Present-Day Preaching (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 Excerpt: ...the preacher may preach anything--if only he will claim it for God, and make people see that God is the Lord of it. We cannot ask, "What shall be the subjects of sermons?" without including within it, "How shall the preacher present those subjects?" It is possible to preach about the Bible a sermon so hard, bitter, and godless that men will go away wondering what has become of the love of Christ. It is possible so devoutly to preach about the idle tales which people read to their children, that men will go home with the face of Jesus printed on their hearts. With such possibilities in memory we may safely lay down the principle that as this world belongs altogether to God, so God's minister is bound to no limit of subjects. He may preach everything. There are certain subjects out of this limitless right upon which there is need to lay emphasis. Having decided what a preacher may preach, we ask what he must preach. Much of the difficulty in the choice of fit subjects comes from a man's defective sense of proportion. Frequently you hear that an unusually capable preacher does not seem to be helping people. Asking why, you are told something like this: "Oh, he preaches nothing but single tax--it comes up in some form in every sermon; and we need something more than that." A thoughtful layman said a few days ago, "No, I do not go to church: there is nothing wrong with my nerves, --and the rector now talks of nothing but the way to cure people of nervous diseases." There are other clergymen who preach practically every Sunday about the validity of the Church's organisation. And there was a time in the South when some rectors never preached a sermon without mentioning General Lee. All these subjects are perfectly legitimate, ...