Charles Spurgeon is in my opinion one of the most influential expository
preachers that I have read about. He is known as the "Prince of
Preachers", and I believe this is because of the influence and wisdom that
he had. "Spurgeon looked on expository preaching as the great need of
the day, its best protection against rising errors, and its surest means of
spiritual edification.”$[1]$Spurgeon was a preacher who wanted God's true
words to be heard by the people he was preaching to. "He was able to
connect the particular text with the entire canon and synthesize doctrinal
truths within the span of his text."[2] When I read this I immediately think
that this relates to skill 4 of McDills model. Skill 4 is naming the text idea
which is, "to discover the writer's central idea in the text and designating
it with precise terminology".[3]I think Spurgeon does this from what I have
read.$ "But to talk about those ideas, he must identify them as accurately
and precisely as possible. His job is to discover from the text writer's
words what he was talking about and designate it with the best word for
communicating the idea to his audience."[4]
Rodney Smith who was also known as the forgotten evangelist preached
with one goal in mind and that was that the gospel was heard. "Smith
devoted himself to one central theological theme in his preaching: the
gospel of Jesus Christ. He stated, “The Gospel is not entertainment, an
essay, a lecture, something to tickle the ears and stimulate the brain. It is
the good news of salvation.”[5] Reading this made me think of skill 2
"noting the text details" from McDills skills. "A critical area of observation
is to identify significant words you see in the passage. By significant, we
mean those words that carry the weight of meaning in the text."[6] Smith
was one to make sure that the words of the gospel were heard and they
understood what it meant.
Charles Finney was an extemporaneous preacher. "He began with a
reading from a short biblical passage and would immediately identify a
concept (e.g., faith) related to the text that would serve as the main
subject of his sermon. He would then proceed to the main body of the
sermon where he explored the various facets of that concept."[7] This is
skill 5 "Bridging the Text to Sermon", which is, "constructing an
interpretive bridge for bringing the truth of the text to its expression in
the sermon."[8] He wanted the truth of scripture to be heard by his
listeners.$
John Jasper was known for his story telling in his preaching. "Jasper
selected biblical stories to dramatize the plight of his congregation. He
possessed a powerful and colorful imagination that lifted his audience.
Using this skill, he vividly painted in concrete and precise details the
events of the preaching text."[9] This is a perfect explanation of skill 5
Bridging from Text to Sermon from McDills model.$
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[1] Benjamin K Forrest et al.,$A Legacy of Preaching, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2018), 112.
[2] Ibid, 115.
[3] Wayne McDill,$12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching$(Nashville, TN: B
& H Academic, 2018), 74.
[4] Ibid, 72.
[5] Benjamin K Forrest et al.,$A Legacy of Preaching, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2018), 133.
[6] Wayne McDill,$12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching$(Nashville, TN: B
& H Academic, 2018), 45.
[7] Benjamin K Forrest et al.,$A Legacy of Preaching, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2018), 170.
[8] Wayne McDill,$12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching$(Nashville, TN: B
& H Academic, 2018), 86.
[9] Benjamin K Forrest et al.,$A Legacy of Preaching, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2018), 190.
