Sensible Solo Sermon Selection

There are times when we can select a single passage to preach, a stand-alone sermon.  Some people only ever preach this way.  Others rarely preach this way.  So how do we select the passage?  Well, it’s a good idea to pick a passage you want to study and preach.  It’s a good idea to pick a passage that appears straightforward in terms of relevance and application (all Scripture is useful, but let’s face it, some take much more work to “land” on this side of the gap!)  Here are a couple of other things to bear in mind:

The time required for preparation should not be underestimated – If the time available is likely to be limited, then it is usually worth building on a foundation already laid, i.e. preach from a book you’ve studied well and fairly recently.  Before jumping into a Bible book you haven’t studied much, make sure you have the time to study the whole, as well as the particular part.  Make sure there is time to get the resources you might need (commentaries, for example).  Make sure there is time to go through that process of wrestling with the details in order to arrive at the idea of the text.

The macro-context should not be underestimated – In order for your “chunk” of text to make sense, you will usually need to give some explanation of the broader context.  Without the benefit of a series in that book, it may take longer to set the scene than you thought.  Often a brief contextual set-up is sufficient, but not always.  Some texts may be better left to a series so that the reinforcing of key themes can occur “naturally.”

The time required for explanation should not be underestimated – For instance, telling a biblical story can take a lot of effort and sometimes it can take a lot of time.  Be aware of how long you have to preach and how long it will take to tell the story, or explain the content sufficiently.

There are plenty of other factors to take into account when selecting a passage for a stand-alone sermon, but these three shouldn’t be ignored.

Preaching Tired

A good friend and commenter on this site sent me a list of about twenty lessons he’d noted after preaching a sermon recently.  I am indebted to Tim for the prompts for yesterday’s post, today’s, and probably a few more to come!

Here’s one of those “lessons learnt” – stress and tiredness do affect your preaching.

Sometimes the problem is that we get stressed about being stressed, or stressed about being tired.  Again, if my night was interrupted because of sickness in the family, then God understands and can provide supernatural strength to compensate.   (Thankfully, as well as an awesome God, I also have a wonderful wife who often handles everything the night before I preach!)

However, it is still worth evaluating the sources of stress and tiredness in our schedule.  Perhaps it is worth guarding the evening before we preach – guarding it from late night socializing or hospitality?  Perhaps it is worth adding exercise to increase the stress-threshold and aid in healthy sleep?  Perhaps it is worth taking a holistic approach to scheduling our future preaching – not just making sure we avoid committing to too many sermons, but also thinking about what the sermons will be, and what our other commitments and challenges will be at the time?

Stress and tiredness do affect our preaching, thanks Tim for the prompt!

Last Minute Sermon Preparation

I have a personal principle on this issue.  If I genuinely have had to prepare at the last minute, then I ask God for help and know that He understands.  But then there is a second part to it too – if I have procrastinated and end up preparing at the last minute, then I confess that, ask for forgiveness and still ask God for help.

The first part of the principle has been forged in the relatively gentle furnace of family life and missions organization participation!  Sometimes life happens and there is no way to prepare as you would like.  God understands this.  Last minute preparation is not ideal, but it is possible and it is still better to prepare as much as you can, rather than not prepare at all.

The second part of the principle is there because I am human.  I admire people with perfect track records in the area of self-discipline (but I also doubt them!)  Rather than make up excuses and try to convince myself that I genuinely could not prepare fully due to life circumstances, I would rather be honest and admit when I have allowed other things, often very good things, to distract me from what was needed as a ministry deadline loomed.  I may have lacked self-discipline, I may even have succumbed to some tempting distraction, but I don’t want to succumb to another temptation and seek to justify my procrastination.  Hence, I sometimes have to repent and ask for forgiveness and then prepare at the last minute.

May we all be Holy Spirit disciplined in our preparation for ministry and maximize every opportunity to preach the Word.  But may we also accept the reality of the grace we preach to others when we sometimes fail to prepare as we should.  Not an abuser of grace, nor a rejecter of grace!

