Wow, that was brutally honest, thank you!

Ultimately, I think it depends on what you want to accomplish. Take the advice (to be positive only) if you want to build a huge church, ministry, or personal kingdom/cult following. But if you want to preach the whole counsel of God, you will invite persecution; Jesus promised it. 2 Tim. 3:16 says Scripture is useful for correction and rebuke, but is seems that popular Pastors don't see that, or know how to use that.

Thank God you are taking your position as a minister seriously, speaking the things of God. I suggest the book from Gospel for Asia "Road to Reality" to get a wake-up call regarding this Laodicean church we are living in. As the book says, a new believer practically has to turn into a 'back-slider' to fit into our church culture today.

...Bernie

The Ten Commandments are not just laws. They are prophecies. "Thou shalt not kill," says the law. When we walk in the Spirit, we shall not kill. They were not just commandments that we should not, but that we shall not, both in the Spirit and in eternity.

Very well said! I am often accused of being negative because I grieve over the lack of honest expostion in the modern church. I am happy you feel the need to be faithful.

I do not know the intent of the advice you received in seminary about being positive but one should recognize that the preacher is always delivering a positive message of hope. After all they call the gospel the good news. There will be many who miss the kingdom of God. However your calling is to assure your audience that the cross, the kingdom, the church are all symbols of hope. If you remind them of this in your sermon you will have delivered a message of hope while fulfilling your obligations as a preacher of the word.

My question is why you have to preach from
Matt 7:21-23? Are you required to just preach straight through scripture without regard to what your church needs? I'm just troubled with the idea that you preach the next verse without regard to relevance. It might be completely relevant to preach that some will turn away, but it what they need right now? Relevance is not always positive, but often times smacks people right in the face. I'm not trying to disagree with your question, just asking why do you feel you "have" to preach that verse?

The other teaching pastor and I laid out this sermon series a few months ago. We are focusing upon Jesus' teachings on the kingdom of God. We surveyed the gospels for the key texts about the kingdom, and we both agreed that Matthew 7:21-23 while difficult is an important passage that shouldn't be overlooked on this subject.

As we often do, we organized the series before determining who would preach each particular passage. Scheduling and availability meant the lot fell to me to preach Matthew 7 on October 23.

I'm not a preacher (yet?), but it seems like the right approach is to have the goal in mind of relevant application. I believe this always involves Biblical principles that if your people are not following, what you say will always seem negative to them. If you are going against a principle, there will always be conflict. The positive part of teaching is getting them to understand why the principle is there in the first place, and how that application can change their life.

As a part of the same congregation you'll be teaching at again soon, I'm looking forward to hearing your message and the challenges it will bring to me personally.

As you're up there on the stage next week, I'll be whispering a prayer for understanding among us in the chairs.

The great thing about preaching is that you're not responsible for the idea of the text. In that sense, people are responsible for how they react to it.

Sometimes your people are hurting people and know it. Those are the ones that need encouragement and empathy and mercy; what you call "positive preaching". This type of person is asking "What then shall we do?"

There may be some in your congregation who perhaps get a little riled by what you're saying. But they aren't mad at you. They may want to kill the messenger, but they are really mad at the text. God is attempting to expand their understanding of Him. Those are the people at the crossroads who have a greater opportunity to go real deep in their life with Christ. Their response is more of a choice rather than method of application.

It sounds to me like your teachers in seminary were always looking to apply the text. But in communication, you can do 3 things with a declarative statement: explain, prove and apply. It is valid to simply explain the text, and let the listener do the application.

Will there be downloads of this sermon available? I'd love to listen to it.

For those about to rock...we pray for you!

Thank you for the explanation, Brian, but I'm not sure if you are referring to my comments or the post. I'm not in seminary, I've just heard sermons my entire life and have taken note on what engages the audience. It is my opinion that truth can not be simply stated in the context of teaching to an audience filled with believers and non-believers. The presentation must engage the audience by its relevance in their lives (encouraging or rebuking). If they are not made aware of why they need the information and what they need to do about it, we will just have another Sunday with a few "amens" and no changed lives.

Again, I'm not in seminary but just have a desire to see the church be effective in the way we reach the lost.

In observing my husband's preparation to preach a sermon, it is very apparant that the preparation begins in prayer and reading months before the date the message is to be delivered. Having chosen the book or portion of a book(of the Bible), it has been clear to me, time and time again, that a long planned series of expository sermons will, by the leading and inspiration of the Spirit, invariably be topical and appropriate when it is delivered. The Word, faithfully preached, will irritate and divide as well as comfort and uplift. Bless you as you plan ahead and do not sidestep or avoid what has been given to you to teach.

I think the effort "preach positive" shouldn't be about sounding like a Pollyanna as much as preaching toward positive resolution -- solution driven preaching. Matthew 7:21-23 contains a dire warning, and many people upon hearing it will soberly ask, "How can I avoid making those words true about me?" This passage is about, to a certain extent, form versus content. Telling people how to avoid the wrath of God, and how to build a spiritual life based on content and not mere form, is not a negative message.

As a lay preacher in an African American church I find both the article and the responses intriguing. Does not Paul state that the word of God is profitable for reproof and correction ? In my church context, Matt. 7:21-23 would not be considered "shoutin" material, but Im wondering how preaching from this could produce all this angst from Pastor Skye. Thomas, I am curious about your intial question. While it is good to be in touch with the needs of our congregation are there not be times when the Spirit of God uses the preached Word to reveal needs we did not even realize we had ? If congregational need becomes the overriding factor in choosing a text to preach from Im guessing large portions of the Bible will remain untouched.

