Excellent Preaching

Proclaiming the Gospel in Its Context and Ours

Craig G. Bartholomew

• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781577996514
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The goal of preaching is to let the powerful message of the Bible penetrate the lives of your congregation. A well-crafted sermon can help to bridge the gap between biblical context and contemporary application.In Excellent Preaching, Craig Bartholomew explains why we need to be acquainted with both the context of Scripture and the context in which we preach. Good contextualization is hard work, but Bartholomew shows that it can be done.Practical, accessible, and rooted in years of preaching experience, this short book helps preachers connect the message of the text to everyday life.

APPENDIX B: AN EXPANDED APOSTLES’ CREED

Readers should note that the Apostles’ Creed is reproduced in bold, unchanged apart from changing “Christ” to “Messiah.”

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth,

ACT 1

who created the world very good,

and placed the first couple in Eden, a perfect home.

There they succumbed to temptation and chose autonomy over obedience,

with consequences for the entire creation,

unleashing sin and destruction into God’s good creation.

ACT 2

God responded by choosing Abraham,

through whom he vowed to recover his purposes for all nations.

From Abraham’s descendants God formed his people Israel,

ACT 3

and placed them in the land of Canaan,

to be a showcase to the world of life under God’s reign.

Israel’s persistent disobedience led to the judgment of exile,

announced by the prophets,

who also proclaimed the coming day when God through his Messiah would establish his kingdom.

I believe in Jesus the Messiah, his only Son, our Lord,

ACT 4

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

He lived a full and perfect life,

and in his public ministry he proclaimed and embodied the kingdom of God.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.

From there he poured out the Spirit on the day of Pentecost,

ACT 5

inaugurating the age of mission,

in which the news and life of the kingdom are to be carried to all nations.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead

and inaugurate the new heavens and the new earth.

ACT 6

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Notes

Introduction

1See Craig G. Bartholomew and Bob Goudzwaard, The Archaeology of Modernity (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, forthcoming).

2Walter E. Williams, “Mankind’s Most Brutal Century—Why?,” 1 January 2000, http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/articles/99/brutal-century.htm.

3Lesslie Newbigin, Trinitarian Doctrine for Today’s World (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 1988), 17–18.

4Ibid., 18.

5On this issue, see John R. W. Stott, I Believe in Preaching (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1982), 137–44.

6Ibid., 140.

7Ibid., 144.

The Destination, the Plane, and the Cargo

8Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, 2nd ed., New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995).

9Karl Barth, Chuch Dogmatics vol. 3, The Doctrine of Creation, part 1 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1986), 282.

10See Gordon J. Wenham, “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” Proceedings of the 9th World Congress of Jewish Studies 9 (1986): 19–25.

11Craig G. Bartholomew, Where Mortals Dwell: A Christian View of Place for Today (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011), 26–27.

12The NIV, like most translations, translates logos as “Word.”

13See the major commentaries on John.

14Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, vol. 1, The Doctrine of the Word of God, part 1 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), 61.

15Georg F. Vicedom, The Mission of God: An Introduction to a Theology of Mission, trans. Gilbert A. Thiele and Dennis Hilgendorf. (St. Louis: Concordia, 1965), 91.

16Ibid., 92.

The Captain

17Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 5: “How can I lead people into the quiet place beside the still waters if I am in perpetual motion?”

18Ed Stetzer, “How Protestant Pastors Spend Their Time,” Christianity Today, December 29, 2009, www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2009/december/how-protestant-pastors-spend-their-time.html.

19Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 1–2.

20Eugene Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir (New York: HarperOne, 2011).

21Peterson, Working the Angles, 2.

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