I read about John Stott and really liked his style. Stott wanted people to
live to the glory of God in the world. Stott was wondering, especially
during the 1960’s and 1970’s¸ when people tended to “do their own
thing,” how could he get people to listen, let alone come inside the
church? He also said that “if our theology is right then we have all the
basic insights we need into what we ought to be doing.”[1]
Although Stott believed that it was important that he must add
contemporary studies to biblical and theological studies in order to preach
effectively. I think that Stott preaches for faith. Stott spoke the Bible
around the world, and he loved to let the scriptures speak for themselves.
His most important contribution to preaching was being able to be faithful
to the scriptures even during the twentieth century, when preaching was
not always biblical, and more and more churches were seeing less and
less attendees.
“Jerry Falwell Sr. was first and foremost a pastor and preacher.”[2]1His
sermons were filled with words of encouragement, practical application,
calls to action, and a dynamic faith. Falwell was not bothered by his
critics. He became a spiritual giant, even as American morals were
eroding, and people were becoming spiritually adrift. In the 1970’s Falwell
was preaching to other preachers telling them to preach with power, be
willing to pay the price, build great congregations of believers, everything
must be bathed in prayer and penetrate the entire community.
Falwell was not an expository preacher he found a biblical reason for
every problem. I think that Jerry Falwell preached the human experience.
he used expressions of defeat, lack of spiritual nourishment. He wanted
his words to fix the lives of all Christians. Jerry Falwell built a large empire
starting with a church and a college in Lynchburg Virginia. He was also
quite active in politics, while also maintaining a large audience that tuned
in each week to hear or see him on national television. He tried to remain
an available and helpful man as he preached the Bible.
1
[1]1Benjamin K. Forrest, Kevin L. King, Bill Curtis, Dwayne Millioni, Ed. A
Legacy of Preaching : Enlightenment to the Present Day. (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Zondervan, 2018): 343 11111111111111 11111111111111111111111111111
[2]1Benjamin K. Forrest, Kevin L. King, Bill Curtis, Dwayne Millioni, Ed. A
Legacy of Preaching : Enlightenment to the Present Day. (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Zondervan, 2018): 525