Gifted to Preach

It’s an important question, but not a simple one.  I hope we would all agree that preaching has much more to do with gift than degree.  But which gift?  Obviously the gift of teaching is the typical one people point out, or perhaps a carefully defined (or re-defined) gift of prophecy.  But what about the gift of evangelist, or a leadership gift, or exhortational / encouragement gifts?  It seems that many of the gifts can help in pulpit ministry.  Nevertheless, not everyone is able to, nor should, preach.

Those that have that something – divine gifting, calling, unction, whatever – they should then be responsible stewards of what they have been given.  That is where the training comes in.  The degree or qualification may not matter, but the training does.  However we get it, we should look to fan into flame whatever gifting we have by a combination of both experience and training.  Certification may not be a big deal, but true education is, however we get it.

Incidentally, perhaps one of the benefits of formal preaching training is that it helps some people learn that they should not be preaching!  What church listeners may be too polite to point out, feedback sheets, wise instructors and video recordings can make clear.

So let us be sure that we never rely on gifting without being responsible stewards of all that God has given us for ministry (this means reading, getting training, being a learner, looking for mentors, etc.)  Equally, let us never rely on education or academic qualification (this means being fervent in prayer, humble in attitude, reliant on God, etc.)  We preach as stewards.  It is His ministry.

Preaching in Saul’s Armor?

Brian McLaren finishes his chapter on leadership in Adventures in Missing the Point with an analogy from David and Goliath.  He feels that too many ministers are trying to do ministry dressed up in Saul’s XXL armor, when in fact they are size M or even size S people.  We need to do our ministry, we need to preach our sermons, as ourselves, not as some supposed spiritual superhero.

I recently wrote about preaching to ordinary people.  It should go without saying that we preach as ordinary people.  But perhaps the legacy of pulpit personas and Sunday morning image presentation makes it necessary to make the point.  We preach as ordinary people.  Perhaps size M, perhaps size S, probably not an XXL.  Strangely enough, we know how the story ended with non-XXL David being himself in the task ahead of him, knowing that God was Himself in that same task.

(Incidentally, McLaren and Campolo either write the chapter or respond to the other’s writing.  While not agreeing with either on every detail, I can’t help but mention how much I have resonated with Campolo’s careful critiques of McLaren’s sometimes cavalier criticisms.)

Professional Preacher?

I am currently reading through Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo’s book, Adventures in Missing the Point.  In his typical style McLaren criticizes the “modern” approach to leadership in the church under 10 headings.  For one of these he uses the term “careerist.”  While I am far less inclined to criticize the church as freely as McLaren does, I agree that this element of Christian leadership is a problem.

He prefers the idea of being amateurs.  By this he means that our motivation for ministry is not quenched by the pressures of seeing ministry as a career.  Leadership and preaching need to be “less like the drudgery of a job and more like the joy of a day golfing or hiking or fishing or playing soccer or whatever … not something we have to do, but somethinig we get to do.”

On one level he is right.  My privilege of being in full-time ministry should not turn it into a drudging climb up a career ladder.  Perhaps you work in the secular world (also a privilege) and get to preach too (again, a privilege).  He is right, ministry is something that we get to do.  But perhaps where he misses the mark is the sweeping generalization that those of us in ministry see it as drudgery.  I for one consider it a privilege to be freed up through financial support to dedicate my time to ministry.  I know many others that see ministry as a get to privilege.

Furthermore, perhaps he misses the mark slightly by a limiting definition of the term amateur (McLaren is not a stranger to re-defining or carefully defining terms).  The term amateur does include the sense of loving (latin root amare) what we do.  It also can indicate low standards and poor quality.  Equally the term professional can suggest the dispassionate use of skill for money, but at the same time it can imply high standards and good quality.

I am an amateur preacher.  I am a professional preacher.  I don’t want to be amateur.  I don’t want to be professional.  It all depends what is meant by each term.  Let’s not be amateurish, nor professionalized, but passionately good stewards of the privilege of ministry.  Hopefully on that we can all agree!

Read Widely, Disclose Wisely

I recently heard of someone who made a mistake in his ministry.  His mistake was to write down the title of a book for someone he was discipling to go and read.  The book was written by an author from a very different stream of christianity.  The content of the book was solid, nonetheless, he was run out of the church essentially as a false teacher.

