Many books on preaching only emphasize the preparation of the sermon. However, few deal with the issue of presenting the sermon. In the book Best Advice for Preaching Mitties McDonald de Champlain provides some things to keep in mind when preaching the sermon. Explicitly Champlain describes the purpose of his presentation as “How to be good news while preaching the good news is the concern of this chapter.” The first section of the chapter describes the goals of the preacher in seeking to preachthe gospel.

Be Authentic

The first goal of the preacher is to be authentic. Here the preacher seeks to be “open, honest, relevant, and real” (pg 100). As I have noted before, God has called you as the preacher for a reason. We must be that one that God has chosen to preach the Gospel through. In addition, de Chaplain emphasizes that being authentic would include nonverbal as well as verbal communication.

Use Natural Delivery

Here we seek to spend no time thinking about delivery while we are delivering the sermon. This is tied to the previous goal of being authentic. While I agree with this point, I think that we should spend time thinking and even practicing delivery in preparation. I have spoken about practicing the sermon like practicing the trumpet. To state it clearly, I would say, think about and practice your delivery before the time of sermon presentation. Then when it is time for sermon presentation, just “let it rip.”

Be Appropriate

The preacher should incorporate the expectations of the congregation into their presentation. de Chaplain notes that if a congregation is used to a preacher standing behind the pulpit, then the preacher should incorporate that into their presentation. There is a natural tension between this goal and the previous two. One might argue that if we are to be authentic and use natural delivery why would we consider this issue? I think that what we must do is keep these two ideas in tension. We should remember that the sermonic moment is a combination of Spirit, Congregation, and Preacher thus all three of these should play a part in determining how the preacher will present the Gospel.

Related posts:

1. Preaching Without Notes through Improvisation
2. Methods for Preaching Without Notes – Memorize Part of the Sermon
3. Authenticity and Preaching
4. Why are Some Preachers better than others?
5. Preaching by Playing Words Like Notes