Among the articles in the May edition of Towers, the journal of Southern Baptist Seminary is a Q&A with Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Seminary and author of both Christ Centered Preaching and Christ Centered Worship.
The interview seeks to introduce the themes of Chapell’s two books to the magazine’s readers.
On Christ centered preaching:
Question: How profound an impact did transitioning to a Christ-centered approach to preaching have on your life and ministry?
Bryan Chapell: I think the primary thing that changed for me was identifying the motivation and enablement for love for Christ rather than simply preaching imperatives for people. My early task was getting people to do the things that they don’t want to do and ultimately, believing that preaching is getting people to love Christ so much that they have a new heart, new affections and desire to do what He calls them to do; their calling actually becomes their passion rather than what they are resisting. By encouraging people with God’s love for them, they are actually strengthened for service to people.
On Christ centered worship:
Question: You published a book last year titled “Christ-Centered Worship.” We have spent a lot of time debating contemporary vs. traditional, but wouldn’t it be better to ask “Whom are we worshiping in our churches?”
Chapell: We get very divided over style, which is basically, “Does my preference win over your preference?” versus the question of what is the purpose of worship.
If you look at church worship through the ages, across traditions, there is a very consistent
pattern. Th ere is a beginning of adoring God, recognizing His greatness and goodness. And
whenever you recognize the greatness of God, the automatic human response is, “If He is
that great, I begin to recognize that I am not.”
Adoration of God leads to confession which leads to the need for understanding, “Isn’t God
going to help me in this?” The answer is yes, He provides His grace. When we understand His
grace, we give thanks for that, we want more instruction: “Lord, now tell me how I can live
for you.” And then we desire to live for Him and that Gospel pattern is the way the church
has worshiped through the ages.
Read the whole Q&A with Bryan Chapell on page 10 of the May edition of Towers.
HT: Aquila Report.
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