I remember reading an article several years ago about the concept of a liberal education.  At one level the concept of “liberal” refers to the wide and free reading across the spectrum.  It’s ironic that today many of the liberal seminaries will never include “conservative” books on reading lists, yet conservative seminaries recommend and even require the reading of “liberal” scholars.  Which is truly liberal?  I went to two liberal seminaries, that is, ones which encouraged reading from all over the spectrum (please don’t misquote this sentence – I really went to two very solid and conservative seminaries, for which I am genuinely grateful!)

So let us read widely.  Others may not appreciate the value of this practice, but they don’t have to know about it.  It is not possible to have genuine conviction without the testing of our ideas.  We can only test our thinking by reading outside of our own theological camps, whatever they might be.  So read widely, but disclose wisely.  Let the spectrum broaden as maturity increases.  And if power-figures in your church are not mature enough to read beyond a narrow selection, then be discerning in your disclosure.

Alternatively, we could just read authors from our particular stream of Christianity, I know many who do this, but I suspect his would be a real mistake in ministry!

A Worldwide Lack

Here is a quote that I have used in presentations of our ministry over the past few years.  It’s an observation made in the early pages of Operation World, the great prayer guide for the world by Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk.  It’s an observation that I find to be true as I travel:

There is a worldwide lack of men taught in the Scriptures to lead the churches . . . those who accurately and effectively expound the Scriptures are few.

So, what will we do about this?  Well, let’s pray for the Lord to raise up accurate and effective expositors all over the globe.  Let’s pray for those ministries seeking to equip and train those gifted for such ministry.  Let’s make sure our tiny corner of the globe, wherever we preach, does not fit this generalized description.  Perhaps let’s prayerfully consider ways we can influence and mentor beyond our tiny corner.

The Power of Expository Preaching

Following on from our discussions of the definition of expository preaching, let’s take a moment to refresh on the power of expository preaching. When the Scripture is interpreted well and presented relevantly, there is great power.

The Power of the Word of God – It is hopefully a core conviction that the Word of God is powerful and living. It does not need to be made relevant or made powerful, it is powerful and it is relevant. Our job as preachers is to let that powerful relevance show. Our role is not to be forceful in our own thinking or philosophy, nor in our presentation of the opinion of others, but to effectively present the Word of God.

The Power of the Authority of God – Inasmuch as we accurately handle and present God’s Word, there is authority in preaching. This doesn’t mean we have that authority in ourselves. I’m not advocating heavy shepherding from the pulpit. As Augustine stated long ago, “When the Bible speaks, God speaks.” The authority is His. Hopefully our listeners will be like the Bereans and test what we preach against God’s Word, and then obey God (Acts 17:11).

The Power of the Spirit of God – Expository preaching, in my view, requires that we take seriously our task as communicators. We should be good stewards of the gifting, the calling, the opportunity. We should do all we can to communicate effectively, but always understanding that heart change is not to be found in the fields of persuasion, rhetoric, eloquence, etc. Heart change is the work of the Spirit of God. So as we seek to accurately present the Word He inspired, to the people He is working in, as a person He is empowering, then maybe heart change will occur!

Shifting From We to You

Robinson suggests that there comes a point in a sermon, at least in a good sermon, when the listener loses track of all the people around them. Before, the preacher was one of us, representing us before God, but now there is a shift so that the preacher is representing God to me individually. There is a point at which “we” language can effectively give way to “you” language. There is that need for each individual to make personal application of the sermon.

If we shift too early, we run the risk of coming across as full of ourselves. We can offend people by our personal presence in the presentation.

If we shift too late or not at all, we run the risk of falling short of making the call of Scripture on the lives of God’s people.

There is no set point. It depends on the sermon, on the speaker, on the listeners, on the setting. But we undermine our ministry by neglecting either “we” or “you” language, or by failing to evaluate when the shift can and should occur.

Effective Verse-by-Verse Preaching

Following on from the previous post, I’d like to share Mathewson’s four suggestions for using a verse-by-verse approach effectively.  I could have written my own suggestions, but they’d be much the same as Mathewson, so I’ll let him have the credit for this:

1. Keep the big picture in mind. This means thinking in preaching units or paragraphs, rather than atomistically.  Verse-by-verse is a strategy that serves a larger goal, that of expositional preaching of a unit of Scripture.  Commit to work through a block of text, rather than stopping when the time runs out.

