John Piper defines Christian preaching as “expository exaltation”—the faithful explanation of biblical meaning combined with the preacher’s heartfelt joy in the truth he proclaims. He distinguishes exaltation (with a u) from exaltation (with an a): the preacher is not merely praising God, but exulting over the glory he sees in Scripture. Preaching, he argues, must both show the people what the text means and display the value and beauty of that meaning through the preacher’s own sincere delight.
Expository preaching explains what the biblical authors intended—because Scripture, not the preacher, carries divine authority. Preachers must show their listeners the meaning from the text itself, not merely assert it. But explanation alone is not preaching. If the preacher’s heart shows no joy, wonder, or seriousness that matches the worth of the truth, he is “lying” about its value. Conversely, emotional display without biblical truth is mere performance.
Piper roots preaching in God’s overarching purpose: all things exist for God’s glory, and God loves us by giving us Himself for our everlasting joy. Preaching uniquely serves this aim, because through exposition God’s people see His truth, and through exaltation they taste His worth. True preaching helps the church think rightly and feel rightly about God—so that He is honored as supremely valuable.
This session highlighted the mission of 20Schemes, a ministry committed to bringing the gospel to Scotland’s most deprived communities. Attendees were encouraged to pray, give, or join the work. The conversation then shifted to a Q&A with John Piper, flowing from his earlier message on APTAT—Admit, Pray, Trust, Act, Thank – as a model for living and preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Piper explained how he sustains daily delight in Christ. Despite seasons of spiritual dullness, he anchors his life in Scripture, using the acronym I.O.U.S. from the Psalms to pray that God would incline his heart, open his eyes, unite his heart, and satisfy him with steadfast love. He and his wife Noel maintain long-standing rhythms of shared Bible reading, prayer, and singing. With children, they practiced simple daily family devotions centered on Scripture and prayer.
In discussing sanctification, Piper admitted that spiritual vulnerability does not disappear with age; Christians must fight the good fight to the end. He also offered pastoral counsel on marriage to unbelieving spouses, discerning when to leave a church, and how churches should evaluate worship music written by groups with questionable theology. The session closed with prayer for 20Schemes and for those struggling to come to Christ.
Brian Croft, pastor and founder of Practical Shepherding, teaches that a pastor must care for three interconnected areas: his soul, his ministry, and his family. In this session he focuses on the pastor’s soul, drawing from Acts 20:28 where Paul commands elders to “pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock.” Many pastors devote themselves to caring for others while neglecting their own spiritual health, leading to burnout and collapse. Croft highlights the need to watch both “life and doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:16) and warns that busyness often becomes a means of avoiding our own hearts.
He outlines three essential practices for soul care. First, walk with Jesus: pastors must feed on God’s Word for their own souls, not only for sermon preparation. Intimacy with Christ fuels authentic ministry. Second, embrace your weakness. Croft explains that Christ’s strength is displayed in our weakness, not despite it. Pastors must reject the pressure to appear perfect, admit their sins and limits, and allow their humanity to be seen in wise and appropriate ways.
Third, care for yourself practically. He gives six areas crucial to soul health: eating patterns, adequate sleep, exercise, life-giving friendships, real rest, and regular silence. Croft shares from his own experience of near-collapse and urges pastors to seek help, accept their limitations, and remember that even pastors need shepherds.
John Piper begins by praising the work of 20schemes and explaining that true preaching is humanly impossible—it can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit. Natural eloquence, rhetorical skill, or emotional persuasion cannot open blind eyes or create genuine spiritual understanding. The heart of preaching, Piper says, is to lead people to see, savor, and show the glory of Christ—something no human can accomplish without divine intervention.
He emphasizes that the Holy Spirit alone raises the spiritually dead, removes hearts of stone, reveals the truth of Christ, and transforms believers. Therefore, preaching is not merely communication; it is a miracle.
To preach in the power of the Spirit, Piper describes a lifelong approach summarized by the acronym APTAT:
A – Admit your helplessness.
P – Pray for God’s help.
T – Trust specific promises of God.
A – Act in faith.
T – Thank God afterward.
He highlights trusting promises as central, since the Spirit is supplied “by hearing with faith” (Gal. 3:5). Piper explains how he prepares moments before preaching: confessing weakness, praying for humility, clarity, and compassion, and clinging to concrete biblical promises that empower him as he steps into the pulpit.
He concludes by urging preachers to embrace preaching as a supernatural work—done in God’s strength so that God alone receives the glory.
Keith Getty opens by expressing gratitude for the heritage of Scottish and Irish hymnody and for long-standing friendships with churches and leaders connected to the event. He reflects on the rich legacy of hymn writers such as Henry Francis Lyte and Robert Murray M’Cheyne, noting how their work continues to shape worship today. Getty then prays, thanking God for past generations who passed down the gospel and asking for strength to faithfully pass it on.
