Preacher's Block

This preaching tip was shared by Preacher’s Block co-founder, Hunter Bethea. If you’re interested in joining the most focused preachers in the world, sign up here.

This week’s preaching tip is inspired by Eugene Peterson’s incredible memoir, The Pastor.

Eugene was convinced that before he was to preach to others on Sunday mornings, he needed to “hear” a sermon himself. So Eugene adopted the practice of reading one of Alexander Whyte’s sermons early each Sunday morning before sharing the Word of God with his congregation. I’ve found a similar practice to be very helpful for me too.

As an associate pastor, I have the privilege of hearing a sermon most Sundays, but I know that for many of you, the only sermon you get to hear each week is the one coming out of your mouth. Though I strongly believe in the contextualization of sermons for a particular people in a particular time, I’ve found it very beneficial to hear the Word of God preached in a way that’s completely separate from my ministry context; for me, that makes it purely about my own discipleship to Jesus. It’s not even about finding a preacher to emulate from the pulpit. It’s solely about getting your soul nurtured by a pastor. (With that in mind, I’d recommend hearing someone preach each week that’s not in your local context… so maybe not your best friend or the preacher of the church across the street.)

With the prevalence of YouTube, Facebook Live, and podcasts, this is very easy to do. Find a preacher who challenges and invites you into a deeper love of God and others, one whose interpretation of Scripture aligns well with your own (I find myself silently arguing with preachers who have very different interpretations than me, rather than letting them preach to me), and one who you simply enjoy. For me, this is John Mark Comer. But whoever it is, find someone to preach to you. You need a sermon too.