2. Highlight the contours of the text. Include structural observation to help people recognize the contours and shape of the text.

3. Determine which details to cover in depth and which to summarize.  What does the audience need explaining, validated or applied?

4. Use verse-by-verse preaching in concert with paragraph-by-paragraph preaching.  Some sermons in a series will cover larger chunks of text, while others will move verse-by-verse.  Give people both breadth and depth, they need both.

Welcome to the blog

This is a simple concept - a blog for discussing anything related to preaching. We hope to generate discussion of how to preach specific Biblical passages, aspects of delivery, preaching theory and also book reviews. The goal is to stimulate better Biblical preaching. Let’s see where this goes . . .

Verse-by-Verse Preaching

There are many who advocate a verse-by-verse approach to preaching.  Some entire denominations take this approach.  Some (wrongly) define expository preaching by this form.  Here are Steve Mathewson’s lists of strengths and weaknesses of the approach. 

Strengths. 1.  Verse-by-verse sermons dig deeply into the text, thereby countering the contemporary trend toward biblical illiteracy.  2. Verse-by-verse sermons lead the preacher to follow the contours of the text rather than an artificial outline.  3. Verse-by-verse preaching has a tendency to real the author’s intent rather than imposing an idea onto the text.

Weaknesses.  1. The verse-by-verse approach does not serve all literary genres of Scripture equally well.  2. The verse-by-verse approach sometimes results in sermons that lack unity, wherein there is much analysis, but little synthesis.  It is possible to obscure the flow of thought in a text by giving emphasis to every passing detail.  3. There is a tendency in verse-by-verse preaching to overload the sermon with raw data and short-change application.  4. Verse-by-verse preaching can slow the preacher’s pace so much that a congregation does not get to hear the whole counsel of God over a reasonable period of time.

(See Mathewson’s chapter 110 in The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, pp407ff).

My Communication Heroes

Naturally I have heroes who do what I desire to do.  Effective preachers who handle God’s Word very carefully and preach it very relevantly.  Some of these are big names, others are not.  But there are other communication heroes that are not doing what I am trying to do.  They are doing what I feel very incapable of doing.  Here are a couple of examples:

Effective Children’s Sunday School Teachers – the ones that capture the attention of a group of young children and present the teaching of the Bible in a way that makes sense and sticks.  Seeds planted that will bear fruit long into the future.  I’m happy to teach my four children, but I am scared to death of a group of non-Mead children.  People who can handle that are communication heroes in my book!

Effective and Proactive Interpersonal Evangelists – the ones that seem to be finding opportunity after opportunity to share the gospel and lead others to Christ.  I try to get around non-believers, I try to get the conversations around to the gospel, I try to be a witness in the power of the Spirit, but I am also clear that my primary gifting is not in the area of evangelism.  Those that make this look easy are heroes in my book!

What about you?  Are there people using communication skills in the work of the gospel that you know you cannot emulate?  They may look up to you as a preacher and express how glad they are they don’t have to stand in front of a crowd of adults and preach.  Let’s be sure to also affirm those who do what we are glad we don’t have to do!

Preach Grace Not Moralism

Tim Keller makes a critical point.  Too often as preachers we preach a gospel that moves people from rebel to legalist.  We so easily preach so that younger sons become older sons, but somehow miss the glory of the father’s prodigious grace in humiliating himself for the sake of both sons.

Let us be careful to distinguish rebellious sin and moralistic self-righteousness (still sin), from true grace.  We cannot overstate the danger of preaching that turns worldly rebels into pew-filling moralists, but fails to preach the unique distinctive of grace that only the Christian gospel has to offer.

Preaching to Real Ordinary People

Remember that you are not preaching to some kind of super-saintly collection of elite spiritual warriors.  You are preaching to ordinary people.  Ordinary people have doubts that they don’t think they’re supposed to have.  Ordinary people generally feel tired and short on motivation.  Ordinary people often have fears that may be unfounded but still feel ever so real when they lie awake at night.  Ordinary people think they struggle, but everyone else has it all together in life.  Ordinary people sin.  Ordinary people, even after responding to the gospel of grace, still feel that their standing before God depends on their own effort and spiritual “success.”  Ordinary people already feel guilty about several things, not least their lack of proactive witnessing.  Ordinary people are very ordinary.  This has implications in how you present yourself, how you present the message, and how it is supposed to intersect with their lives.  We preach to very real and very ordinary people.

