“The kind of God we believe in determines the kind of sermons we preach.” - John Stott, The Challenge of Preaching
Who we think we're talking about affects how we talk about them. It affects the words we choose, the tone we use, the urgency we stress, the volume we flex, the pace we provide, the tempo we employ, the tenacity by which we insist and the ferocity in which we persist.
For example, the way a man talks about the woman he loves is different than the way he talks about a lady he knows. The kind of relationship he has affects the kind of words he uses... things he would never say and things he makes sure to say, etc...
Like any good principle, it also works in the other direction. Math equations work both ways: i.e. 2 + 2 =4 and 4 = 2 + 2. In this case, the kind of sermons we preach tells us what kind of God we think we're talking about. It is not just that our vision of God informs our preaching, but that our preaching reveals what kind of God we have envisioned.
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