My sermons and academic papers may bore, excite, inspire, or frustrate the lifelights out of you, but I hope they help people to preach the Bible in way that ‘brings it to life’. I actually don’t think the Bible needs to be brought to life by people all that much (if at all) because it is a living and breathing Word: in fact, every time I read it, God through His Spirit, brings something out of it that encourages me with a warm embrace and/or grabs me by the throat and challenges me. Sometimes they both happen at the same time! U2 singer Bono put this well when he sang Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me: in so many ways all these things happen in the words of the Bible. The Bible is extremely relevant and timely, and anyone who reads it in particular with a humble posture and the fullness of the Spirit will never put it down unchanged and unchallenged. In my own sermon delivery, I hope that this weak vessel that I am, whom God has anointed to speak on cut-throat issues in today’s society, will speak in a way that brings people not only to a better understanding of the breathtaking goodness of the character of the Trinity (Father-Son-Holy Spirit) but that it fundamentally bring them closer to Him in heart, mind, and will.
I interpret the Bible first and foremost as a Jewish document, even the New Testament. It was predominantly authored by Jews, with some exceptions like the books of Luke and Acts, and its key figures are Jewish. Jesus’ mission was first and foremost to Jews (Matthew 15:24) and as such I treat the Bible through the prism of that reality. My preaching style is predominantly, though by no means exclusively, Inductive and Affective, though at times can be Deductive and Cognitive.
As for me, I find preaching an enormous privilege, as I am expressing the thoughts of God, which is by no means a small thing. In fact I highly regard Scripture and the activity of preaching: as evidence of that, Homiletics is my favourite subject at Bible college right now. I regard ALL of Scripture to be sourced from God: not one letter of it is irrelevant, contrived, man-made, or divorced from the inspiration of God’s Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Certain parts of Proverbs and the last chapter of Revelation strictly forbid adding to and subtracting from what is clearly revealed in Scripture.
As such, preaching absolutely terrifies the dander out of me because, as it says in the Epistle of St. James, those who teach the Word will attract a higher standard of judgement. I am called to live and breath what I teach, and every time I teach on a passage or a theme I get tempted in that very same direction. Lo and behold, that is how the Enemy works. So I need to watch my life and doctrine closely, and teaching the Word helps me to do that. I also find that even as I read the word and exegete it, I am challenged in my heart and even am lead to heartfelt tears when I do because it speaks so sharply to my heart and my fallen condition. There are parts of me which need to be redeemed by the Lord and I, like my listeners, am very much a work in progress which will reach its nadir of perfection when the Kingdom is revealed. Until then, here I speak fearlessly: for only God has the ability to destroy body and soul, and as the Bible says, cursed is anyone who fears man (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
My favourite preachers at the moment, in no particular order, are Sy Rogers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Tim Keller, John Piper, Fred Craddock, and Charles Stanley. All their links are on the right-hand side of this page. I have admiration for some other pastors like Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, and Rick Warren but for reasons to do with personal style, bad history and some questions over commitment to sound doctrine in some cases, I am not really keen on listening to these men, although there are things that I can learn from them. As an Australia, I cannot say that I have ever heard a preacher here whom I can say I like right now, and in fact I switched off Australian preaching about six years ago: in spite of efforts to get back into it, they have been of no avail. Many have had a lasting legacy on me from the past, such as Rob Smith, Dr. John Woodhouse, Justin Moffatt, Phillip Jensen, and others, but for some reason I just have not heard a lot of great preaching here Down Under that has gripped me. Hopefully, I can be one who can change that, as long as it is the TRINITY that I preach and not Haydn. If that be the case then I and my listeners will be all the poorer. As John the Baptist said in John’s gospel: Jesus must increase, so I must decrease.
Haydn Sennitt, 2011.
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Hey Haydn!
So this comment was originally about three pages long there was so much I wanted to say, but I’ve narrowed it down to; thank you, and I am continually praying for you and your ministry.
I am just finishing up year 12 in Tassie, I’m gay, became a theist last year (I believed in God and Christian doctrine but I don’t think I was saved) became Christian this year and came out to people I trust and I know love me. Committing my sexuality to Christ is possibly the most painful experience I have but I trust in Him and His redeeming power. He loves me!
I am going into ministry, Lord willing, next year. My heart goes out to what Liberty is doing to love others and to bring glory to God. I have found the resources (talks, reflections, documents, books etc.) on the LCM website so edifying and I thank you for your efforts and I thank God for leading me there. Eventually, I hope to support Liberty in a more active way in the future as I am, by the providence of God, somewhat more equipped than most for it. I feel very drawn up there at the moment but we will have to wait to see what God’s plan for me is, yeah?
Who knows, might see you in a couple of years
Brother in Christ
- tom