How then shall we preach?

Nearly two years ago to the day, Mark Thompson wrote a small piece on the Sola Panel called Now What Was That Text Again? It was immediately bumped by another post, and hence received only a handful of comments. This is a shame, as I can think of few other posts from the last few years that are more vitally and directly relevant to the health of our churches.

Mark’s thesis is that we are being increasingly influenced by overseas preachers who use the so-called “springboard” approach to a scriptural text. Following this method, the preacher will extract a theme from the text, develop it systematically, and then apply pastoral and biblical wisdom to the ideas that result. He contrasts this with the strictly expository approach popularised by John Stott a generation ago, which sought to carefully and contextually explain and apply the text, usually verse by verse. Mark is much in favour of the latter approach, and he fears the effect of the former.

To read more, click here.