Preaching Jesus through ALL the Scriptures

I have been listening to old Acts 29 Network sermons and came across some pretty good quotes from Jonathan McIntosh at the 2007 St. Louis Regionals in his sermon (or workshop) called The Importance of Preaching Across 3 Streams. Here are the two quotes form the sermon that I found to be awesome when thinking of how I preach and teach.

The first question that we put to the text is not what does this say to or about us, but the first question that we take to the text is how does this text testify to Jesus. I say it again, that the Christian life is defined by our relationship to Jesus so until we understand who and what Jesus is, we cannot properly understand what our relationship to him is.
Graeme Goldsworthy (from his book, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture)


The bible is not a collection of Aesop's fables, it is not a book of virtues. It is a story about how God saves us. Any exposition of a text that does not get to Christ but just explains biblical principles will be a synagogue sermon that merely exhorts people to exert their wills to live according to a particular pattern. Instead of the life giving gospel, the sermon offers just one more ethical paradigm to crush the listeners.
Tim Keller

We have to be honest that if we do not preach for the exaltation of Jesus Christ in all of our sermons, instead of just lessons to be learned, then how are we not just like every other religion with a great moral teacher or great moral code?

McIntosh at one point states, "We don't need merely a moral teacher, we need a Saviour." I couldn't agree more.