Last week I posted the first five of Steven Lawson’s answers to the ‘10 Questions for Expositors’. Here’s the rest of them:

6. What notes, if any, do you use?

What I carry into the pulpit is strategically important in my sermon delivery. I carry with me a multi-paged, handwritten manuscript of the sermon. The introduction is well thought-out and scripted, as I am very attached to my notes in the launching of the message. I want to start strong and so, therefore, I have given much attention in my notes to the introduction. I then have in my notes the homiletical headings (sermon outline) supplement with the explanation of the text, supporting cross-references, historical background, word studies, other supporting doctrines, personal application, illustration, transitions, and summarizations. Finally, I have given thought to the conclusion and write out a compelling ending. However, as is most often the case, I am ascending in my heart as the sermon comes to conclusion, and I am not as dependent on my notes in the end.

7. What are the greatest perils that preacher must avoid?

To be avoided at all cost are the following: lack of study, departure from Scripture, prayerlessness, unholy living, professionalism, insincerity, lukewarmness, rambling, and, finally, the greatest danger of all, being a man-pleaser rather than a God-pleaser. Many other perils could be sited.

8. How do you fight to balance preparation for preaching with other important responsibilities (eg. pastoral care, leadership responsibilities)

In maintaining balance, I must remember that preaching the Word is my greatest pastoral care. Furthermore, the pulpit is my greatest leadership responsibility. So, ultimately, these cannot be separated. What is most necessary though is that I maintain the priority of preparing to preach. Obviously, much shepherding must take place outside the pulpit and I must invest my time wisely in leadership duties such as planning, evaluation, delegation, recruitment, etc. However, I can never sacrifice being prepared to preach for these other things. For when I do, the primary means of grace becomes closed in the church.

9. What books on preaching, or exemplars of it, have you found most influential in your own preaching?

The books that have most influenced me in the area of preaching are not those books that focus upon how to preach. Rather, I have been most impacted by books that focus historically upon other men in their preaching. For example, reading Arnold Dalimore’s two volume work George Whitefield compels me to preach. Reading Ian Murray’s, Forgotten Spurgeon, puts a fire in my bones to preach. Reading Charles Spurgeon’s New Park Street sermons and his Metropolitan Tabernacle sermons grab me by the lapels and pulls me up, into the pulpit, to preach. Reading T.H.L. Parker’s Calvin’s Preaching, makes me want to preach. So, these books about the life and theology of the preacher, and the actual sermons themselves, empower me to preach.

10. What steps do you take to nurture or encourage developing or future preachers?

Developing the next generation of preachers is vitally important to the church. I want to do those things that have been meaningful to me in my development. First, I offer all of my sermons free on our web page because listening to other preachers preach, has been so influential to me—especially listening to the sermons of John MacArthur and James Montgomery Boice. Second, we also are now hosting an annual conference called The Expositors’ Conference that is aimed at equipping and empowering preachers of the Word of God. Again, this is because attending certain conferences over the years in which there has been strong biblical preaching has been so impactful to me. Third, I have been teaching in the Doctor of Ministry program at the Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles, California, as well as teaching in the Expositor’s Institute at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles with John MacArthur. Fourth, I also speak at various pastors’ conferences throughout America and around the world. I have recently preached at pastors’ conferences and Bible institutes in Russia, Germany, Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, and elsewhere. Fifth, I have written two books on expository preaching, Famine in the Land; a passionate call for expository preaching (Moody Press) and The Expository Genius of John Calvin (Reformation Trust). I have also preached through all one hundred and fifty psalms and these appear in abbreviated form in psalms; the Holman Old Testament Commentary Series (Broadman and Holman), also, my expositors sermons through Job appear in Job: Holman Old Testament Commentary Series (Broadman and Holman). Sixth, I model expository preaching in my pulpit and God seems to always have young men there, under its influence, to go off to seminary and into the ministry. In all of these ways, I have sought to help develop biblical preachers for the next generation. But at the end of the day, only God can make a preacher.

