Towards Understanding Distinctive Seventh-day Adventist Preaching

389 Pages·2016·13.72 MB·English

by  John Harold Mathews

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Dissertation Projects DMin Graduate Research
1992
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John Harold Hobart Mathews
Andrews University
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Mathews, John Harold Hobart, "Towards Understanding Distinctive Seventh-day Adventist Preaching"
(1992). Dissertation Projects DMin. 197.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmin/197
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ABSTRACT
TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING DISTINCTIVE
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST PREACHING
by
John Harold Hobart Mathews
Chair: Steven P. Vitrano
ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH
Project Report
Andrews University
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary
Title: TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING DISTINCTIVE SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTIST PREACHING
Name of researcher: John Harold Hobart Mathews
Name and degree of faculty chair: Stephen P. Vitrano, Ph.D.
Date completed: August 1991
Problem
As early as 1957 there has been concern by some
church members that Seventh—day Adventist preaching |has
lost its uniqueness or as some have said, "the old
Adventist ring." Are SDA preachers losing the church's
mission in their preaching? That assertion continues to
be a voice within Adventism.
Method
A study from the Bible, writings of Ellen G.
White and other church publications helped me understand
the mission of the SDA church and preaching's relation­
ship to that mission. An analysis of sermons by J. N.
Andrews, W. A. Spicer, and H. M. S. Richards, Sr.
demonstrate how leading SDA preachers accommodated
preaching to the SDA mission. A survey of participating
churches in the Iowa-Missouri Conference indicates what
members perceive regarding what SDA preaching is and
ought to be. A survey of the members of the SDA church
in Springfield, Missouri indicates their perceptions with
respect to six sermons I preached that by design reflect
distinctive and non—distinctive SDA preaching.
Results
SDA mission and preaching's relationship to that
mission is clear. Andrews, Spicer, and Richards
demonstrated a proper understanding and use of preaching
as it relates to that mission. Respondents from the
Iowa—Missouri Conference indicate that their perceptions
of SDA preaching did not meet their expectation of what
preaching ought to be. However, only 12 percent were
unhappy with SDA preaching. Ministers and teachers were
less positive about preaching they heard. The majority
of respondents in the Springfield church considered all
six sermons I preached distinctive, although the three
designed to be distinctive received a higher response
than the non-distinctive.
Conclusions
SDA's seem to know what distinctive Adventist
preaching ought to be but may not always recognize it
when they hear it. In light of this, the SDA preacher
should develop his theology of preaching as it relates to
the SDA mission, keeping in mind injunction from the
Bible and Ellen G. White with respect to preaching the
three angels' messages and seeking lost souls. SDA's do
respond positively to preaching that nurtures spiritual
needs and to a deep spirituality perceived in the
preacher himself. The authority of Ellen G. White must
be better understood and implemented as a distinctive
characteristic of SDA preaching.
Andrews University
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary
TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING DISTINCTIVE
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST PREACHING
A Project Report
Presented in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Ministry
by
John Harold Hobart Mathews
August 1991
Copyright by John Harold Hobart Mathews 1991
®All Rights Reserved
TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING DISTINCTIVE
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST PREACHING
A project report
presented in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Ministry
by
John Harold Hobart Mathews
APPROVAL BY THE COMMITTEE:
Date approved
DEDICATION
TO DAD, MY HERO IN PREACHING
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES................................ ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................ XV
INTRODUCTION . . . . . 1
Chapter
I. UNDERSTANDING THE MISSION OF THE
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH AND THE
RELATIONSHIP PREACHING HAS TO THAT MISSION 7
Biblical Resources that Indicate
SDA Mission......................... 7
Seventh-day Adventist Interpretation
of Daniel 8:14 and 9:24-27 ................ 8
1844 Message of Judgment .................. 8
Seventh-day Adventist Interpretation
of Rev 14:6-12........................... 9
1st Angel's Message............. 10
2nd Angel's Message.................. 1°
3rd Angel's Message.................. 11
The Relationship Preaching Has
to the SDA Mission....................... 11
The Phenomenon of Preaching................. 12
Matthew 24:14 ............................... I3
Gospel to Be Preached................... 13
To the World............................. I4
For a Witness to the End................. 14
Matthew 28:19-20 I5
Go, Teach, Baptize.................... 15
I Am with You to the End.............. 15
Communication of the Prophetic Message . . 17
God ' s Last Prophetic Message............. 17
The Everlasting Gospel ................... 18
Compulsion to Preach ..................... 19
Soul Winning........................ • 20
Ellen White's Understanding of SDA Mission 20
A Historical Foundation ..................... 22
The Task of SDA Mission..................... 24
The Three Angels' Messages ............... 24
God's Last Warning Message............... 25
Urgency................................. 26
Motifs of SDA Mission....................... 25
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