John the Baptist

This should be the motto of every preacher.

Some other comments I heard today which stuck with me:
- "Be yourself sanctified!"
- Have confidence in what God has given you to say

When we come to a text or are given a text to preach we should:
- unfold the text
- teach the text
- return to the text
- look out for words that integrate

This can be best seen in John 6v31. Jesus takes a quotation from the OT,"He gave them bread from heaven to eat", and begins to unpack and teach it.

"He gave them" - found in verse 32-33
"bread" - found in verse 35, 40
"from heaven" - found in verse 38
"to eat" - found in verse 53

Also in verse 41 Jesus said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven"

So when you get a text you should look out for the words use and try to use the Bible to teach the Bible. I know this is a bit cryptic but its fascinating!