More from Steven Lawson in a few days

My Featured Preacher of the month, Steven Lawson of Mobile, Alabama has kindly answered Unashamed Workman’s ‘10 Questions for Expositors’. The answers are really inspiring but full so I’ll post the first five today and the second five early next week.

I am also delighted to report that Dr Lawson will be one of the two keynote speakers at our first Expositors’ Summer School in Edinburgh in August 2009. Initial details are available here

1. Where do you place the importance of preaching in the grand scheme of church life?
I place the preaching of the Word of God in the very center place in the life of the church. To be sure, the Scripture certainly assigns the pulpit this primary role. Preaching is what was primary in the public ministry of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:14-15, 38-39). Contained in the Great Commission is the primacy of preaching, specifically, preaching repentance (Luke 24:47) and teaching all that Christ taught (Matthew 28:20). When the church was birthed on the day of Pentecost, it was the result of the preaching of Peter (Acts 2:14-40). Further, preaching and teaching the Word immediately became the primary ministry in the first church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42). “The apostles’ teaching” is listed first for a reason. In addition, the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul reveal that preaching was central in his extended ministry (Acts 13-19). Moreover, the pastoral epistles assign preaching the place of first importance (1 Timothy 4:13), and it was Paul’s dying charge to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:2). Finally, ministering the Word is what Christ assigned to the pastors of the seven churches of Asia Minor (Revelation 2-3). They were messengers of the divine revelation entrusted to them to those congregations. From all these passages, it is clear that the primary responsibility of the church is to minister this Word, for it is “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

2. In a paragraph, how did you discover your gifts in preaching?
There were various areas that came together in my life that enabled me to discover my God-given gift to preach. This occurred in my life while I was in college and in the days that immediately followed. First, I suddenly experienced an insatiable desire to study the Word of God. I began to read my Bible day and night, day after day. While I was not given to extensive study while I was in college (I simply wanted to play football), I nevertheless began to devour the Scripture. This was so unlike me—it was God at work within me. Second, I felt a strong compulsion to stand on my feet before a group of people and speak the Word of God to them. Various doors were opened to me to do this, and the more I did it, the more I loved it. It soon became that this was all I thought about. I had to do this. Third, people began to be converted under my ministry of the Word. Others became excited and enthusiastic for Christ. Each person who responded favourably to my preaching became a confirmation of God’s giftedness. Fourth, people began to indicate to me that they recognized that God had gifted me to do this. Finally, God began to open more doors for me to minister His Word. It seemed that God was in this. All these together spoke with one voice that God had gifted me to preach.

3. How long (on average) does it take you to prepare a sermon?
The length of time that it requires me to prepare a sermon differs with each passage of Scripture. When I first began my pastoral ministry, it required more than twenty hours of cumulative study for each message. I have now been preaching three to four times a week for almost the last thirty years, and the amount of time that is required is less. The reason for this is because all of my study from previous years carries forward to the preparation of each sermon. I can now pull together an expository sermon in eight to ten hours of study. However, some messages will still require a greater investment of time. Sometimes, it may require less. But the truth is, it requires an entire lifetime of study to prepare each sermon. Also, there is the factor of becoming more familiar with my books, which shortens the time to access the information that I need.

4. Is it important to you that a sermon contain one major theme or idea? If so, how do you crystallise it?
It is essential that each sermon have one central theme that runs throughout the entirety of the message. From the introduction, through the main body of the sermon, and to the end of the conclusion, there should be one dominant, driving thrust. There should be one laser beam of thought that penetrates through the sermon. This is determined by the authorial intent of the biblical writer. What did he intend to communicate to the original audience? That should be the big idea of the sermon. An isolated verse out of a larger context may be used to communicate what that one verse says, but it must always be tied back to the larger section.

