Rethinking Cross Centered Preaching
John Piper challenges the prevailing method of preaching by urging preachers to build sermons on the foundation of the cross, emphasizing rigorous engagement with Scripture's words and practical obedience empowered by Christ's atonement.
This sermon challenges the common approach of making every text a pathway to the gospel, emphasizing the importance of diving deep into the actual words and phrases of the inspired text. It encourages preachers to build sermons on the cross rather than just towards it, highlighting the power of imputed righteousness in enabling obedience to biblical imperatives. The focus is on wrestling with the text to reveal its true reality and offering it as a blood-bought gift to the listeners for understanding, embracing, and obedience.
Sermon Outline
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I
- Critique of common gospel preaching methods
- Problems with hovering above the text
- Dulling expectations of Scripture's depth
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II
- The importance of rigorous engagement with words and phrases
- Avoiding treating biblical imperatives as mere pointers
- Preaching imputed righteousness as power to obey
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III
- Reversing the preaching approach: from cross to text
- Building sermons on the cross, not toward it
- Wrestling with Scripture to reveal its reality
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IV
- Offering the text's reality as a blood-bought gift
- Urging glad obedience and sharing
- Letting the text's reality be the sermon crescendo
Key Quotes
“Instead of taking your text and making a beeline to the cross, I think you should take the cross and make a beeline to your text.” — John Piper
“Build your sermon on the cross. Instead of preaching biblical imperatives as pointers to Christ's perfection and imputed righteousness, preach imputed righteousness as the power to obey biblical imperatives.” — John Piper
“Wrestle with the words and phrases and sentences and flow of thought in the text until you see the reality that's really there in those words.” — John Piper
Application Points
- Engage deeply and rigorously with the words of Scripture in your personal Bible study.
- View Christ's atonement as the empowering foundation for living obediently, not just as a doctrinal truth to proclaim.
- Let the reality of each biblical text shape your preaching and personal application rather than rushing to make a gospel point.