Forest Community Church, November 2019
We should have given pre-course homework: listen to some specific sermon and think about what does and doesn't work, and why. Did you spot a structure? A through-line?
And all the while you need to keep your hearers engaged and interested.
You do not want to be just standing at the front giving your own ideas.
"Why should anyone care what I have to say? I'm not a good enough Christian to do this."
This is ubiquitous. Before Fiona gave her talk at TetZooCon, I surveyed academics on Twitter: "Have you ever experienced Imposter Syndrome?". The results:
Aim to be in the middle group.
Ultimately, there is no magic involved in preaching: it's a skill that you can learn like any other skill.
Your goal is to bring a deep understanding of God to other people. You can only do that by first understanding deeply for yourself.
Nothing else makes you engage with the Bible so deeply.
For example, leading a study in small-group. This should mean more than just reading out the questions on a sheet that someone else prepared.
Often you will be invited to preach from a specific Bible passage; or you might be given a topic, such as "baptism", "worship" or "community".
Topics seem easier, but they're actually hard to keep under control because there is no obvious boundary. That's one reason why my sermon on worship (26 August 2012) was one of the worst ones I've given.
So it's actually good to be given a passage. It keeps you on track.
In a lecture, or a talk at an academic conference, the goal is to transfer information and understanding into the listener's minds.
We do want to do that when we preach, but we don't just want to do that. The aim is to engage listener's emotions as well as mind. Tim says "A point for the head, a story for the heart."
The goal of preaching is complex:
Or as Richard of Chichester put it:
A lecture only attempts the first of these.
A diversity of approaches is a strength for the church, not a weakness.
There are natural differences between Tim's and my sermons: this is good. I tend to major on helping people to understand more deeply, because I want to lay the foundation of the first of those three stages. Tim majors more on application. These approaches complement each other.
So you don't need to aspire to preach as Tim or I do.
We have the same thing with our worship leaders: Fiona and I don't want each person who leads worship to do it the same way we do. We welcome Eunice's very different approach, even though it's not how we would do it.
Over time, each preacher will develop his or her own emphasis. This is good, especially in a church with many different preachers.
Ultimately the goal is to reach listeners' spirit; only God's spirit can do that. ("We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments" -- 2 Corinthians 10:4.)
You can't preach what you don't know or understand. You won't be able to bring deep insight if you only read what you need for a specific passage. Read widely and deeply.
“Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”
-- Matthew 13:53
You're preaching from an accumulated store, so build a store!
Develop (and notice) insights during the business of life.
Some say you should allow an hour's preparation time per minute preaching.
I think that's overstating it but I typically put in 10-15 hours to preach 30 minutes, which comes to 20-30 times as much prep as preaching.
That time is split between reading, praying, meditating, studying, writing, and slide preparation.
It's not just the amount of time you have to put in, it's also elapsed time and the gradual growth of ideas. It takes days for an idea to fully take root and grow. If you put in two hours on each of five evenings, you'll end up with more depth than if you sprint through a single ten-hour session.
But don't allow much longer than this, or the preparation will eat your time, as it ate Fiona's summer on year. (This is Parkinson's Law: "Work expands to fill the time available.")
Historical context is useful, especially for Old Testament passages. But the goal is not to bring a history lesson. It's useful to learn more than you're going to say: it informs your approach.
Most importantly for context: what did the original writer mean by his words? Only from that foundation can you go on to ask: how is it relevant now?
Preaching is not just reading the passage, then saying again in your own words.
You don't want the congregation sitting there thinking "I know all this". Your job is to bring a new angle to look at a timeless truth. You want people to say "I never thought of it that way before".
A good question to ask yourself in preparing: "What aspect of God do I want this to open people's eyes to?"
Think about what questions your message might raise. Then pre-empt them by addressing the "Yes, but what about ... ?" questions.
Example: "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?" -- Romans 6:1.
Be aware of different circumstances of different members of the congregation -- single, married; rich, poor; new Christian, established Christian.
Carefully consider whether you can excise negativity: whether instead of saying something negative about something, you can make the same point by saying something positive about something else. (People especially dislike it if you criticise songs that they like.)
Think about confidentiality and consent when telling stories about other people.
When you've been assigned a passage, be careful that you're preaching what is actually written there, not using it as a pretext for your own pet ideas.
How personal should you make a sermon? A personal perspective brings an abstract message home, but it's easy to slip into preaching about yourself. Preaching is not testimony.
Beware making the sermon about the process of preparation ("I wasn't sure what to to say, but then I felt God said ..."). That is not of interest.
