As a preacher/proclaimer of God’s Word for 32 years, I’ve learned that excellence in preaching God’s Word is a continual, ‘present tense’ pursuit. We always have room to grow and improve. One of my key learnings is that pursuing excellence in preaching requires a priority focus on the person who proclaims over the practice of proclamation. Phillip Brooks said: “Preaching is truth through personality”.
Sharpening your exegetical and homiletical skills are important and worthy pursuits. You just can’t start or stop there. In other words, who you are (and are becoming) as a person is far more essential to effective preaching than the mastery of skills related to preaching. To put it another way, the condition of our hearts is far more important than the competence of our hands.
2 Timothy 2:20-21 (ESV) says:
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable use. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
Join us at the Dallas PROCLAIM Preaching Conference, January 8-10, 2018 to learn how you can prepare yourself to be a vessel of honor that God can use as a proclaimer of His Word. We will also help you sharpen your exegetical and homiletical skills too. We just won’t start there. For more details and to register, visit our website at:
https://proclaimingtheword.com/dallasproclaim/
Start your new year off with us to experience three (3) days of instruction, networking, fellowship and worship. See you in Dallas!
#dallasproclaim #PROCLAIM