Clyde E. Fant, Jr. was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richardson, TX. The service begins with organ music (00:00-04:41). The speaker reads from Romans 1:16-17, and he gives a word of prayer (04:42-05:55). Clyde E. Fant, Jr. is introduced as the Adams Lecturer (05:56-07:59). The choir sings a song of worship (08:00-11:41). Fant’s lecture is entitled “Reformers, The Sermon and Sacrament,” and he begins by telling a funny story that illustrates the struggle of preachers to find wings for their words (11:42-18:03). Fant examines the sermons of proto-reformers John Wycliff and Girolamo Savonarola, and he says that both figures went against the preaching of their time because their preaching was tethered to biblical doctrine and in contrast to culture (18:04-32:19). Fant briefly criticizes the church for embracing preaching that is not in contrast with culture (32:20-37:28). Fant examines the theology of preaching of the Protestant Reformer’s Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and Ulrich Zwingli, and he says that these reformers revived the sacrament of the word by bring back its simple and Christ-centric nature (37:29-46:33). Fant concludes his sermon by examining the French Court preacher Jean-Baptiste Massillon of the Post-Reformation Era as a prime example of preaching for God’s glory rather than earthly flatter (46:34-55:56). The service ends with a benediction (55:57-56:23).
