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do you preach through a book, and if so do you

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by nodak, Dec 4, 2013.

  1. nodak

    nodak Active Member
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    just skip verses if you get to something that might be controversial or make someone uncomfortable?

    I'm wondering since some discussions here seem to imply not reading those passages. And I once had a pastor who would preach from Titus every mother's day, but skip the part that translates either workers at home or keepers at home or busy at home or homemakers.

    So I'm wondering would you skip the passages that speak of the law?
     
  2. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    As I said on the thread that obviously inspired this one, the gospel is offensive regardless of how it is preached.

    No one said they wouldn't read those passages, or preach from them. What was said is that specific, singular sin such as gossip, lying, etc., is not fodder for a whole sermon. Again as I said on the other thread, a pastor would never have to plan his preaching again. He could just pick a new sin each week. But how edifying and discipling would that be? Not very.

    Nope. But I still wouldn't expect a pastor to preach about one specific sin on a Sunday morning. That's ridiculous.
     
  3. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    think that the pastor or teacher should read and give a little on the entire passage, but OK to place focus and emphasis on just certain parts of it!
     
  4. Baptist Believer

    Baptist Believer Well-Known Member
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    I make a passage of preaching/teaching through entire books about 90% of the time. I avoid doing topical teaching whenever possible, instead, making the connections between other relevant passages while focusing on a specific book.

    I serve in a church with very diverse viewpoints and like many Baptist churches, has not had a strong legacy of solid teaching that makes connections between the various books of scripture and relevant application to our lives outside the church. Therefore, it would look like I would have an axe to grind regarding social or political issues if I merely did topical teaching. By teaching through books, listeners/students have to deal with what scripture says, not just what I say.

    Even so, people still get upset, but it gives me a chance to sit down with people and work through the text and application with them one-on-one.
     
  5. ktn4eg

    ktn4eg New Member

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    I'm not a preacher, but years ago I was a member of a church whose pastor would preach against "women in the workplace." It wasn't a "hobby horse" for him, but he did preach against it from time to time.

    Then that church started a Christian day school.

    Ever since that took place, this pastor never preached on "women in the workplace."

    H-mmmm. :smilewinkgrin:
     
  6. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    Currently I am associate pastor - only preach about once a month or so. So naturally, I do not preach a book. However, I do lead the mid-week Bible Study - and currently we are in the Book are Mark - chapter by chapter.

    Even when I was the Senior Pastor, I did not preach thru a book. I have been know to preach a series on the church convenant and the the SBC BF& message. I normally do preach on topics.
     
  7. nodak

    nodak Active Member
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    Thanks to all! Helps to understand what is, and isn't, being said.

    Baptist Believer--yes--your style is what I am more used to.

    I did have a pastor once who raised the question if a certain particular group, known in our then area to be targeting conservative churches were to show up on a day the next portion of his way through the scripture hit their sin--he wouldn't preach it and would pull out a stored topical message on another topic.

    I always felt that was dishonest.

    But no, wasn't referencing picking one sin and harping on it. Just not avoiding any, either.
     
  8. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    there wa s afamous baptist Minister, WA Criswell, who preach word by word thru the Bible, so he was like J vernon Megee, on a 5 year walk thru the Bible!
     
  9. clark thompson

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    I often teach thru a book at a time and I do not skip if the subject reaches them in some way than it is the word and not me teaching it.
     
  10. TadQueasy

    TadQueasy Member

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    If you skip verses then you are not really preaching through a book.
     
  11. mckestev

    mckestev New Member

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    I have often preached through books. One of the reasons I do so is because it creates situations like you are mentioning. I preach the text that we come to next. If the topic of the text is divorce, then the topic of the sermon is divorce. The benefit to me as a pastor is that those who have been divorced do not feel as though I am picking on them; it was the next text. Also, in a way it can force me to preach on a topic I might prefer to avoid. It becomes obvious that I am avoiding a topic when I don't handle the next text as expected.
     
  12. preacher4truth

    preacher4truth Active Member

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    :thumbs:

    It is wise to preach through books, and to announce that this is what you are going to do. If you hit a subject in the book that is personal to someones life/sin &c the accusation that you've done so purposely isn't an issue. There is safety and wisdom in preaching through a book. It is also good for the pastor to do so as he doesn't need to find a new topic or new passage several times per week. Doing so also lends itself to more in depth study and makes exposition a sustainable task, week by week, month by month &c.
     
  13. Baptist Believer

    Baptist Believer Well-Known Member
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    An enthusiastic yes to all the points above, as well as this - when you preach through books, you are helping your people learn to study the scripture for themselves. They see how all of the elements of a text fit together and it hleps them make connections to other parts of scripture. Instead of giving them a bunch of separate topics (which often come across as armchair opinions) you have the opportunity to provide the whole counsel of God and the wisdom/experience of people of faith as they struggled through real-life issues which are often similar to today.

    One of the biggest challenges I see in the church is several generations of believers who were nurtured on Sunday School lessons (which attempt to cover huge books of scripture in 6-13 weeks by skipping over everything that is controversial or not well-known) and weekly topical sermons. They often have no idea how all of these disjointed things fit together and therefore can't integrate anything into their worldview. Moreover, I've noticed that teenagers and young adults who do get serious about studying scripture get upset when they run into some of the more unseemly passages of the Bible where whole peoples are massacred, biblical heroes have persistent moral failures (David's habit of picking up women wherever he went, for instance - lot's of folks think that David's sin with Bathsheba was out of character for him), and stories of rape and incest. Atheists love to point out these things because Christian churches often avoid dealing with them and present that Bible as a book of moral examples. We should not be afraid of dealing with these things because the world is full of this stuff too. It makes the scripture extremely relevant to these times.
     
  14. preacher4truth

    preacher4truth Active Member

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  15. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    Well, there are entire groups/churches that base doctrines off just a book or even just a passage of scripture!
     
  16. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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