He shares his personal story: growing up in church music, discovering a calling to write hymns that teach Scripture, and ultimately co-writing “In Christ Alone.” Getty explains that Christians sing for three reasons: we are commanded to sing, we are created to sing, and the gospel compels us to sing. He emphasizes that singing is not a warm-up for preaching but a central expression of Christian faith.
Getty shows how singing shapes individuals, families, congregations, and communities. He urges churches to choose songs that present a full, biblical picture of God; express the whole spectrum of human emotion; clearly proclaim the gospel; and point believers toward eternity. He highlights the importance of robust congregational singing—led thoughtfully, rooted in Scripture, and aimed at building deep believers. Ultimately, singing is both spiritual formation and powerful witness, drawing unbelievers and strengthening the church in its mission.
Mez McConnell opens by reading Ephesians 3, emphasizing that Christian worship cannot be separated from God’s Word or from the local church. He reminds listeners that Jesus loves the church—He built it with His own blood, nourishes it, cherishes it, and designed it as central to His purpose in the world. Regardless of culture’s dismissal of the church, believers must see it as precious to Christ and essential for displaying Him to the world.
Focusing on Ephesians 3:10, McConnell examines Paul’s repeated mention of the “mystery”—the once-hidden truth now revealed through the gospel: that Jews and Gentiles alike are united in one body, the church. This church, made of imperfect, diverse, often messy people, is God’s chosen means for displaying His “manifold” (multi-layered, colorful) wisdom. McConnell urges believers to lift their eyes beyond their small problems and see the grand plan God is unfolding.
Surprisingly, Paul says God reveals His wisdom not only to the world but to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms”—both angels and demonic powers. The existence and perseverance of the church, despite weakness and sin, proclaims Christ’s victory and Satan’s defeat. Every faithful congregation, however ordinary, is a jewel in Christ’s crown and a testimony to God’s eternal wisdom. McConnell concludes by calling believers to love Christ’s church deeply and recognize its cosmic significance.
In this lecture, John Piper reflects on the apparent tension between worship in a comfortable setting and the harsh realities of ministry in Scotland’s most difficult neighborhoods. Using 2 Chronicles 20, he shows that God links the praise of His people with His power to defeat spiritual enemies. Piper illustrates this through a personal story of witnessing deliverance from demonic oppression through persistent singing.
He argues that the ministries represented – such as 20Schemes and the Gettys’ work – embody a Christianity defined by two core convictions.
First, Christians care about all suffering, following Jesus’ compassion toward physical and emotional pain, but they care especially about eternal suffering. Piper challenges modern disbelief in hell, insisting that Jesus taught its reality and that genuine love requires warning others.
Second, Christians care about all injustice, but especially injustice against God. He defines injustice as treating someone worse than they deserve, and since God deserves infinite honor, humanity’s failure to worship Him is the greatest injustice. The gospel announces that Jesus bore the penalty for this injustice—justice denied to Him so it could be granted to sinners.
Piper concludes that true Christians will embrace these two sentences as life-shaping commitments, bringing hope to both Scotland’s schemes and every community.
Kevin McKay teaches that authority, when exercised biblically, is one of the clearest reflections of God’s character. Good authority blesses, protects, and gives life; abused authority destroys and lies about God. For this reason, leadership in the church matters deeply.
Preaching from 2 Samuel 23 and Acts 6, McKay shows that biblical leadership is defined not by charisma, strategic skill, or innovation, but by faithfulness to the ministry of the Word and prayer, and by service for the good of Christ’s people. In Acts 6 the apostles refuse to fix the church’s problems by themselves; instead they preserve their primary calling—Word and prayer—and raise up deacons to meet physical needs. This protects unity and enables gospel growth.
McKay then outlines the work of elders:
Plurality is essential: multiple elders strengthen the church, share burdens, and safeguard discipline.
Deacons, meanwhile, serve practical needs, protect unity, and support the elders’ ministry.
Biblical leadership, rightly exercised, gives the church a foretaste of God’s good and life-giving authority—and enables God’s people to flourish under Christ, the Chief Shepherd.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
Matthias Lohmann teaches from 2 Peter 1, Peter’s final written testimony before his death. Peter’s goal is not to introduce new ideas but to remind believers of what they already know and must keep remembering until they enter God’s glory. Lohmann highlights Peter’s central point: Christian faith must rest not on experiences but on God’s authoritative Word.
First, Peter recalls the transfiguration—an overwhelming divine experience where Peter saw Christ’s glory and heard the Father’s voice. Yet Peter’s response on the mountain (“Let’s build tents!”) shows that experience alone can confuse without God’s interpretation. Even after such a vision, Peter does not urge Christians to pursue similar experiences. Instead, he points to something more sure: the prophetic Word.
