Reading the seven legacy preachers fromA Legacy of Preachingby
Benjamin K Forrest throughout this semester, a few were big highlights
when looking at the sermon excerpts. The first one that stood out to me
was D.L. Moody, the man who first worked with Union troops from the civil
war. Moody first draws to me because he resembles a lot of the first
military chaplaincy. Moody's sermon that was titled "The New Birth" is one
that fits McDill's model of having persuasive elements. In "The New Birth"
sermon, Moody uses particular language to draw in his audience and
persuades them to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, while living in
their new birth of Christ. Living in this new birth is to work for Christ, and
Forrest writes, "We work because we are saved; we don't work to be
saved."[1]This is the underlining persuasive element to Moody's sermon,
"The New Birth." Moody really structures his sermons in a way that makes
them very compelling, and he places the importance of being saved then
how to live in that new birth. Moody impressing illustrations that not only
capture the audience but leave them with remembering and reflecting.
These illustrations persuade them in that very moment and continue to
influence the audience after the sermon, after Sunday service.
The second legacy preacher from Benjamin K Forrest'sA Legacy of
Preachingpays tribute to this University, Jerry Falwell, Sr. The sermon
titled "Never Quit" by Jerry Falwell, Sr fits McDill's model, preaching for
faith along with a bit of human experience. Jerry Falwell, Sr takes his
personal experience along with the point to lean on faith in God. He does
this by twisting hard and troubling times around, just like Paul does in
Philippians chapter one. He mentions things like "Christians have the
wrong view of trouble" and then explains by saying they "think that
knowing Christ means deliverance from trouble" when his message is
based on deliverance "IN" trouble but not "FROM."[2]This is how Falwell
uses both preaching for faith and personal experiences to really hit home
in his sermons. He pushes his audience to a stronger faith in God while
explaining times he has had to lean into that same faith during his
troubling times in his life. He wants believers to trust in the deliverer
during the troubling times, not expect to be delivered from them.
[1]Benjamin K. Forrest et al.,A Legacy of Preaching: Enlightenment to the
Present Day, vol. Two (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 254.
[2]Ibid., 536.
