When we think of Christmas, we probably don’t think of Genesis 19 and Lot’s daughters. It’s one of the more difficult stories in Scripture. It’s an ugly story of doubt and worse. As Pastor Gordon notes, in this sermon, some have said that it should not be preached. To quote the Heidelberg Catechism, we should not be wiser than God. The Holy Spirit included this narrative in his inerrant Word for a reason. The minister is called to preach the whole counsel of God. You should listen to this message.
R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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I personally enjoy really headsy, lecture-ish monotone sermons; my wife, not so much. I read that line to her and she concurred that such sermons are hard to follow.
In Scripture & Worship by Richard Muller and Rowland Ward, in Appendix: A Directory for the Public Worship of God in the Three Kingdoms, under Of the Preaching of the Word, point 2 states:
…abstaining also from an unprofitable use of unknown tongues, strange phrases and cadences of sounds and words.
So ya, no cadence, keep it monotone, buddy.
I listened to this sermon by Pastor Gordon. It was indeed a Christmas story as I’ve never heard it. And per usual, I gained new insight.
Is this type of preaching typical of Reformed Churches?
This is really good. Very helpful.
Almost all of my experiences with hearing preaching from Reformed Churches (outside of the PCA and ARP) have been really headsy, lecture-ish sermons that are monotone and difficult for the average person to follow along with.
If there was preaching like this in more churches then a lot of regenerate believers would gladly leave behind the gimmicks of most mainstream “evangelical” churches.