Second, Lohmann explains that Scripture is a lamp shining in a dark place. Only through God’s Word do we understand creation, sin, salvation, and the way to live. The Bible gives light for every part of life—not quick signs or subjective impressions, but steady illumination for decisions, convictions, and hope. Christians drift into darkness when they neglect this lamp.
Finally, Lohmann stresses why the Word is trustworthy: Scripture is God speaking. Though written by humans, the authors were “carried along by the Holy Spirit,” ensuring every word is God’s Word. Therefore Christians—and especially pastors—must read with reverence, teachability, and obedience. True divine experience happens whenever God speaks through Scripture.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
David R. Helm explains what an aspiring preacher or Bible teacher must understand: preaching always involves two pressures—handling the biblical text faithfully and speaking meaningfully to today’s world. Many assume these two pull in opposite directions, but Hebrews 3:7 shows the opposite: the Holy Spirit still speaks through Scripture today. Faithfulness to the text is therefore the gateway to Spirit-empowered relevance.
Helm warns against blind contextualization—using the Bible like an impressionistic painter, glancing briefly at the text and producing ten ideas for modern life. When “today” drives the sermon, we lose truth, distort the passage, and ultimately lose Christ. This kind of preaching treats the Bible like a lamp post for support rather than illumination.
Instead, Helm lays out a sequential pathway for sermon preparation:
This disciplined, “long way around” prepares the preacher to speak God’s Word with integrity, clarity, and power—avoiding moralism, spiritualization, and manipulation, and enabling true gospel proclamation.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
In his final session on preparing to preach, David R. Helm focuses on the audience—the people in the pew—and how preachers must learn to appeal to the heart. Faithfulness in preaching depends on sound exegesis, but fruitfulness is diminished if a preacher does not understand how to speak persuasively to listeners. Scripture itself demonstrates this: Acts opens with hearts “cut” by Peter’s preaching and ends with hearts that have grown “dull.” Preaching always confronts the heart—sometimes producing repentance, sometimes rejection.
Helm explains that every audience is persuaded by certain authorities, and effective preaching appeals to these. Four main sources shape persuasion:
Paul uses all four in Acts 17 as he reasons, explains, proves, and proclaims from Scripture. Preachers, however, tend to rely on only one or two, attracting people like themselves while missing others. To reach the whole church, sermons must incorporate all four modes of appeal.
Helm concludes with two guiding questions: Does the biblical author use any of these appeals? and How can I faithfully mirror that appeal for my audience? By doing so, the preacher presents not only the truth of the text but its persuasive force, making the gospel’s claims compelling to every kind of listener.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
David R. Helm teaches that every biblical text has a God-given structure, and faithful preaching requires discovering that structure before crafting a sermon. Just as every human body has a skeleton, every passage has an internal organization—its “bones”—that carries the original author’s intended emphasis. Preachers err in two opposite directions: the jellyfish preacher (no structure, no clarity) and the crab preacher (only structure, no life). The goal is neither, but a well-shaped sermon that reflects the text’s actual organization.
To find structure, a preacher must know what kind of literature he is handling—narrative, poetry, or discourse—as each uses different organizational strategies. Narrative often follows plot, character shifts, or geographical markers. Poetry uses imagery tied to ideas. Discourse relies on logic, grammar, and repeated patterns. Helm demonstrates this through examples: Psalm 1 (tree vs. chaff), Psalm 23 (shepherd vs. host), 1 Samuel 21 (two scenes in two houses), Acts 5 (repeated conflicts leading to judgment), and Acts 11–12 (a “sandwich” structure contrasting Peter and Herod).
Structure reveals a text’s main emphasis, which then shapes the sermon’s movements. The preacher’s task is to identify the bones, understand how they carry meaning, and then “dress” them for preaching—clarifying, arranging, and communicating God’s intended message with simplicity and power.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
Kevin McKay begins by explaining the origins of 9Marks, a ministry that grew out of Mark Dever’s pastoral concern for a small local church. Dever identified nine essential marks of a healthy church—expositional preaching, biblical theology, the gospel, conversion, evangelism, membership, discipline, discipleship, and leadership. These marks emphasize that the local church is God’s primary instrument for displaying His glory.
McKay then grounds this vision in Scripture. A biblical theology of the church shows God’s purpose from creation to new creation: to fill the world with His image through a redeemed people. Though Adam, Israel, and humanity failed, Christ perfectly reflects God, and through His saving work the church is formed as a new creation. Ephesians highlights that the church—united sinners transformed by Christ—displays God’s manifold wisdom even to the heavenly realms (Eph. 3:10).
