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Transcript

Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – Chuck Swindoll’s Number ... · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Declare the truth as you have been built to declare it.
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  Speaker 1: Explanation of the meaning and the application of Holy Scripture.
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  Speaker 1: It is the most effective method of getting knowledge from
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  Speaker 1: the page of the Bible into the hearts and minds
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  Speaker 1: of the believers.
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  Speaker 2: As a preacher, pastor Chuck Swindle absolutely loves his study days.
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  Speaker 2: And if you're at all like that, you know it's
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  Speaker 2: not a burden but a joy to just immerse yourself
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: in your research. But if you're not careful, all that
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: study can cause you to preach in a foreign language
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  Speaker 2: behind the pulpit and diminish your ability to communicate. And
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  Speaker 2: that's why I want to share this great tip from
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  Speaker 2: Chuck that has allowed him to harness all that information
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  Speaker 2: so that it elevates his ability to preach. Before we
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: dive in, though I want you to hear from Chuck
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  Speaker 2: himself on the why behind all his hours in the books.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: My desire in communicating is to accurately present the Scriptures
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  Speaker 1: in a clear and unmistakable manner, free of code talk,
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  Speaker 1: free of inside nomenclature, so that anybody can understand it
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  Speaker 1: and we can all see its significance and value in
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  Speaker 1: our lives.
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  Speaker 2: Great wonderful wisdom from Chuck real quick though. My name
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  Speaker 2: is Aaron Massey and it is my joy and privilege
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  Speaker 2: to serve at Insight for Living and to bring you
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  Speaker 2: the content in this special series to help you preach
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: the Word. And now here's Chuck's tip for harnessing all
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: that time in your books, study with your listeners in mind.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: And if you don't know, Chuck wrote an excellent book
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  Speaker 2: on preaching called Saying It Well, and I want to
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  Speaker 2: share with you what he writes about it. From his book,
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  Speaker 2: he says, as I prepare, I always keep the uninitiated
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  Speaker 2: in mind. I don't have to do much explanation for
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  Speaker 2: the serious student of the scriptures. I don't preach to
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  Speaker 2: seminary professors. They might benefit from the application, but I
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  Speaker 2: don't have to explain the Lord's use of cup or baptism.
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  Speaker 2: They already get it. The uninitiated, on the other hand,
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  Speaker 2: need more and more help. As our society becomes increasingly
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  Speaker 2: more ignorant of the Bible, we can no longer afford
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  Speaker 2: to assume that people know their Bibles. And in my opinion,
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  Speaker 2: I would say this is Chuck's number one tip when
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  Speaker 2: it comes to the mechanics of sermon preparation, because if
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  Speaker 2: no one can understand you, your preaching is literally useless.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, your time and your study is necessary and biblical.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Paul wrote, a work hard so that you can present
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  Speaker 2: yourself to God and to receive his approval. Be a
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  Speaker 2: good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed,
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  Speaker 2: and who correctly explains the Word of truth. That's two
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  Speaker 2: Timothy two fifteen, and in One Timothy, chapter four, verse
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  Speaker 2: thirteen through fifteen, Paul tells preachers to throw themselves into
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  Speaker 2: the task of scripture, reading, encouragement or exportation and teaching.
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  Speaker 2: Useful preaching depends upon a lot of study. But if
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  Speaker 2: we don't perform this task with the right aim, then
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  Speaker 2: it fails to be an act of love. And the
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  Speaker 2: right aim is clarity. And that's why Paul asked the
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  Speaker 2: church in Colossie to pray for him to preach Christ
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  Speaker 2: as clearly as he should Colossians four to four. An
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  Speaker 2: essential way for you to make your study time and
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  Speaker 2: act of service is to do it with your listeners
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  Speaker 2: in mind. It's to be asking do they need to
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  Speaker 2: know this? How can I help them understand this? How
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  Speaker 2: can I put this in concrete terms. How can I
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  Speaker 2: make this interesting? How can I say this so that
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  Speaker 2: they instantly get it? Now? I want you to hear
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  Speaker 2: some more of Chuck's thinking on this. So here's another
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  Speaker 2: clip from Chuck when he was preaching on Colautions, Chapter four,
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  Speaker 2: verse four.
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  Speaker 1: That's what Poul says, Help me to make it clear, well,
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  Speaker 1: help me guard against using words that would be offensive
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  Speaker 1: or confusing or over their heads. C. S. Lewis writes,
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  Speaker 1: any fool can write learned language. The vernacular is the
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  Speaker 1: real test. If you can't turn your faith into then
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  Speaker 1: you either don't understand it or you don't believe it.
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  Speaker 1: I like the way that sounds. If your words are
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  Speaker 1: so confusing and so high and mighty, you don't really
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  Speaker 1: believe them, You're just mouthing empty words. See Charles Hadden
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  Speaker 1: Spurgeon put it well. Christ said, feed my sheep, feed
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  Speaker 1: my lambs. Some preachers, however, put the food so high
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  Speaker 1: that neither sheep nor lambs can reach it. They seem
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  Speaker 1: to have read the text feed my giraffes. You're not giraffes,
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  Speaker 1: your sheep. I'm a sheep. So I deliberately keep it
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  Speaker 1: at the base level. I'm not to insult you. As
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  Speaker 1: a matter of fact, that's a compliment. I don't want
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  Speaker 1: you to miss one main word of what we're reading.
