Preaching: Preach the Word

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.—2 Timothy 4:2

I heard of one graduate of a theological school who determined to follow his professor's advice and preach the Word only. His crowds were average. Then one day a cyclone hit the little town and he yielded to the temptation to preach on the topic "Why God Sent the Cyclone to Centerville." The church was packed. This shook the young preacher and he went back to ask his professor for further advice in the light of what had happened. Should he continue to preach the Word to smaller crowds or try to fill his church by preaching sermons a bit more sensational? The old man did not change his mind. "If you preach the Word," he told the inquirer, "you will always have a text. But if you wait for cyclones you will not have enough to go around." God Tells the Man Who Cares, 86.

"Lord, I commit myself again today to avoid the sensational and to faithfully 'preach the Word.' Amen."

Tozer