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Preaching Notes: Mark Dever

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Welcome to the first installment of our Preaching Notes series in which we share copies of the actual notes that various preachers take with them into the pulpit. (The caricatures of each man were drawn by Drew Blom.) In this installment we're featuring the notes of Mark Dever. I asked my friend Greg Gilbert to write an introduction for Mark. Greg writes:

Have you ever heard a sermon on the whole book of Romans? One sermon. On the whole book. Not a highlights reel, but a true expositional sermon on the whole message of the whole book. How about one sermon on the whole New Testament? Old Testament? How about the whole Bible?

Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, is one of those guys with just the right combination of gifting and chutzpah to say, "Hmmm. I think I'll take as my text for this Sunday....the Old Testament." And then he does it, and paints a picture of God's work of redemption that is nothing short of stunning.

I've sat across Dever's desk from him many times when he's preparing his sermons. He doesn't need quiet. No, strike that—he doesn't like quiet. He wants people coming in and out of his study all day when he's working, and on warm days he even sits out in his yard with his laptop so he can talk to people when they walk by. At the end of it all, he has a manuscript that sometimes runs to 12 or 13 pages—not every word he's going to say, but close. He underlines the first word of every sentence in the manuscript so he can look down easily and find his place.

Mark preaches expositionally, meaning (in his words) "that the point of the text becomes the point of the sermon." That means his people, week after week, is feeding on the word of God explained and applied. The result is a church that has a deep understanding of Scripture and therefore a driving desire to see Christ glorified through them. I hope this quick look at one of Mark's manuscripts will encourage you in your own preaching of—or listening to—God's Word.

The link below will take you to a PDF of a sermon entitled "Crushed for Our Iniquities" on Isaiah 52:13-53:12 that Mark gave in a series on the atonement. And if you'd like you can listen to the sermon here.

Mark Dever's Preaching Notes

Posted by on August 11, 2008

Comments (17)

Fascinating! I enjoyed seeing his reminders in his manuscript about saying certain things "slowly." Great stuff. Thanks for this series, Josh.

Warmly in Our Savior,
Steve

Posted by Steve Burchett | August 11, 2008 12:25 PM

Josh,

I am so stoked that you are posting this series! Thanks for unlocking this resource for us.

--Jeff

Posted by Jeff | August 11, 2008 12:32 PM

Wow...that's really cool. Thanks for putting this up.

-Josiah

Posted by Josiah Faas | August 11, 2008 3:34 PM

I was excited about this concept when you first announced it. I have to say this first post did not disappoint in the least! Great concept and excellent execution = great post. I couldn't stop reading his sermon. That was fascinating.

Posted by m.e. | August 11, 2008 4:17 PM

Josh, Did you ever re-establish your facebook account? I loved your comments about why you don't have one and wondered if the popularity since then has influenced you to get back on there. I still don't have one. At first I just didn't because I don't have time. But then I read your post about it and I decided I wouldn't get one because I would probably feel the same way you do. Just wondering if you ever changed your mind. Thanks.

Posted by Brian | August 11, 2008 7:44 PM

Thanks for doing this Josh!

JHG

Posted by James Grant | August 11, 2008 9:05 PM

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting!

Posted by Mark | August 11, 2008 9:29 PM

Very interesting.

I've never thought about underlining the first word of ever sentence. Mine are typically quite spread-out so it's really easy to read even if I have scribbled all over it.

and 12 pages? what is that? a 40 minute sermon?

Posted by Adam | August 12, 2008 1:16 AM

Can you try to link to sermons that these notes were used for?

Posted by Mark | August 12, 2008 7:44 AM

Interesting insights. I've heard the sermon before, but having his manuscript in front of you makes it that little bit more interesting to see how closely he sticks to his main points. Good stuff.

Posted by Douglas K. Adu-Boahen | August 12, 2008 8:54 AM

thanks for posting this. this is a great learning resource. as a seminary student and a rookie in preaching ministry, it's like taking a preaching class online. thank you.

Posted by joe lee | August 12, 2008 12:33 PM

Very helpful! I manuscript my sermons as well and his hint about underlining the first word of each sentence is a golden idea. I will employ that the next time I preach and hopefully I won't be lost in the manuscript!

Posted by Jeremy Writebol | August 12, 2008 1:10 PM

Is it possible to also show the notes presented to the congregation (if any)? It would be helpful to see how the manuscript relates to the outline given to the listeners.

Posted by Anonymous | August 12, 2008 4:16 PM

Why are people saying this is so cool , etc? Who cares? There's nothing to it, really.

Posted by Chris | August 12, 2008 5:03 PM

Josh,

It's always great to see how others do their work of preaching the Word.

Chris, if this information is not helpful to you, then so be it. However, your comments are really not helpful or productive to what Josh is trying to do in blessing those of us who do find this information helpful as well as interesting.

Thanks again, Josh, for posting this material.

Rob

Posted by Robert | August 13, 2008 11:11 AM

Josh,
Thank you for this insight into Dever's preaching style. I attend Capitol Hill Baptist in the summer months while I'm in the D.C. area, and have been wonderfully blessed by both Dever and Michael Lawrence's faithful preaching of the Word. The Lord is using the 9 Marks ministry in amazing ways.

Posted by Jess | September 6, 2008 11:33 AM

I love the !! marks...

Posted by Charlie Wallace | September 24, 2008 10:11 AM

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