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"Sermon Borrowing"

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pioneer

New Member
I would like some comments on preachers using sermons written or published by someone else. Is "sermon borrowing" a sin? Here is verse that comes to mind:

Jeremiah 23:30, "Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour."
 
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bapmom

New Member
that whole passage is about false prophets...claiming the Lord spoke to them when He had not.

I think we are in a different position now than the prophets in Jeremiah's time were in. Everything God said back then to those men was original. Now we have God's Word written down and essentially we are "borrowing" every time we build a sermon off of Paul's writings or John's or etc.

I do not believe that any one man has a "copyright" on any idea he gets from God. It would be dishonest if a man claims that something is his own original idea if it was not.....but most "repreached" sermons Ive ever heard have been acknowledged as such.
 
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Rippon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
This doesn't concern sermons as such ,( books in this case ) but Loraine Boettner's " The Reformed Doctrine Of Predestination " has this on the copyright page :

Anyone is at liberty to use material from this book with or without credit . In preparing this book the author has received help from many sources , some acknowledged and many unacknowledged . He believes the material herein set forth to be a true statement of Scripture teaching , and his desire is to furthur , not to restrict , its use .
 
Scarlett O.

Scarlett O.

Moderator
Moderator
Oh my goodness! As longer as a preacher doesn't claim to be the originator of the words or the sermon, let him preach any sermon that is Godly and effective for the cause of Christ.

There are so many wonderful messages from preachers past and teachers today that are pertinant for modern Christians.

Let the preacher simply say, "Now my sermon today comes from a message originally given by "so-and-so".

God will give the new preacher a new look at that sermon anyway. One that is necessary for his congregation.

It's that simple.
 
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Brother Bob

New Member
hmmmmmmmm You mean an Arminian borrowing a Calvinist sermon, no way!!!
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Thankful

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I don't see any problem with using information received from someone else. The Holy Spirit should lead the preacher.
 
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bapmom

New Member
If a pastor is doing this on a regular basis than I think it speaks more to his unwillingness to be in the Bible for himself. Rather than be concerned with some notion that he's "stealing", I'd be concerned that he seems to not be digging in God's Word for what he needs, and for what his congregation needs.

OTOH, perhaps he needed some extra insight on a particular problem or issue coming up in his church and felt that someone else had a better grip on it than he had gotten on his own.
 
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shannonL

New Member
We wonder why are churches are suffering in this country?
Milking alot of cows to make your own butter is one thing but consistantly downloading sermons off the internet and simply regurgitating them before your folk is a disgrace. Last time I checked one of the obligations of the pastor is to feed the sheep.

I would like to think that I have enough confidence in the Holy Spirit along with my own brain that God gave me to be able to study and present a message that God had burned into my heart by the power of His Spirit. So much so that I had to get that message out.
Again, getting points, ideas etc... is one thing.That kind of thing is basic research of putting a sermon together. Paying four bucks to download manuscripts from some ministry that has branded it's methods or philosophy of ministry then preaching that message almost verbatim is appalling in my humble opinion.
Your doing a disservice to the flock that God has called you to shepherd.
I've been a pastor so I'm not speaking ignorantly on this matter.
Some pastors spend way to much time playing golf or massaging their egos at some fellowship or seminar somewhere when they ought to give attention to God's Word. What God can speak to some big wheel pastor but He can't speak to the bi vocational pastor? Please alot of pastors have their priorities out of balance that is why they download somebodyelse's sermon. Furthermore you can't be lazy and give time to the study of God's word. IF you don't know how to study or put together a sermon then start. Build your library as a pastor etc... The tempting , easy way out is to barf up somebodelse's work. BTW, I have heard more than one copycat sermon in my time. I have never heard the repeat presenter tell his people that he got his message from bro. so and so.
Because he knows if he did his people would begin to wonder what they are paying him for.
In case you haven't noticed I think this practice done on a habitual basis is a disgrace to the Gospel ministry. Now like that great philosopher Forest Gump "THat is all I have to say about that".
 
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Nicholas25

New Member
There is nothing new under the sun. If a pastor or teacher gets ideas and things from other places then I don't see a problem with it. I do think it's kind of shady when someone uses a sermon word for word. I mean that's different from putting something into your own words.
 
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Ransom

Active Member
If a pastor is a graduate of a Bible college or seminary, then the congregation has a reasonable expectation that the preaching will be substantially original. By this I mean, he has the training to compose sermons that are substantially the product of his own research and study. He should be expected to exercise it.

If he is just plagiarizing someone else's work, the church is no better off than if every week someone downloaded a sermon from the Internet and a volunteer read it.
 
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genesis12

Member
hmmmmmm.........

I have my personal Bible, along with several other translations, that I consult for sermons. I also have 'e-Sword,' an awesome downloadable Bible with multiple translations, commentaries, dictionaries .... then there is 'Bible Gateway' and the 'Blue-Letter Bible' online - I'm sure you are familiar with these. I look at these, look at the sermons of others that are posted online to see what they had to say about a particular topic .. but all of this after asking God to lead in sermon preparation. Through it all, I'm humbled by great pastor-teachers who have gone before or who are in the pulpit now. If the Holy Spirit speaks to me about the validity of a certain paragraph, sentence, phrase, then I'm all for it. I've never 'borrowed' an entire sermon, but I have certainly used portions thereof.
 
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blackbird

Active Member
Originally posted by pioneer:
I would like some comments on preachers using sermons written or published by someone else. Is "sermon borrowing" a sin? Here is verse that comes to mind:

Jeremiah 23:30, "Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour."
Click to expand...
I always say to myself

"OK!! I'll borrow this one on this web page just this once! And I'll promise that I'll start doing my own sermon preperation and not copy anybody else!!"

Shoot fire!! That was 19 years ago!! And I'm still sayin' it!!!
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The late great Dr. Adrian Rogers always said

"If my bullets fit in your gun---load and shoot!"
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alley

New Member
Doing them word for word without studying it is crazy.

I usually find a passage that I really want to preach. I then come up with some thoughts on how to organize it.

Then I go commentaries and see how they break it down. Get my background info.

Go through sermon books and find sermons that have been preached on that passage before, gather thoughts and ideas.

Often times I might just use the Headline titles from someone.

After all is said and done, I never have an orginal of my own, I have put together a sermon built from about 2-5 other sermons or commentary outlines.

The point is, I study it and work on it. Not print and preach
 
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