Sometimes the sermon you care about the most comes out worst: examples of C. S. Lewis's essay on Blake, and my preach on worship. This is mostly a danger with topical sermons.
Everything should ultimately tie back to the character of God. That's what we want people to see, and that is what transforms people.
https://www.biblegateway.com/ is really good for searching (and for other reasons, such as seeing two versions side by side).
If you stay in a single passage you can end up with an unbalanced view of your topic.
To keep people's attention, you need a story.
This is part of why Jesus taught in parables.
You need to make sure your sermon is not just a bag of points, each of them good; but instead that each flows naturally into the next, so that the whole thing tells an integrated story that draws people on and gives them a reason to follow you.
Traditionally, sermons have three points all beginning with the same letter.
There is not much value to that. Instead, everything should build to your single central point. (There will be minor points along the way, but their goal is to get you to your main point.)
What is the core message that you want people to take home? What is it in a sentence?
Before you get properly started, it's often helpful to mention something that's just happened in the service. This gives a sense of continuity and plants your message in context. it helps people to jump on board.
It's often helpful to begin with a question or conundrum. Examples from my four most recent sermons:
You want the congregation to be thinking "yes, good question!" and to start wondering for themselves what the answer might be. Then when you give the answer you're meeting a need.
Sometimes it's good to make references to, for example, recent news. This helps to ground what you're saying in the present.
But be careful not to alienate people who vote the other way from you.
If you go with sporting analogies, will you turn off people who don't like sport? You're probably safe with something national like Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, but not with Liverpool beating Manchester United.
References to your own church can be helpful, too: people and events that everyone knows about.
Even if someone has read the passage earlier in the service, it's well worth reading it during the sermon. The second reading gives it more change to sink in. (And if it's not already been read, it's essential.)
You can explain little bits of the background in asides during the reading.
Draw out how the passage answers the question you began with.
This is not always immediately obvious. Some parts of the Bible are very dense with ideas, and it will have taken you some time to figure it out.
You need to talk around the relevant points so that the congregation reaches the understanding that took you much longer to win. Example: all the places where sanctification follows from justification in 2 Corinthians 5:14-20. I didn't spot this till I'd been preparing for some time. You want to make it much easier for the congregation than it was for you.
Ultimately an insight is only of real value if it shows us something about God himself. If it's just a better way to understand Bible history, or the geography of Paul's journeys, or even a theological point, then it won't change lives. Only illuminating the character God can do that.
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. (Luke 3:10).
It's usually useful to guide peope towards a concrete response.
"If you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like." -- James 1:23-24.
It's well worth reading in multiple translations to get different perspectives: * NLT for the sense * NASB or RSV for literal meaning * KJV for some resonant phrases * NIV for a good middle path between readability, literalism and poetry
I use the NLT almost exclusively in my actual preaching, but my ideas are often informed by other translations.
Sometines I quote particularly verses in a different translation. e.g. for Psalm 23:4a, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil" (KJV) is much more resonant than "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid." (NLT).
First of three phases of prayer. Pray through the passage to help get a feel for it, and to allow God to speak to you about it.
Pray for understanding of how this passage speaks not just to Christians in general but to this church at this time.
How do you listen to God when prepping?
Don't just key off a single word, like a 1960s AI (ELIZA).
Read and understand, so you grasp what lies at the heart. For example, "If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) is not a about creation -- don't be fooled by the word. The passage is about how what God has done for us (justification) results in our working to become the people he intends (sanctification).
It's rare that an idea only comes up in one place in the Bible. Find other places (do searches for relevant terms) and see what the big picture is. Think about how the present passage fits into that big picture.
This is optional: but if you do want to look at commentaries or online resources that can help you find your way into the passage, don't do it before the first four sections. Commentaries can help you refine your ideas, or fill in spaces, but you don't want them to define your ideas.
Now you have figured out the key idea of the passage, and how the rest of the passage feeds into it, and how it sits in the rest of the Bible, you can pray through it more intelligently.
This is crucial: all your good work up to this point will be wasted if no-one listens to you, or if they drift off before you get to the centre. Tell a story.
There is a ton we could say about this! Very briefly:
By now, your structure is starting to solidify, so this is a good time to pray through it and feel out whether you need changes.
This is part of why you need a whole week's preparation time: so there is enough time to do this.
