To all of you preachers of the Word, here is a good reminder:
The Word of God “is a living word to living people from the living God, a contemporary message for the contemporary world.”
John Stott, Between Two Worlds, The Challenge of Preaching Today, page 100
From the same book, page 24, I learned that Luther gave 9 “properties and virtues” of a good preacher:
- Teach systematically
- Have a ready wit
- Be eloquent
- Have a good voice
- Have a good memory
- “Know when to make an end”
- Be sure of his doctrine
- Engage body and blood, wealth and honour in the Word
- Suffer himself to be mocked and jeered of every one. “The risk of ridicule, the risk of losing life, wealth and name—these according to Luther were the ultimate tests of ‘a good preacher’.
Some things to think and pray about.
