In an age when much preaching is considered superficial, it’s worth listening to words of Paul Scherer:
“It is necessary first of all…to quit covering over the offense of the gospel in an effort to do people good. Nothing can do them good without disturbing them, and nothing will disturb them to any lasting effect unless it disturbs them deeply. It is, therefore, of less value than is commonly supposed week in and week out simply to address those needs which lie around on the surface of human life, needs of which everybody is conscious: how to keep from feeling lonely; what it takes to be brave; the way to bear up under disappointment; the secret of success.
“Jesus said astonishingly little about any of that. Instead, He addressed Himself to those needs, so often unconscious, which lie at the root of a man’s sense of bewilderment, alienation and anxiety. He was forever getting farther in and deeper down; and that is never likely to be painless…There are no prefabricated substitutes for the disturbing gospel of a redeeming God.” (from The Word God Sent by Paul Scherer)