I would like to start off by saying I am young, inexperienced, and open. I do not mean to come off like I have the answers, but sincerely seek the best way for the church to fulfill the great commission.

I do not think it is difficult to know the pulse of your congregation. In fact, I would say that most of our congregations deal with the same issues (with a few exceptions of course). Some examples: relationships, work, money, sharing our faith, etc. Fortunately, God’s principles are abundant in Scripture and they address all of these issues. I do not think it would be wise or good stewardship to use the short amount of time you have on Sunday morning to pick Scripture to talk about that you hope finds the target. Of course all Scripture is inspired and should be studied, but should you talk about all of it on Sunday morning? Just like Paul’s epistles specifically address the needs of his target audience, I think pastors should address the needs of their target audience.

I agree. A pastor should have a pulse on their congregation and know what is needed. We chose to do a series on the kingdom of God for a few reasons.

First, it is the core of much of Jesus' own teaching. He speaks of the kingdom over 100 times in the gospels. (A whole lot more than he talks about marriage, money, sex, or parenting--as worthy as those subjects are). If it was that central to his message perhaps we ought to pay attention to it. (I recommend Dallas Willard's discussion of the absence of kingdom teaching in churches from his book, The Divine Conspiracy).

Secondly, most people are fairly ignorant about what Jesus said or meant by the kingdom of God/heaven. We felt this would be an opportunity fill a major gap in most people's understanding of Christ and their faith.

Third, we think that a solid understanding of the kingdom will have a ripple effect into other areas of one's life (including problamatic areas). Sometime wisdom tells us to address the source of a problem (a heart unsubmissive to Christ's loving rule) rather than the symptom (a marriage, career, or desire out of control).

I've really appreciated everyone's feedback on the blog. I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes on Sunday. Peace,

Skye

Thank you for this topic Skye. I pray your church comes to understand what Jesus says about his kingdom.

May His kingdon continue to spread here on earth!

Dear Pst Skye,
I believe this is an excellent Scriptures to preach. Go ahead and preach God's truth, nothing but the truth. I believe these Scriptures are for the Christians who have the privilege in the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, performing signs, wonders and miracles in the Name of Jesus. But yet in their lifestyles they are practising "lawlessness", not living in obedience to God's law. Please do preach the context of these Scriptures from Matt 7:13-27. And as in verses 28 & 29, do preach as one having authority in Christ and walking in His Word. There is no sermon that will cater for every or most of the listerners (congregation).
Do your part to preach His truth and let God do the rest. His Spirit will use the sermon and touch individual lives and transform them for His glory. You as the shepherd of the sheep, the flock is entrusted to you, you are accountable for what you taught and what you did not teach.
I pray for you, Pst Skye that God's fresh anointing be upon you that utterance may be given to you, that you may open your mouth boldly (as you ought to speak)to make known the mystery of the gospel with wisdom, knowledge, conviction, power and love. Amen!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
With His love, Sharon Lee-Auyang

Preach on, brother! My favorite definition of ministry is "To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable". If they know you love them, they will receive it as a gift not a sting. Some of my most appreciative comments after sermons were my more confrontative and challenging messages. Of course, my response is always, "Well, I was talking to me, because I know that I need this word. If you overheard something that was helpful, I'm glad."

For those who are curious how things went on Sunday--it all went well. Feedback has been really encouraging, and many people felt very challenged. Of course, my experience has been that those who take issue with something I preach rarely come to me with their concerns. I tend to hear it through the grapevine. That kind of feedback takes some time.

I titled the sermon, “A Message No One Wants to Hear.” After the first service the sound tech told me I’ve got to rename the message due to the number of CD requests he’d gotten.

Thanks again for all of the encouraging remarks. And for those who wanted to know if the message is posted online, it is. I’m sure with a little poking around you’ll be able to find it.

Skye

Thomas and Pastor Skye good thought provoking posts. I don't think we need to preach through the Bible just to preach through the Bible. I think we should "redeem the time" and make the most of the preaching moment. That said, I doubt most churchgoers would put learning to live under the rule and reign of God at the top of a list of topics they want to hear sermons about. Yet as Pastor Skye points out Jesus made the kingdom a top priority in his teaching and that understanding more about the kingdom would help us in all areas of life. Good discussion. Look forward to more postings by Pastor Skye

While I was directly referring to the original blog, Thomas, you are correct in saying this:

"It is my opinion that truth can not be simply stated in the context of teaching to an audience filled with believers and non-believers."

My understanding of biblical communication is knowing the original intent of the original author to his original audience. But sometimes those cultural-bound explanations don't directly translate (such as "do not move a neighbours boundary markers"). The same work we do in the Bible (called exegesis) needs to be done to the immediate culture of a congregation in order to communicate that same biblical truth to a new context (called homiletics).

And that is the joy and agony of preaching. How can you directly translate this big idea that hits as many people as possible in your congregation? Fun stuff!

This is the first time I've come to this site and I have been thrilled at the things you can learn talking with Christians who are seeking the same thing: glorifying God in everything we do. I hope to read more comments on other postings in the future.

Skye, here's your message:
http://www.blanchardroad.org/sun_messages.html

I think it's possible to both teach on a tough issue like that and then talk about the positive side of God's love in dealing with it. I think the experts are right. People will not respond to a negative message all the time, but let's be honest, sometimes we need to talk about the tough issues because there in the Bible. I just think the way to deal with any issue is in a positive way and the two, I believe, can happen at the same time. Like you we struggle to find the right balance and it's not an easy to do. Thanks for your transparency and honesty.