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  Speaker 2: Whether it's for five or ten or fifteen hours. Studying
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  Speaker 2: is like up this high mountain, but your client was
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  Speaker 2: not on this straight and easy path. You had to zigzag,
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  Speaker 2: You had to hit dead ends and then forge your
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  Speaker 2: way to the top. And then when you preach, it's
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  Speaker 2: like you're standing at the top of that mountain and
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  Speaker 2: you want your listeners to join you up there and
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  Speaker 2: enjoy the scenic views. When you study with your listeners
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  Speaker 2: in mind, as you translate what you were learning into
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  Speaker 2: simple and clear language that anyone can understand and relate to.
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  Speaker 2: When you do that, it's like you are cutting a
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  Speaker 2: straight and clear path for your listeners to reach you
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  Speaker 2: at the top of the mountain. And the more you
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  Speaker 2: do that for them, the easier it is for them
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  Speaker 2: to get there. And in short, it's Chuck's love and
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  Speaker 2: respect for his listeners that makes him so effective in
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  Speaker 2: this area. I mean, despite his incredible skill, despite his
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  Speaker 2: remarkable gifting, he works so hard to help people really
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  Speaker 2: get it. In fact, even after he's done all of
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  Speaker 2: his studying, after he has carefully crafted his detailed outline.
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  Speaker 2: While he is reading through his sermon notes, He's still
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  Speaker 2: keeping them in mind, listen to what he writes and
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  Speaker 2: saying it well. While reading through the notes, I'll pause
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  Speaker 2: occasionally and ask myself, is this clear? Does it make sense?
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  Speaker 2: I put myself in the listener's place, and I wonder
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  Speaker 2: well he or she get the point. If I have doubts,
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  Speaker 2: I return to my study and I rework that part.
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  Speaker 2: I have this constant drive to connect with my hearer.
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  Speaker 2: I never forget the folks who are uninitiated, and our
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  Speaker 2: hope for you with this video is that you will
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: ever forget them either. Studying is necessary, but it's not sufficient.
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  Speaker 2: You want to study with your listeners in mind, so
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  Speaker 2: that you preach with clarity, and your listeners will love
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  Speaker 2: you for it. And we want you to hear one
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  Speaker 2: more clip from Chuck on this that reflects his heart
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  Speaker 2: and attitude toward his listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Nineteen steps in my home lead from the first floor
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  Speaker 1: to the second floor, and my studies in the second floor.
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  Speaker 1: Taking those nineteen steps, I find myself more motivated and
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  Speaker 1: excited as the years pass. Now here's the reason, because
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  Speaker 1: in every ministry I've ever served, there have been people
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  Speaker 1: who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and some of you
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  Speaker 1: are here right now, right now, listening to what I
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  Speaker 1: have to say. You have no idea how you fuel
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  Speaker 1: my fire. You have no awareness, I'm sure of how
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: you motivate me to take that flight of stairs every
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  Speaker 1: day of my life to dig into the scriptures because
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  Speaker 1: I know you want to know what is this saying
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  Speaker 1: and how can I use this in my life? You
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  Speaker 1: are hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And I want to
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  Speaker 1: say two words, thank you, thank you, thank you us
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  Speaker 1: more than two, but they're the same words. Thank you,
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  Speaker 1: thank you, thank you, thank you for hungering, thank you
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  Speaker 1: for staying thirsty. My sister gave me a book years ago.
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  Speaker 1: I was in the Marine Corps. He sent it to
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  Speaker 1: me overseas and I got it and right in the
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  Speaker 1: front she had written the ploet whom have we Lord?
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  Speaker 1: But these soul first to satisfy exhaustless spring. The water's free,
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  Speaker 1: All other streams are dry.
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  Speaker 2: So that's it for this video. Again. I'm erin with
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  Speaker 2: insight for living, and it's our privilege and joy to
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  Speaker 2: serve you as you lead God's people and preach his word.
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  Speaker 2: Before we go, let me point you to few resources. First,
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: be sure to like this video, subscribe to our channel,
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: and check out our Preach the Word playlist, where we're
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: posting Chuck's best insights on this important calling. And Second,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: if you don't own a copy of Chuck's book on
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Preaching Saying It Well, we highly recommend it. It's his
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: preaching memoir that is also like his practical preaching Manual,
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  Speaker 2: and you won't be able to put it down. Third,
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  Speaker 2: Insight for Living has a section on our website for
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: church leaders where you can find hundreds of articles and
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: sign up for our weekly email bringing you an insight
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: from Chuck. One week you'll get a technical tip for preaching,
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  Speaker 2: and the next week you might get a biblical principle
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  Speaker 2: for shepherding. Find all the info you need in the description.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening. Preach the Word and
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  Speaker 2: say it well,