Great Expectations

Perhaps you have experienced it.  Great times of prayer.  Real passionate prayer and even a sense of spiritual breakthrough, all in the context of a forthcoming sermon.  I remember times when I would preach through a message ahead of time, then pray for the people and the event at which it would be preached.  I remember times of great excitement, great expectation.  Maybe you’ve had those times too?  Maybe you’ve also had that let down feeling when the real event happened and the sermon and the response and the atmosphere was all so normal.

It is easy to let the normal-ness of ministry diminish our sense of expectation.  It is as if we don’t really expect people to be transformed or the Spirit of God to be at work.  It is understandable, but it is wrong.  As Haddon Robinson has put it, “we’re handling dynamite, and we didn’t expect it to explode!”  The Spirit of God is at work, the Word of God is powerful, and whether we see it or not, we should prepare and pray with great expectation.  (What about the disappointments and struggles that come internally after we preach?  We pour them out to God and then press on, daring to dream again, daring to pray big and preach big for a big God!)

The Preacher, The Worship Leader

In many churches there is a separation of sermon and worship.  Both are seen to occur in the service, but they are perceived to be distinct elements.  In some churches the service feels like two events – the song service and the sermon.  In other churches the preacher is expected to lead the whole service whether or not the preacher is capable or desirous of the responsibility!

I hope we would agree that worship is more than song-singing.  Actually, worship is about revelation of God and response to God.  While revelation of God need not be restricted to the sermon, it should surely include the sermon.  So the sermon plays a role in the worship of the church.

This has all sorts of possible implications in respect to structuring a church service and planning the interaction of sermon and song.  For example, what comes after the sermon?   It can be a horrible feeling to preach a sermon and then see people switch off and switch back to normal life during the token singing of a closing song (sometimes a sermon and its application needs space to “soak” in).  Equally it can be wholly disappointing to be lifted up through a sermon and then not given the opportunity to respond in well-chosen and well-led song.

I feel that as preachers we need to recognize our role as worship leaders, yet at the same time recognize the wonderful ministry of those capable in leading response through music.  As a preacher I am a worship leader, yet I know so well that there are others who can lead worship so much better than I.  We need each other.

The Pieces of Style

One last post prompted by Bryan Chappell’s book, Christ-Centered Preaching, from the appendix on style (pp340-343).  Chappell advocates a preaching style that is:

Natural – natural expression avoids pretense and artificiality.  A personal, humble, natural style communicates care, transparency and acceptance (of self and others).

Plain – we should be as clear as possible.  People may be overwhelmed by complex communication, but they appreciate clarity.  Great preachers preach so people can understand.

Genuine – don’t hide yourself, but chose to be appropriately transparent in doubts, struggles and fears.  We should have clear empathy and reality in our presentation.

Creative – be loving enough to anticipate the ebb and flow of concentration in your listeners and creatively seek to help them engage.

Courageous – have the courage to let the Bible speak for itself, not pumping in your own authority, but neither apologizing for the tough stuff it serves up.  In an appropriate manner, have the courage to preach the Word.

The Connection Counts

Preaching to the same people all the time is quite different to preaching to different people. I have the privilege of regular preaching in our home church, but also regular preaching to different churches and groups of people in my role with OM. I had an interesting experience recently that highlighted the importance of a preacher’s relational connection with the congregation.

Last year we spent a month on one of the OM ships while it was in the UK. This year I visited another of the ships for a quick four-day visit. I gave the same presentation on the subject of guidance that I did last year. It was almost identical. In fact, it was probably better since I took onboard a fair critique I received last year and adjusted that element this time. However, the response was very different. Last year I had numerous conversations after the presentation, and there was an openness toward the presentation and thankfulness for the session. This year there were some positive responses, but a noticeably higher level of negative reaction and outright rejection of the teaching. What was the cause?

