We’d love to hear from T19 readers on the following topics:
1) Share memories of a sermon that greatly influenced your life – what was the text, who was the preacher, what year was it?
2) Who are the best preachers you’ve ever heard give sermons? What made their sermons or teachings memorable and excellent?
3) Are there links to good sermons available online that you would recommend?
Rev. Richard I.H. “Rick” Belser is the best preacher I’ve ever heard. He has a story telling style that makes sermons easy to remember and they really hit home with the true message of the Gospel.
Father Andrew Mead, just retired XII Rector of Saint Thomas Church-5th Avenue, New York City, always provided an extraordinary 5-minute teaching at each of the church’s weekday Choral Evensong services. Examples can be heard, within the wonderful sung Anglican liturgy, at Saint Thomas’ [url=http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/webcasts]archive of webcast services[/url]
And his Sunday sermons were just as remarkable. It is my stated wish to have read as the sermon at any Burial Office for me Father Mead’s November 2009 Remembrance Day sermon, [url=http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/calendar/events/worship-services/7758/solemn-requiem/sermon] “Rest in Peace, Rise in Glory.”[/url]
Pete Haynsworth
John Stott, around 1971 – I don’t remember the text but from what I recollect it was about wickedness and sin in the world and our need for a saviour. I was 11 and it opened up a lot of questions which were answered within a few days. He was one of those who as Archbishop Foley recently pointed out stands at the door.
I’m very privileged to have heard some great preachers and sermons:
1) [b]John Piper: 1996[/b]
I had hardly even heard of John Piper in 1996 until attending a large international conference sponsored by my organization. John was the featured speaker during the week for the morning teaching sessions. He focused on various passages from the Pauline epistles and the theme of “Future Grace” (his book of that title was just about to be published). I came to that conference burnt out and fighting (unrecognized) bitterness in my heart towards God. God used Piper’s preaching to reveal the unrighteous demands in my heart towards God (“God here I am serving you in a hard place – don’t I deserve better from you than this. What you’re asking is too hard….”) and to help me understand the message of grace and fall in love with Jesus again, learning how to find fresh joy in Him and His promises. It was just the right message at just the right time, and I was captivated by John Piper’s exegesis of the Scripture and his passion for Jesus – how his whole being lit up with joy when talking about the Lord and his glory.
I had a chance to see/hear John Piper in person again in 2010 at the Lausanne conference, when he gave a deeply memorable exposition of Ephesians 3. Truly a wonderfully gifted teacher and pastor and author, and I so thank God for his ministry.
2) [b]Geoff Chapman, c. 1990[/b]
He was an associate rector at Truro when i started attending in the late 1980s. In 1989 or 1990 shortly before he was called to St. Stephens in Sewickly he gave a teaching series at Truro called “Discerning and Changing Attitudes” giving very helpful and practical Scriptural principles for overcoming sin and temptation. It helped me tremendously. What I most remember was Geoff’s humility and transparency from the pulpit. He did not hide his own past and his own sins. He preached of God’s grace to “people like us.” That was a great example to me, and it gave me courage to be more transparent with others about my own life and sins I was struggling with.
3) [b]Randy Forrester – 2010[/b]
Randy is the rector of the PEARUSA church I attend whenever I’m in Charlotte, NC. He is a truly excellent Scripture teacher and preacher. He taught an amazing series on the Psalms in 2010, and his 2 part sermon on Psalm 139 was just a masterpiece – again, a case of being just the right message at just the right time. (His sermon on Psalm 23 was also the best of many many sermons I’ve heard preached on that Psalm). His combination of putting the Psalms in historical context, detailed exegesis, and practical application made this an incredibly memorable teaching series.
I also could also easily include [b]Martyn Minns[/b] on this list. He preached MANY sermons that strengthened and encouraged me… I particularly appreciated his sermon series on worship in the summer of 1991 when he was new at Truro. Martyn is such a great story teller and his sermons repeatedly emphasized our hope in Christ, the power of His Spirit, and the joy we can have in Him. They brought me much encouragement.
While not exactly “sermons”… I would be remiss if I did not also mention some of the messages from [b][url=https://urbana.org/urbana-81]Urbana 1981[/url][/b] which helped direct me towards the ministry I’m in today.
I think [b][url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/urbana.org/general_session_audio/urbana-81-helen.roseveare-the.spirits.enablement.mp3]Helen Roseveare’s talk[/url][/b] (she’d been a missionary in the Belgian Congo and suffered tremendously during the Civil War there) was the most memorable for me overall. I’d never heard a first-hand account of such challenges or the joy God gave in the midst of suffering. Her testimony of God’s grace to her during the most extreme trial – how He gave her faith and joy in spite of her “greatest fear” being realized – helped me to realize that the story of the book of Acts still continues today. Such “heroic faith” did not end when Paul and the Twelve died. It was a transforming realization, and her testimony has often come to mind and given me great courage over the years.
I also had the joy of hearing Billy Graham preach at that Urbana conference – the only time I’ve ever heard him in person.
(I seem to recall that John Stott also spoke at that Urbana conference, but he is not listed among the speakers on the Urbana ’81 archive page, so perhaps I heard him some other time. Certainly I’ve listened to many of his sermons online, but I am sure I’ve heard him in person somewhere, sometime. I recall that he was preaching about Pentecost and Acts 2…)