A Preacher is a person who finds PIECES of TREASURE to share:
Matt 13:52: “52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.””.
As preachers, we dig into the text and find all sorts of treasures and seek to bring some of this treasure to the saints so that their souls will be fed and nourished and equipped for ministry and a life lived for Christ. The treasures we find are many and diverse and vast:
-The text we preach is God’s Word and has something relevant to say
-The text is found in a rich context that shapes its meaning
-The text gives us the light of TRUTH about God and reality
-The text leads us to grasp truths about God that fit within an overall beautiful picture of God (systematic theology)
-The text leads us to see part of the story of God’s redemption of a people for His glory (biblical theology)
-The text leads us see God’s Law and design for our life (Glory), and thus the ways we fall short (Sin)
-The text leads us to see God’s grace to us in Christ (Gospel)
-The text leads us to see truths are timely for the situations we may be going through now or in the future (or possibly for situations those we know are going through)
-The text leads us to behold the beauty, glory, power, and wisdom of God
-The text leads us to draw near to God and to enjoy Him with God’s people
So in the sermon prep we end up with many different pieces, and the difficult task is crafting a sermon that is digestible and coherent and letting the text give us our message. We can’t share every insight we gather, but prayerfully we must leave many out. Yet we can take hope that God is with us and leading us and guiding us as we use our minds and hearts to preach a sermon that we believe is faithful to the text. God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4:12)
