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EPISODE NOTES
In this podcast episode, Dr. Derwin L. Gray provides actionable advice for preachers and church leaders on crafting impactful sermons. He emphasizes the importance of being prepared by Jesus before preparing a sermon, stressing intimacy with God and reliance on the Holy Spirit’s power. Additionally, he discusses the head, heart, hands approach, advocating for simplicity in preaching and the significance of reaching both believers and non-believers with the Gospel. Dr. Gray’s practical guidance is rooted in his experience of preaching to a diverse congregation, shaping him into a better preacher and disciple.
Here are a few of the practical things you’ll learn in this episode:
- Mastering Christocentric preaching techniques to bring depth and relevance to your sermons.
- Crafting sermons that resonate with multiethnic congregations, fostering inclusivity and
understanding.
A Few Key Moments You Won’t Want To Miss:
00:01:47 – The Power of Preaching
00:02:50 – Preparation for Sermon
00:08:40 – Christocentric Preaching
00:14:01 – Dance to the Rhythm of God’s Grace
QUOTES
- To preach is to open up the inspired text with such faithfulness and sensitivity that God’s voice is heard and God’s people obey him. – John Stott
- When a man or a woman is preaching, and they catch on fire, people will come everywhere to see them burn. – John Wesley
PODCAST RESOURCES
• More from Derwin: www.derwinlgray.com and www.transformationchurch.tc/podcast
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify
• Subscribe on YouTube
• Subscribe on Amazon Music
• The ChurchLeaders Podcast Network
CONNECT WITH DERWIN
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/derwinlgray
• Instagram: @derwinlgray
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If you’ve been impacted by this podcast, please leave a rating and a review, and share with someone in your life.
SHOW TRANSCRIPTION
00:00:00
You know, it’s a changing world. And one of the things that help us understand the changing world is research. And so as churches have been struggling and families may be disconnected and sometimes drifting away from the church, we’re kind of dealing with some of the questions of where do we go from here? And the Communio nationwide survey on faith and relationships really kind of points to the family decline and how it relates to faith decline in the United States. Actually, the survey has three key issues that are impacting our society today. Go to communio.org/study to download the nationwide study on faith and relationships.
Welcome to the Transforming The Church podcast hosted by Dr. Derwin Gray. We pray that through this podcast, you will be empowered to live on mission with Jesus and lead courageously. Here’s your host, Doctor Derwin L. Gray.
00:00:47
Hey, here’s my promise to you. I want to give you clear, compelling, Christ exalting content that’s going to equip and encourage you to serve your local church or your ministry with excellence. When I mean excellence, I don’t mean perfection. Excellence as in the ecstasy of Christ, the excellence of the gifting that you have.
00:01:12
So, thank you for the honor and privilege to partner with you in the Gospel. In return, my ask for you is that you would share the content if you think it can make an impact and difference in other ministry leaders’ lives. I want you to think about something that is quite amazing. It is mind-blowing that a person can get on a stage, open up the word of God, and preach and teach in such a way that hearers will be transformed not only in the room but outside of the room because we live in a digital world now. Isn’t that amazing?
00:01:47
Think of the messages that you’ve heard that have transformed your life. It’s mind-blowing. Before I take the pulpit, before I teach, and before I preach, it just overwhelms me that there are going to be people on the verge of suicide who are going to say, no, I want to live because of the Gospel. They’re going to be people who don’t have purpose, who are going to go; I’ve got purpose because of the Gospel. They’re going to be people who are racked with guilt and shame and condemnation, who are going to say, I’m accepted because of the Gospel.
00:02:19
When you think about the Gospel, it led people like John Wilberforce to say enslaving black people is wrong. It has led people to do incredible, transformative things. And you and I have the privilege of standing in that reality. And so what I want to talk about is, how do we preach and teach in such a profound way. People ask me this all the time: How do you prepare a sermon?
00:02:50
So what I want to do is I want to walk you through the process that I go through to prepare a sermon. John Stott. The late John Stott is a great definition of a sermon, or to preach. He says this. “To preach is to open up the inspired text with such faithfulness and sensitivity that God’s voice is heard and God’s people obey him.”
