The Joy of Worship

Rev. Chuck Muether, Director of Advancement

“What is the chief end of preaching? I like to think it is this. It is to give men and women a sense of God and His presence.” Those words from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ classic compilation of lectures, Preaching and Preachers, that he had spoken originally to the students of Westminster Theological Seminary in the spring of 1969.

One of my favorite admonitions from his book is a reminder to know and love your audience: “The trouble with some of us is that we love preaching, but we are not always careful to make sure that we love the people to whom we are actually preaching. If you lack this element of compassion for the people you will also lack the pathos which is a very vital element in all true preaching. Our Lord looked out upon the multitude and ‘saw them as sheep without a shepherd’, and was ‘filled with compassion. And if you know nothing of this you should not be in a pulpit, for this is certain to come out in your preaching.”