Here are some interesting quotes I discovered reading John Broadus’ On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons (the volume I have was revised by Jesse Weatherspoon).
“With the emphasis today upon the institutional program of the church, pastoral visitation, counseling and administration, the proper use of ceremonial and ritual in worship these tend to become competitors of preaching and to disparage the hearing of the Word which is the secret of power in all”
“Ceremonies of worship, also, are instructive and impressive and should be clothed in such beauty and dignity and meaning as to lead the worshiper into the presence of God with reverence and a pure heart. But let it be remembered that true preaching is as essential and necessary even as ritual and song and, properly done, is itself an act of worship.”
On interpretation-
“Never draw out of a text a meaning which you know is not there. If your text has not your truth in it, find some other text which has. If you can find no text for it in the Bible, then preach on something else.” -Phillips Brooks
“That is a distorted ministry which deals in any large proportion with subjects which are not logically presented in the Scriptures. It is not a biblical ministry.” -Phelps
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