Perhaps the people were different. No two groups of listeners are the same, and it is possible that the different situation onboard meant the listeners responded differently. Equally, it is possible that although content was the same, my manner of delivery was different. While there may be elements of both of these, I think the main issue was something else.

Timing. Last year I was onboard three weeks before I addressed this potentially controversial subject. People had heard me speak, connections had occurred, relationships were forming. This year it was scheduled as the first session. No history, no connection, no relationships . . . and a much more negative response.

If you preach to the same people every week, recognize the importance your connections and relationships have in regard to your preaching. If you are preaching to people who don’t know you, be aware of the risks that come when connection can only come from the delivery itself. Empathy and connection count whether people know you or not, and we are wise to think through the implications of this in our preaching.

Illustrate With Pastoral Care – Part 2

The rest of the list begun in part 1.  Most of this is not new to any of us, but it’s always good to take stock and make sure bad habits have not crept in unawares!

Poke fun at no one but self – just because people may laugh at the joke, this does not justify ridiculing ethnic groups, dialects, political parties, gender, age, or specific individuals.

Share the spotlight – don’t be the hero of your illustration, and don’t be the focus too often either.

Demonstrate taste and respect sensibilities – generally avoid the four “b’s” – birthing, blood, bedrooms and bathrooms!  And don’t use profanity.

Finish what you begin – don’t leave people hanging with a story.  Unresolved story elements can become dominant in listener’s thoughts.

Illustrate With Pastoral Care

I’m enjoying another read-through of Bryan Chappell’s Christ-Centered Preaching.  He gives a helpful list of guidelines for using illustrations pastorally (p203-4).  Half today, and half in part two:

Get the facts straight – handling facts well instills confidence in the listener, but referring to the “95 theses of Martin Luther King” doesn’t.

Beware of untrue or incredible illustrations – don’t present it as true if it is not.  Also don’t present as true even if it is, but people will doubt it.  Credibility is too important.

Maintain balance – not too long and not too many on top of each other.

Be real – too much E.M.Bounds and George Mueller can present an unreal view of what it means to live a spiritual life today.

Don’t carelessly expose, disclose or embarrass – watch out for tacit approval of entertainment that may be “unapproved” by parents in the congregation.  And be very careful not to disclose confidences or embarrass people present (family as well as people in the church!)

Illustrations Serve the Sermon, Not Vice Versa

“Any trained public speaker can select a theme and gather a bundle of stories that will touch an audience emotionally, but this is not preaching.” (Chappell, 200.)  We need to remember always that an illustration is there to serve the sermon, to aid in clarifying explanation, support, or application, but not to substitute for sound explanation.

If you suspect that a message might be too illustration-heavy (a rare problem for some preachers), then it is worth going through the message and questioning the purpose of each one.  Is it there to clarify explanation, to support a point, or to apply the teaching in real life imagery?  Or is it there because you really want to tell it, or because you know they’ll enjoy that one?  Be ruthless in filtering illustrations so they are genuinely serving the sermon.

If people perceive you to be a preacher who just tells stories, then your credibility will be damaged.  Be sure the illustrations are the servants, not the focal point of your preaching.

The Form of Structure

Bryan Chappell makes the comment in his book, Christ-Centered Preaching (p162), that while the structure of a sermon is not the most important question, it is one of the most common questions he is asked when teaching preaching.  Having given specific examples as the starting point for preachers, he then recognizes the great variety of options available to preachers.  The only constraint he gives are four criteria that allow different sermon shapes or structures to represent Scripture well and strike effectively at the human heart.  Every outline should be:

Faithful to the text – accurately representing the movement and meaning of the passage.

Obvious from the text – not imposed on the passage, but evident from it for the sake of those following you with the Bible on their laps.

Related to a Fallen Condition Focus – Chappell’s distinctive element of the FCF, which thereby allows connection between human need and divine grace in the gospel.

Moving toward a climax – which encompasses both the need for order and progression.

Don’t Treat Everything As Essential – Part 2

So, three more issues that are non-essential in defining expository preaching. Let’s not allow our passion for preaching become a passion to prove our preferences are the only legitimate approach to expository preaching!

