A mode of communication in which a significant message is announced or proclaimed. In the OT, “preaching” refers to an announcement, the content of which is supplied by the context (Jonah 3:2; Neh 6:7), but it sometimes refers specifically to the announcement of “good news” (Isa 40:9; Isa 52:7; Isa 61:1). So too in the NT, preaching became closely connected with proclamation of the “gospel.” Jesus preaches the good news of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15), and early Christian preaching focuses on announcing the significance of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection (Acts 2:16-36; Acts 3:12-26; Acts 13:16-41; Acts 17:22-31). In shorthand form, the early Christians claimed to preach Christ (Phil 1:15), Christ crucified (1Cor 1:23), or simply the word of God (Acts 13:5).
