While I was a student at London Bible College I attended a preaching workshop in which several students were given the same text to preach from.
The visiting "lecturer" was Dick Lucas (St Helen's Bishopsgate, London). He lamented the fact that so many entirely different sermons could be based on the same text. I had to agree with him that if this was the future of the Evangelical Church it was indeed dire!
In principle the purpose was an "Exercise" or "Prophesying" as understood by the puritans. Each student
should have discovered
the same Biblical doctrines in the text. Differences should then only have arisen as to which doctrine was picked up on as the main theme.
I doubt that many of my contemporaries had studied the puritans and I very much doubt that any had a conception of expository preaching (Eric Alexander, St. Georges Tron, Glasgow). Most were charismatic and prophesying would have meant something totally different
.
Can anyone tell me if this practice continues at LBC or elsewhere.