The beautiful brochure in the mail invited me to a seminar on technology which would communicate effectively to a visually oriented congregation. I considered finding two hundred dollars for registration, but would we mature better or minister more effectively with more multimedia techniques? Is being on the cutting edge of the latest available visual appeal necessary?

The four color brochure forced me to ask myself what works for preaching ministry in a high-tech world. What are the stones that sharpen sermons so that, like a sword with a keen edge, they penetrate private worlds? Why preach?

I preach because preaching is a divine encounter

Preaching is a divine encounter that confronts the preacher with the immensity of God's Word. The weight of God's Word will always feel too big for me. When I recently preached from Romans chapters seven and eight, I felt that I had not mastered the texts. They are so rich that they challenge my intellectual and emotional capacity. As I admitted that I felt inadequate for the task, I realized that the point is to let the text master me, though I may not master the text.

When I preach, I aim to experience the presence of the Lord even when I am preaching over my head. When I preach a truth that is beyond my grasp, I preach it to believe it, experience it and hopefully, understand it.

On a trip to the eastern states many years ago, I listened to a pastor preach a very simple message that impacted me profoundly because it was obvious that he had submitted his own life to the Word he preached.

During my teen years, one of my pastors was very transparent about his struggles with God. By the time he came to the pulpit, he had worn the sermon and I could see his life through it. I could believe that God was there for me too in my struggles.

Preaching is a divine encounter that is verdict oriented. It is a confrontation that demands decision, beginning with my own decision to believe and obey. Pastors in my city are occasionally asked to preach at a local nursing home. When my turn came around, I was feeling overloaded with responsibilities and complained to the Lord that I did not have time to preach to a nursing home audience, some of whom didn't know I was there. At the close of the service, after I had preached on the reality of God's presence with each of us, I led them in the hymn, "My Jesus, I Love Thee."

The irony of what I was singing struck me about the time I came to the line, "If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus 'tis now." At that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to me in His unmistakable way. If I truly wanted to love Jesus, I had to love these people and bring them God's word with a servant heart. Preaching is a divine encounter in which the preacher and the audience are confronted with the reality of God's presence.

I preach because preaching is a pastoral encounter

Preaching, whether it is the local church or an institutional setting such as a nursing home, is a mode of pastoral care. After I preached a sermon on angels, a woman in the congregation came to me, recalling the time that I prayed for her daughter. As a single mother, she was doing all she could to help her daughter deal with powerful spiritual oppression. When we prayed together, I specifically asked God to send angels to protect the girl from the self-destructive patterns she had been experiencing. Her daughter's life dramatically changed as confusion and temptation were diminished almost immediately.