New Testament Preaching

From Tom Bandy

I have enjoyed reading the dialogue about preaching. There is a difference between preaching "in Jerusalem" and preaching "in Phillippi" (or among the gentiles).

The earliest "kerygma" reached by the apostls was addressed to those well versed in Jewish scripture and tradition. These were the main topics:

The Prophecies are fulfilled;
• Jesus has been exalted as Lord;
• The truth has been confirmed by the gifts of the Spirit;
• Jesus will return to fulfill God’s promises;
• ALL people can experience grace!

The example is the preaching of Peter on Pentecost, and is not hard translate the themes of such preaching to the stawart members of the church.

But what about the seekers? the Gentiles? The example of preaching in this case is Paul's preaching in Athens in Acts. Here are the topics:

All spiritual people are yearning for God;
God is not far from us, but perfectly revealedin Jesus;
This is confirmed through our own stories of personal transformation;
Now that you know, God will hold you accountable;
In and through Christ you can defeat evil and death.

You can see that the preaching is similar, and yet different. It starts from different assumptions ... and connects with different expectations.