00:03:14
And what I would add to that is not only is God’s voice heard and obeyed by God’s people, but the word also makes people who are yet God’s people, his people. The word of God is powerful and beautiful. One of the things that I do to prepare my messages is develop in my mind this concept of dancing to the rhythm of God’s grace. What do I mean? Here’s dance move number one.
00:03:48
Before I prepare a sermon, Jesus must prepare me. Within weeks of becoming a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit led me to Ezra, 7:10, and it inspired me to pray this. Lord, empower me to study your word, obey your word, and teach your word. So I think there’s something powerful about studying God’s word, like really understanding God’s word. But then, equally important, if not more important, is obeying God’s words.
00:04:22
I think the power of the spirit rests on those who are faithful and obedient to God’s grace. And then I. You want to be able to teach God’s word in a culturally relevant way, in a powerful way, in the spirit’s strength. I like to pray this before preaching. I would like to say, Jesus, I need a revelation from you, Holy Spirit.
00:04:45
I need your power in my life, Lord. Father, I need you to show up and display your glory. Now, be on guard. Be careful about becoming a good preacher because you stop relying on the spirit’s power. So what I’m saying is this: you want your capacity to grow to be equivalent to your intimacy with God because there are people who can be really good at doing things without the spirit’s power, but the spirit’s power rests on those who abide in Christ.
00:05:20
So, dance move number one is we want God to pray for us, prepare us, and that is prayer. That’s being in the scripture. That’s being holy, walking by God’s grace to obey him. Number two, the dance move number two, is you want to have Christocentric preaching. What does that mean?
00:05:38
It means, that all of the Scripture testifies to Jesus. In Luke 24: 13-49, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus is with two of his disciples. And ultimately, he says, I’m going to teach you from Moses all the way throughout, that it testifies to me. In John 5:39, Jesus said this to the religious leaders. “You search the scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness to me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have eternal life.”
00:06:14
A person can know the Bible without knowing Jesus. So please understand this. The demons know scripture. The demons know theology. They just don’t obey it right.
00:06:28
So making sure that we’re pointing people to Jesus, that in the Old Testament, he is the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy, and every Old Testament character is a type and shadow of Christ who was to come. And in every sermon, Jesus is the hero. When you’re preaching, when you’re teaching, you want to make sure that you’re evangelizing and edifying simultaneously. Here’s what I mean. The Gospel.
00:07:00
When I say the Gospel, what I mean is this, is that through the life death resurrection of King Jesus, who rose from the dead, who lived a sinless life, an atoning, sacrificial death on the cross, who rose again and who ascended so the Holy Spirit could descend and create a blood bought multiethnic family, who is now united to Christ, who are empowered by Christ for the mission of Christ, for the glory of Christ. So when I say the Gospel like Jesus is the hero, so we can evangelize and edify simultaneously, if we’re only edifying and not evangelizing simultaneously, I would say that we’re no longer preaching the Gospel because the same Gospel that justifies is the same Gospel that sanctifies and glorifies so simultaneously, we should be reaching the loss and building the believer, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that inclusive and that epic that it reaches both simultaneously. And I know that to be true firsthand here, transformation church, we are bearing witness to that every single Sunday.
The Transforming The Church Podcast is a part of The ChurchLeaders Podcast Network,
which is dedicated to resourcing church leaders in order to help them face the complexities of ministry. The ChurchLeaders Podcast Network supports pastors and ministry leaders by challenging assumptions, providing insights, and offering practical steps that will help church leaders navigate a variety of cultures and contexts.
00:08:40
Ultimately, in every one of my sermons, it’s ultimately about what Jesus has done to redeem humanity and bring his kingdom to earth through his redeemed, glorious, beautiful, multiethnic church. And that’s from exegeting the scripture, no matter where you go. So we’ve got Adam in a garden, and he blows it. We’ve got Jesus, the last Adam, who’s in a garden, who reverses the curse. We’ve got Noah on a boat that had pitch on it to make the ark.
00:09:20
The word pitch in Hebrew is the same word for atonement. Noah saved people on a big boat made of wood. Jesus saved people on a big cross made of would. So all of those types and shadows testify to him. People need more and more Jesus.