Preaching Attire – Some people make a big issue out of ties and jackets (”we are dressing for an appointment at the palace” kind of arguments).  Others are passionate the opposite way (”we are dressing to connect with the culture” kind of arguments).  It’s not an issue worth dying for, so I try to dress according to expectations in the church.  As someone who preaches in many places, I recognize that for most people, their own church is the only place they tend to go and so it is natural that their view of such issues is generally narrower.

Preaching Props – If you look around this site you will see that I am a fan of no-notes well-prepared preaching.  Others advocate for notes, brief or full.  Others are in support of manuscripts.  I have moved from notes to no-notes, but it is not a central issue.  Can a preacher be expository with a manuscript, or with notes, of course!  Which is most effective?  That’s a good question to think through carefully (rather than defaulting to what is comfortable).  But “effective” is not the same as “core issue!”

Visual Aids – Some people have passionately tried to convince me that we should all use powerpoint in our preaching.  I see as many problems as benefits with powerpoint preaching, but this is not a core issue.  Can a preacher be expository using powerpoint, or giving notes to the congregation, or using video clips during the sermon, or holding a shepherd’s crook?  Of course, but none are required.

What other issues do some become so passionate about that they become “core issues” when really they are not?

Don’t Treat Everything as Essential

There is always a danger, when we are passionate about something, that our passion will run away with us.  For instance, a passion for expository preaching can easily be misdirected to areas that are not critical issues.  The nature of the Bible, the importance of effective communication, the spiritual and divine work in genuine preaching, the need for appropriate relevance, the nature of the gospel – these are key issues for me.  Here are a few issues that are not critical in my opinion, although we all might be tempted to make them core issues!  Three issues today, three more tomorrow, and what would you add?

Bible Version – I have my preference and I think I have some solid justification for my preference.  But this is not an issue I’ll fight over.  I tend to preach from the pew Bible in the church – that way most people are looking at the same thing.  If the church expresses a preference, then I honor that.  If they want The Message, or the King James Version, I suppose I will use that.  (In my preparation I will use my preferred versions and original languages, then shift to the version for preaching in the final phase of preparation.)

Length of Sermon – A church may want an hour, or they may want twenty minutes.  While I am not known for immaculate time-keeping, I am never trying to make an issue out of this.  Some people seem to think anything less than thirty-five minutes is not expository preaching at all.  Others are passionate in their view that people can’t concentrate beyond twenty-five minutes.  I think both are wrong, but I won’t make an issue out of it!

Form of Sermon – Only verse-by-verse is true preaching.  Only deductive sermons are expository.  Only narrative preaching connects with people. There are so many narrow views around.  Some seem to think that their sermon shape came down from the mount with the blueprint for the tabernacle.  I do not support the notion that expository preaching, by definition, implies any particular form.  Expository preaching is a philosophy of preaching.  The form of the sermon is my choice as the preacher – what will be most effective for communicating the main idea and aiming toward the sermonic purpose?

Don’t Get Stung By the Be’s

I made a passing reference the other day to Bryan Chappell’s list of three “be’s.” These are worthy of our consideration since he raises a crucial point. It is easy to fall into the trap of being biblically based, but biblically incomplete in our preaching. Be focusing on the narrow slice of text we are preaching, and not taking into account the broader teaching of Scripture, we can end up implying (or even stating), that we need to “be” something in order to be loved by God. (See Christ-Centered Preaching, page 289ff).

Be Like – This is where a character is presented, then the congregation are urged to be like them in respect to the chararcteristics highlighted. Chappell acknowledges that biblical writers intended for certain characters to model certain characteristics for the readers to emulate. However, the writers also are honest in presentation of weakness, failure and sin. We must beware of preaching a “be like” message that lacks in awareness of the grace and enablement of God, lest we leave room for boasting and inadvertently preach a works righteousness.

Be Good – While again there is clear biblical instruction to be good or be holy, a message focusing on behavior is dangerous if key elements are lacking. God does not command us to behave well in our own strength. Moralistic harangues are easy to preach and often hard to take, but impossible to justify. Our message cannot be “try-harder-be-better-this-week” and biblical at the same time. Chappell rightly points out that it is wrong to preach that we are saved by grace and kept by our obedience.

