Preacher, Know Your Task

Whenever I preach at another church, I’m always curious to hear how the sermon is introduced. Am I the “preacher” or the “speaker”? Will I “share the word”, “bring the word” or “preach the word”? And should the church expect to “hear from Adam” or “hear from God”?

Maybe this is much ado about nothing—a mere semantic hang-up. After all, who cares how we describe preaching as long as we actually do it?

But words matter.

Our description of the sermon might just shape our church’s expectations of it. If “today’s speaker is Adam who will explain the Bible”, what should our church expect to hear? Whose voice should they expect to hear? And how should they be expected to respond? Read More