5. What is the most important aspect of a preacher’s style and what should he avoid?

I believe that passion is the most important component of a preacher’s delivery. If you have to say something, you will find a way to get it across. Included in the virtue of passion are attributes such features as fervency, earnestness, sincerity, and a deep conviction of the truthfulness of this text of Scripture and what he is saying. Thomas Chalmers called it being “blood-earnest.” There must be an inner fire within the preacher—a fire in his bones—that must come out as he preaches the Word. Therefore, apathy and insincerity should be avoided like the plague.

Having commented last week that one of the drawbacks of listening to ministry while driving was that you couldn’t make notes, my first day back on the road saw me caught up in travel chaos because of the weather, and the journey that normally takes me one hour took around three and a half hours.  I had two or three long periods of time when I was sitting stationary and actually able to take notes of the sermon I was listening to!

During this past week I have been listening to a number of messages and talks given by my Featured Preacher of the month, Dr Steve Lawson of Alabama and about whom I plan some more posts next week.

I began by listening to the addresses he gave at last year’s Expositors’ Conference and particularly enjoyed his ‘What is Expository Preaching?’ and the two expositions: ‘Famine in the Land‘ (Amos 8v11) and ‘The Invincible Weapon’ a really powerful and timely message on Hebrews 4vv2-13.

The other sermons I listened to were the opening one from his series of expositions on Psalm 119.   This has become my very favourite Psalm after I spent a year memorising it a couple of years ago and I am beginning a series of expositions through it myself as I preach at a number of conventions, conferences and churches through 2008 with a possible view to a devotional commentary at the end of it all.   I highly recommend these and any other ministry by this anointed expositor of God’s Word.

I have been so looking forward to beginning this new feature. Month by month I want to highlight the ministries of Exemplary Expositors around the world so that we can encourage one another towards greater levels of expository excellence.

I couldn’t be more pleased that Dr Steven Lawson of Alabama has graciously agreed to be my first Featured Preacher of 2008.

Dr Lawson is a pastor and writer and President of New Reformation Ministries which seeks to recover and reclaim in the church a high view of God, believing that it will come only as we return to “old paths” that are laid out in Scripture and which are proven to be reliable in generations past.

Several times during January I will post various articles about Dr Lawson and his ministry but for now here’s some notes of introduction.

Dr. Steven J. Lawson is the Senior Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, having served as a pastor in Arkansas and Alabama for the past twenty-seven years. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University (B.B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M.), and Reformed Theological Seminary (D. Min.)

The focus of Dr. Lawson’s ministry is the verse-by-verse exposition of God’s Word. From this, he has authored fourteen books, the most recent being The Expository Genius of John Calvin and Foundations of Grace 1400 BC-AD 100, volume one of a five volume series. His other recent books include three titles in the Holman Old Testament Commentary Series, Job, Psalms Volume I (Psalms 1-75), and Volume II (Psalms 76-150).

Dr. Lawson has also authored Famine in the Land: A Passionate Call to Expository Preaching, Made In Our Image, Absolutely Sure, The Legacy, and Faith Under Fire. His books have been translated into various languages around the world, including Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Croatian and the Indonesian language.

He has contributed several articles to Bibliotheca Sacra, The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, The Faith and Mission, Decision Magazine, and Discipleship Magazine, among other journals and magazines.

Dr. Lawson’s pulpit ministry takes him around the world, preaching most recently in Russia, the Ukraine, Wales, England, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, Japan and many conferences in the United States, including The Shepherd’s Conference and Resolved at Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, and the Ligonier Ministries Pastor’s Conference.

He is president of New Reformation, a ministry designed to bring about biblical reformation in the church today. He serves on the Executive Board of The Master’s Seminary and College, teaches Expository Preaching at The Master’s Seminary in the Doctor of Ministry program, and teaches in The Expositor’s Institute at Grace Community Church.

Dr. Lawson taught in the Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series at The Master’s Seminary, lecturing in 2004 on “Expository Preaching of the Psalms.” He also serves on the Advisory Council for Samara Preachers’ Institute & Theological Seminary, Samara, Russia.

Steve and his wife Anne have three sons, Andrew, James, and John, and a daughter, Grace Anne.