Someone in a seminary preaching class asked the professor how many points a sermon should have?  He answered, “At least one!”  One pastor, after preaching a twelve point sermon, told his congregation that he was sorry having so many points to cover in his sermon, but if they would return that night, his sermon would be pointless!  We’ve all heard some of those.

A good sermon could be constructed from a number of different styles, but the real determining factor of its true value would be two-fold:  1) Was it biblical?  2) Did it communicate?

Simple is always best.  Billy Sunday said, “Put the cookies on the bottom shelf where the little kids can reach them, and the old folks can bend over and get them.”  That is not to say that there shouldn’t be some meat for more mature Christians in the congregation, but even deep truths can be put into simple terms, and good preaching does it.

Adrain Rogers said that a good sermon 1) illuminates the scripture; 2) illustrates the point; 3) applies the truth; and 4) invites the hearers to respond.

Finally, a good sermon quits before the listeners do.   How long one can endure their chair is not a test of spirituality.

Someone recently told me about hearing a sermon by John Bisagno, long time pastor of First Baptist Church, Houston, TX, in which he said that God gave us a whole book of hymns, and it’s called “The Psalms.”  But then, he said something that I had never thought of:  “God gave us all those hymns, but He didn’t give us a single note of music!”

Why didn’t God give us something to clue us in on the proper tunes for all those songs?  John Bisagno said that it was because God knew that we would be living in a constantly changing culture, and that there is nothing intrinsically good or evil in a tune, but that the tune is simply a package by which we are attracted to the contents, and the contents are the words.

It is also true that God never gave us one song for our glorification in performance, but He gave them for our edification in worship.

God told Solomon to ask for anything he wanted, and it would be given to Him.  That’s a blank check from God!  Solomon asked for wisdom to lead the people of Israel.

There are a number of passages where God has told us to ask, and that we would receive.  In James, the Bible says that we do not have, because we do not ask!  It is true that the greatest tragedy in prayer is not the unanswered prayer, but the unoffered prayer.  What are you asking God for?

In Philippians, the Bible says, “This one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind, I press forward, toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

Past accomplishments are nice, but they can’t be rested upon, they must be let go and new goals must be sought.  Past failures are unfortunate, but they must not dictate our future.  We must repent where we need to repent, place our eyes on Jesus and move toward a new goal.  Past hurts are real and painful, but we cannot dwell on them.  We must clear our hearts, put what’s out of our hands in the Lord’s hands, and press on.  Someone rightly said, “Holding unforgiveness in your heart is like taking poison and hoping someone else will die!”

Some years back, there was a Christian song entitled, “Learning to Lean.”  It spoke of the progressive lesson about depending on Jesus.

There is no area of life about which He doesn’t care or in which He cannot help.  He is the all sufficient Savior.

A verse in Proverbs says, “Lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowlege Him.”  An old hymn says, “Leaning on Jesus, safe and secure from all alarms, leaning on the everlasting arms.”  We all have our leanings, and life has its curves, but when we lean on Him, He will direct our paths.