From this vision flow practical implications. The church’s distinctiveness is essential for evangelism and missions. Pastors must center their ministries on God’s Word, not programs or pragmatism. True success is defined by faithfulness, not numerical growth. Church membership expresses committed love, and simplifying ministry around the Word fosters deep discipleship. McKay concludes that healthy, Word-centered churches are God’s chosen means for fulfilling the Great Commission and displaying His glory.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
Matthias Lohmann teaches that discipleship is helping others follow Jesus by doing them deliberate spiritual good, ultimately aiming to help Christians grow in Christlikeness. Rooted in the Great Commission (Matthew 28), discipleship begins with evangelism, continues through incorporation into the church (baptism), and grows through teaching believers to obey all Jesus commanded. Lohmann stresses that God Himself is the ultimate disciple-maker, and His primary instrument is the Word of God, which reveals Christ. As believers behold Christ in Scripture, the Spirit transforms them into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18).
While growth is God’s work, every Christian bears responsibility for pursuing maturity, not blaming others for lack of growth. Scripture repeatedly commands believers to grow, warning against spiritual stagnation. Still, discipleship happens best in the local church, where God’s Word is preached and believers can instruct, encourage, and admonish one another.
For pastors, Lohmann highlights two major duties: feed the sheep by faithfully preaching Christ from all Scripture, and protect time to disciple others, especially future leaders. He outlines practical principles: choose teachable and committed people, model godliness, admit weakness, encourage and correct, be patient, ask good questions, set goals, give real responsibility, cultivate love, and above all pray, remembering that only God gives growth.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
In this third instructional session on preaching, David R. Helm shifts from exegesis to theological reflection, focusing on how preachers move from a biblical text to the gospel. He argues that Scripture has a unifying interpretive center: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures. While not all scholars agree, Helm grounds his conviction in Jesus’ own teaching (Luke 24), Paul’s view of the gospel (Romans 1), and Peter’s emphasis on the prophetic word (2 Peter 1). These texts show that both Old and New Testament point organically to Christ.
Helm then introduces practical strategies for preaching Christ from any passage. Three main tools guide this movement: themes (such as covenant, kingdom, temple), typology/analogy (persons, events, and objects intentionally prefiguring Christ), and textual promises and fulfillments. Using the book of Acts, he illustrates how Paul functions as a mirror of Christ, paralleling Jesus’ miracles, journey to Jerusalem, trials, and suffering—patterns Paul expects believers to imitate.
Helm further emphasizes preaching with specificity, using a simple diagram of Christ’s life—from eternal preexistence to incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension, reign, and return. Each passage highlights a particular aspect rather than a generic “Jesus point.” Effective preaching, he concludes, unites rigorous exegesis with gospel-centered theological reflection, enabling the church to see Christ’s multifaceted glory.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
Matthias Lohmann, a pastor in Munich, explains how his commitment to expositional preaching, meaningful church membership, and church discipline initially drew criticism from those who preferred a more “cool” and modern style of church. He argues, however, that faithfulness—not popularity—is the true biblical priority. He highlights that throughout Scripture, God consistently distinguishes between those who are “in” and “out” of His people, and the local church must do the same. Membership is therefore biblical and essential, because the New Testament presents the church as a body, flock, household, and temple—images that require identifiable, committed members who care for one another.
He stresses that Christians need the local church for teaching, assurance of salvation, protection, accountability, and evangelistic witness. Membership helps elders know whom they must shepherd and guard from spiritual danger. It also enables the church to display a supernatural unity that testifies to the power of the gospel. The speaker argues that proper teaching, clear expectations, and strong church structure prepare a congregation to practice corrective church discipline when necessary. Discipline, he says, is loving: it warns the sinner, protects the church, preserves its witness, and brings glory to God. He concludes by urging believers to embrace membership and discipline as essential expressions of love for Christ and His church.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019
The passage emphasizes that God reveals His grace through the gospel and displays it visibly through the unity of the church. Drawing from Ephesians 1–4, it explains that believers have received a multifaceted salvation: chosen, adopted, forgiven, redeemed, and given hope in Christ. God’s plan is to bring all things together in Christ, creating a new humanity from Jews and Gentiles. This supernatural unity is meant to display God’s manifold wisdom to the world and even to the heavenly powers.
Because of this calling, Paul urges Christians to “walk worthy” by practicing humility, gentleness, patience, and loving forbearance—virtues that preserve unity. Unity is fragile and constantly threatened by pride, selfishness, and spiritual attack; therefore believers must make every effort to maintain it. The church’s unity serves as a visible picture of the gospel, proving to the world that Jesus was sent by God.
Ephesians 4:4–6 grounds this unity in seven unchanging truths: one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God the Father. A church faithful to these essentials avoids dividing over secondary matters and displays a supernatural community unlike anything in the world. Ultimately, the church’s loving unity reflects the unity of the Triune God and brings praise to His glorious grace.
Pastors & Leaders Conference 2019