John Stott, I believe in Preaching, 본문이 말하는 한 가지 중심 주제에 집중하라

John Stott,I believe in Preaching, Hodder and Stoughton: London, 1982

저자의 초점은 설교에 있어서 설교 그 자체 행위만 아니라 말씀을 전달하는 설교자가 중요하다는 것을 상기하게 한다. 설교 준비 방법을 정리한 장이 실용적이라 할 수 있는데, 본문이 말하고 있는 단일 중심 주제에 집중하라는 부분이 새겨들을만 하다. 핵심적인 중심 주제를 벗어나서 다른 것을 핵심 메시지인양 말할 수 없다는 것이다. 

1. The glory of Preaching: A Historical Sketch

2. Contemporary Objections to Preaching 

3. Theological Foundations for Preaching: A conviction about God, Scripture, the church, the pastorate and preaching 

4. Preaching as Bridge-building 

5. The Call to Study 

6. Preparing Sermon: (1) Choose your text (2) Meditate on it (3) Isolate the Dominant Thought (4) Arrange Your Material (Structure - words - illustrations) (5) Add the Introduction and Conclusion (6) Write Down and Pray over your Message 

7. Sincerity and Earnestness

8. Courage and Humility  

Preaching is indispensable to Christianity. Without preaching a necessary part of a set of its authenticity has been lost. For Christianity is, in its very essence, a religion of the word of God. No attempt to understand Christianity can succeed which overlooks or denies the truth that the living God has taken the initiative to reveal himself savingly to fallen humanity: or that he is a self-revelation has been given by the most straightforward means of communication known to us, Namely by a word and words; or that he calls upon those who have heard his word to speak it to others. 15 

Isolate the dominant thoughts 

...we should persevere in meditation until it emerges and clarifies. ... First, because every text has a main theme... it is essential to ask ourselves 'what is he saying? where does his emphasis lie?' I am not denying that there may be several legitimate ways of handling a text, and several different lessons to learn from it; what I am asserting, however, is that every text has an overriding thrust. We need the integrity to discern this and to resist the temptation to give the text a twist or stress of our own... Then there is a second reason why we should look for each text's dominant thought, namely that one of the chief ways in which a sermon differs from a lecture is that it aims to convey only one major message. Students are expected to take copious notes during lectures and to revise them afterward... A sermon is quite different, however.... For the sermon, as a living word from God to his people, should make its impact on them then and there. They will not remember the details. We should not expect to do so. but they should remember the dominant thought because all the sermon's details have been marshaled to help them grasp its message and feel its power. 224-225