Is there a difference between teaching and preaching?

Yes, absolutely. While there is certainly teaching contained in preaching and while sometimes teachers can get very preachy, the important thing is that preaching is not a tone. It’s not a volume. People often think that preaching is just raising your voice and being loud or yelling at people. That’s not preaching.

Preaching has the goal of helping people come to a place of worship. Preaching a message involves teaching, Bible study, and lecturing, but fundamentally, preaching involves discipleship and worship. You are helping people to worship God. It involves all those things, but a sermon is not a lecture. It’s not just a big group Bible study. Preaching the Word of God is bringing people from where they are, instructing them, teaching them, and bringing them to God.

Too often, people think that a good lecture is preaching, but it’s not. Preaching brings people to Christ. It brings people to God by the power of the Spirit because it’s worshipful.

This transcript is from a live Ask Ligonier event with Burk Parsons and has been lightly edited for readability. To ask Ligonier a biblical or theological question, email ask@ligonier.org or message us on Facebook or Twitter.