Be Disciplined – Very similar to the behavior focus above, this type of message focuses on spiritual disciplines as the means to pleasing God. Many believers fall into the trap of thinking that their identity is tied to their observance of religious practices. Disciplines preached in isolation from the grace of God present a God so easily vexed, a God of “brownie points” spirituality.

It is good to emulate biblical characters in some respects, to be good in behavior and even disciplined in spirituality, but there are dangers in all of these areas. How easily we paint a false portrait of God, a dark shadow of guilt in the place of grace and a false image of true Christianity. As Chappell carefully states it, “‘Be’ messages are not wrong in themselves; they are wrong messages by themselves.”

Taking Series Seriously - Part 2

For a series to work well, it is important to recognize the role of the Spirit and have flexibility in scheduling.  Here are two more important issues to consider:

Avoiding the sameness – A long series in the same book can get old.  There are several ways to avoid this.  Vary the message structure (include a first-person sermon, a more narrative sermon, a good old clear deductive sermon, etc.)  Vary the text length (some weeks you may need to cover only a few verses, but other weeks it would be possible to cover a chapter or two).  Perhaps sameness can be avoided by having another speaker involved (make sure all speakers in a series are on the same page regarding the books overall idea, structure, etc.).  And, of course, a long series in the same book can get old, so . . .

Length of series – Think through the length of the series.  The old days of seven years verse-by-verse through one book are the old days.  Today some advocate that a series should not go longer than 8 weeks.  Others say  4 or 5.  I say you have to think through the situation – who is preaching, to whom, what are they used to, what is the preacher capable of doing effectively, what is the subject matter, etc.  No hard and fast rules, but several months will probably get old for some.  Cover ground more quickly, or break the series and then return to it.

It is a good idea to usually preach sermons in series.  It is a good idea to think through your series seriously.

Taking Series Seriously

Yesterday I shared a few reasons why I think sermon series are generally the way to go.  However, for series to work well, several issues need to be addressed.  Rob’s comment yesterday raised several key issues.  Today I’ll mention two, then the next day two more:

Role of the Spirit – Does a series quench the Holy Spirit?  Does preparing a sermon quench the Spirit?  It is amazing how a series can be scheduled many months ahead of time, then when a particular Sunday comes, the text and its application fit as if the Spirit Himself had faxed you the plan.  However, this does not remove the fact that we need to allow flexibility in our schedules . . .

Flexibility in scheduling – It is unhelpful to pack the schedule so tight that the preacher feels under pressure from the schedule.  Consider leaving “buffer zones” in the schedule, a week or two here and there.  You will have no problem filling them when the time arrives, either with a visiting missionary, a one-off message on a text you’re dying to preach, or a one-off for one of the preachers you are mentoring in the church.  Or, if there is an issue to address, you have the space in the schedule to do so (and if the issue happens three weeks too soon, then just shift everything back a week).

Why Preach a Series?

Some may ask, why do so many of us preach in series?  There are many reasons, but here are a handful to start with:

A series of sermons has greater leverage than a solo sermon. By reinforcing and reviewing a Bible book, the series allows for the lessons to sink in and be applied.  We often are too naïve in what we expect from a single sermon, but underestimate what can be achieved over time.

A series of sermons can create momentum beyond the moment. As well as the preacher reviewing what has gone before, the listeners also know what is coming and are more likely to engage with the Bible book in advance of future messages.

A series of sermons allows messages to balance each other. If a message stands alone, then its distinctives will often need to be balanced within the message, which potentially reduces the applicational impact of it.  Knowing (and if necessary, stating), that a future sermon will present another side of this issue allows the present message to be preached without excessive balancing.

A series of sermons allows for longer lead time in preparation. Knowing what is coming up allows me to channel my preparation weeks or months in advance of the sermon.  This is much healthier than a brief preparation phase which does not allow the sermon to work in me before it comes from me.

A series of sermons allows for overlapped or deeper exegetical work. If I have a series in one book, or in one section of a book, I can use my preparation time to really grapple with that part of the Bible. A series of six sermons in Hebrews allows me more time in studying Hebrews as a whole than six sermons from all over the canon.

This is not to suggest that series are the only way to go, or are the way to go without thought.  There is much to take into account when planning a series and sermons within a series, but these are five of the reasons why I affirm the practice of preaching series of sermons.