3/18/08 HIGHBROW MOUW MENTIONS BARTH & SERMON PREPARATION: "...And indeed Barth pulled no punches on the subject. Framing a sermon with an introduction and a conclusion is motivated, he argued, by a desire to establish a “point of contact,” a “common ground,” with those to whom the sermon is addressed. And this motive is theologically misguided. We must simply proclaim the text. The Word of God will make its own connection to the hearts of the hearers. The Holy Spirit does not need our help in making the message of God’s Word “relevant” to the innermost regions of the human spirit. Barth goes so far as to label as “heresy” any effort on the part of a preacher to provide introductions and conclusions to the proclamation of the text. to provide introductions and conclusions to the proclamation of the text But I was glad to see that there was more. In preparing our sermons, Barth says, we do need to consider “the situation in which the congregation is placed.” We must preach to them “in a way that they will understand.” The preacher “must know them as individuals he must be acquainted with the conditions which shape their lives, with their capacities and their potentialities for good and evil. Only so will he find the means to touch their hearts so that the Word may have significance for them.” A preacher must be careful not to deliver a sermon that is “simply a monologue, magnificent ...'" http://www.netbloghost.com/mouw/?m=200803

3/18/08 HIGHBROW MOUW MENTIONS BARTH & SERMON PREPARATION: "...And indeed Barth pulled no punches on the subject. Framing a sermon with an introduction and a conclusion is motivated, he argued, by a desire to establish a “point of contact,” a “common ground,” with those to whom the sermon is addressed. And this motive is theologically misguided. We must simply proclaim the text. The Word of God will make its own connection to the hearts of the hearers. The Holy Spirit does not need our help in making the message of God’s Word “relevant” to the innermost regions of the human spirit. Barth goes so far as to label as “heresy” any effort on the part of a preacher to provide introductions and conclusions to the proclamation of the text. to provide introductions and conclusions to the proclamation of the text But I was glad to see that there was more. In preparing our sermons, Barth says, we do need to consider “the situation in which the congregation is placed.” We must preach to them “in a way that they will understand.” The preacher “must know them as individuals he must be acquainted with the conditions which shape their lives, with their capacities and their potentialities for good and evil. Only so will he find the means to touch their hearts so that the Word may have significance for them.” A preacher must be careful not to deliver a sermon that is “simply a monologue, magnificent ...'"
http://www.netbloghost.com/mouw/?m=200803