that Wayne McDill provided
in 12 Essential Skills of Preaching. e Catherine Booth, one of the Legacy
Preachers, follows closely to the "Bridging from Text to Sermon." She does
follow many of the six-step reviews, but one that she does well is "bridging
the text to sermon." At the same time, she really centers her message on
the text and the sin of all humanity, then allowing the listeners to find hope
in the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. She then takes the text and then
bridges that text to the message in a deep understanding of the scriptures,
allowing the message to beckon the "listeners to the higher life of holy
love."[1] One can see that she would use the 5th step when she wanted the
audience to concede a message while they were in a particular situation;
then, she would best use the sixth step when calling them to that higher
calling of living in a holy lifestyle. Many can see this because of her
upbringing as a Methodist, which these things were ingrained in her life her
entire life.
Henry Ward Beecher took a different approach when preaching; he believed
that his words should shape the lives of those who are listening and not
their minds. This approach was a very different approach, and many would
say that Beecher would not be theological-based preaching. His approach is
much different from the norm, but his focus is more on the application
because the cognitive aspect would make little difference if there were no
application.
Charles Hadden Spurgeon is one who was really skilled in "Naming the text,"
which gave him the title of being the prince of preachers. By studying
Spurgeon, one can see that he "believed preaching should be nothing less
than exposition."[2] He aligns more with the "Naming the Text" because he
advocates for the application and how the text should expound on and that
one should no dismiss the intended theological significance in the selected
text but get the big picture.[3] Spurgeon wanted and firmly believed that
preaching should be nothing less than exposition or explanation and that the
fact that sermons are commentaries.
Last, Charles Finney is a legacy preacher that aligned well with "Bridging
from Text to Sermon." His style was to identify "a concept related to the
text that would serve as the main subject of his sermon," which gave the
bridging that the listener needed to build that gap from the original text.[4]
This gave his listeners the experience that prompted lives to change with
action.
[1] Benjamin K Forrest, A Legacy of Preaching, Volume Two: Enlightenment
to the Present Day, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 94, Retrieved from
https://app.wordsearchbible.lifeway.com.
[2] Ibid., 114.
[3] Ibid., 170.