Example: in preparing The Great Commission, part 2: our Master (Matthew 28:16-20), I landed quickly on the central question: "why was Jesus given all authority? Why didn't he just have it?" But only when I went out to pray the third time did I land on why this question is not only interesting but relevant:
It tells us two complementary truths about Jesus: his having the authority demonstrates his greatness; and his having had to be given the authority, because of having laid it down to die for us, demonstrates his goodness. The reason we obey the Great Commission is because the one who sends us is both great and good.
In preparing Celebrating community: The Family of God (40 Days of Celebration, week 4), I had the shape early on, and the three practical points about behaving as a family. But I needed to revisit it to make sure it kept tying back to God himself; and also to make the whole sermon end with a callback to the opening.
This is painful, but necessary. I have often had to do this. However good a point is, if it's not part of your narative, it's in the way. Be ruthless.
This will give you confidence and fluency
Time yourself, know if you need to cut material. (You ideally want to come in somewhere around 25-30 minutes.)
This will help you realise when parts of the structure are wrong You may suddenly realise (for example) that two sections need to be swapped around.
This is the best way to determine how it all actually fits together, and whether it makes sense. You will be shocked at how much more clearly you see structural flaws when you're delivering to another person.
Get the other person to take notes on what does and doesn't work, but don't let them interrupt you to give their thoughts as you're delivering: you need to keep your flow.
(I actually don't do this now, but that's the result of experience. It's very helpful when you're getting started.)
Revise your slides accordingly.
I leave this till late in the process, because I don't know the exactly composition and order of the questions until I have got the structure completely shaken out.
I like to precede each fill-in-the-blank space with a Bible passage that contains, or hints at, the answer.
I use an MS-Word template that has the styles set up for headings, regular text and Bible quotes.
This is the opportunity to make last-minute changes and clarifications. I usually find I make some minor changes or additions on the morning before I preach.
XXX make two USB sticks, just in case
XXX Get your slides loaded well before the service starts
XXX Be familiar with hardware (the headset and clicker)
XXX I use the slides as my notes. If you do this, be careful of non-FCC churches that don't have projectors.
XXX If using only sparse notes, such as slides, you need to know exactly what you're trying to say -- not figure it out as you're going along.
XXX Fiona reads a written text
XXX If using notes, mark the slide-transition moments
XXX If using paper, staple your pages of notes together so they stay in order
XXX If using iPad, set it to don't-switch-off mode, and be sure it's charged!
XXX Look up, make eye contact (even if reading from notes)
XXX If you speak in a way that is tentative and scared, you undermine your own authority.
XXX
XXX callbacks
XXX "Has anyone ever noticed ...?"
XXX Humour: maybe best when spontaneous, as opposed to actual jokes?
XXX Allow for different levels of pre-existing knowledge. Fill in "blood of the lamb"
XXX Paige: "I'm sorry the visuals weren't up to scratch. I had offered to do them when Luke volunteered to drum, but Jon had already asked Seth and I didn't want to shove him out the way. However when I tried to help it was a bit late and untangling someone else's knot is less easy to untangle my own! You handled it remarkably well - perhaps you will include wisdom on dealing with such a situation in your workshop?"
XXX Sometimes an actual invitation is warranted.
XXX Accepting praise and criticism
XXX How to cope with your emotions
XXX Post-preaching exhaustion: Spurgeon was often depressed after preaching
https://mikepreaching.wordpress.com/
https://biblicalpreaching.net/
Compare with SV-POW! tutorials on preparing and delivering conference talks.
Ask Tim to review what I prepare.
XXX Your top five pitfalls/common mistakes to make.
XXX Suggestions and advice on where else to look for background info, contextualisation, etc. As in what are good resources and what are to be avoided.
XXX a quick recap on the pros and cons of the different translations to be used: which are more literal translations and which are less so.
XXX A brief theological explanation as to why you would say women are allowed to preach, as it's such a contentious issue. In case one must defend oneself!
Also worth mentioning. A pep talk about how it's ok if we don't do ok. To celebrate a willingness to learn and participate (and hopefully have a dozen fantabulous preachers! ) But also to celebrate even if things go belly up. I've had a few people say they're glad I'm doing the course- I'm glad too. But it puts pressure and expectation upon me. And I don't like to not live up to expectation. Without sounding arrogant, I'm used to doing well and hitting expectations - either by talent or by lots of grafting. But the thought of flunking at this and disappointing people (you included!) keeps making me nervous. I've had wrestles with subconscious pride in the past. I'd rather not talk about it to be honest! But I've just spent the last 40Days harping on about being honest about these things. So there we go. I know there's one other person who feels the same. Thank goodness our church is full of grace! Hope this makes sense. Looking forward to the challenge on many levels!