Never Preach From Notes!

Dr Clarence Edward Macartney was quite a remarkable man.  From Scottish stock, his family moved to North America.  Approaching his final year in theological seminary, he was determined to follow the two precepts given to students by Dr David J. Burrell, which were:

"always have a clear outline and never preach from notes or with a manuscript."

Where would this leave some of us, I wonder!  In an eariler post I had stated that probably the reason why so much preaching is powerless is that the preacher places too much reliance upon his study preparation than upon the Lord's gracious enabling at the point of sermon delivery.  

Macartney never preached from notes and in 1946 he published a book entitled, Preaching Without Notes.  This book was reprinted by Baker Books in 1976. 

My challenge to preachers and to myself is to preach without notes.  To make this a bit easier, take only the briefest outline into the pulpit with you, and allow the Lord by His Spirit to give you the message He has for the congregation on that occasion.

What a challenge!  Are you up to it?  Am I?