Merritt: Like I was saying it is casual dress now because we're meeting in a school. I don't have a classic pulpit, so to speak, which has not been a really been a big hindrance to me at all. One thing I'm enjoying using now — I don't know what you'd call it but it's the little mike that comes around your ear! You know what I'm talking about. Well, I really enjoy it. It gives me a lot more freedom. I don't have the clip-on mic anymore. It makes me feel like a punk rocker I guess — I don't know.

Preaching: Garth Brooks.

Merritt: Yeah, Garth Brooks — that's it! Anyway, I do take a full manuscript into the pulpit with me — always have. Adrian Rodgers used to say the week you stink is the strongest memory! But I don't read it. What I do is dictate my sermons and have them typed up. I print it off and what I usually do on Saturday is basically I'm proof reading the first time through, making any corrections that I want to make. Then I print it out again and I go through and I highlight certain key words, key phrases — those become like landmarks to an airplane pilot. A pilot looks down and he can see this landmark and he knows right where he is, he knows right where he's been, know where he's going. That's what I do. I use notes but you don't really notice since I move around a lot, walk around. So I give much of the appearance of a totally extemporaneous preacher while I'm using notes.

Advertisement

And then I don't look at that message again until Sunday morning. The next morning I don't read it — I look at my highlights and I give my self basically a running test. Do I know what's before and do I know what's after? I know where I've been, where I'm going and I do that about one time and then I come to the church and I'll preach it. Then, of course, it's all filed.

My normal preaching time you can just about set the clock to it; it would be 35 — 38 minutes. That hasn't varied over the years 5 minutes either way. I haven't varied for 95 percent of some of my sermons for 15 years probably.

If you come hear me preach you'll hear an expository message. You will hear the literal gospel presented: Jesus Christ died for your sins, He was buried, three days later was raised from death. What you won't get every Sunday is necessarily a come-forward invitation. I give a public invitation, but if all you do is give a come-forward invitation, you're limiting yourself to only one way of a person responding. You're saying you've got to do it this way or forget it. And I think you're elevating coming down the aisle of the church to a level that I don't believe the New Testament ever elevates. I don't believe that we ought to take a practice that was introduced by Charles Finney and elevate it to the level of scripture.

There is more than one way to respond to an invitation publicly. So, for example, a person checks off on a card I responded I prayed to receive Christ and tells his spouse on the way out the door, tells the person that invited him today, "I responded and gave my heart to Christ." Well, he is publicly professing his commitment. He takes that card to what we call an encourager, telling that encourager, "I want you to know about this decision for Christ today." That's another way to do it.