Preaching

This is a very important question. I have heard sermons from 5 minute sermon-ettes to 1 1/2 hour lectures all under the term "sermon." Personally, I attempt to preach between 25 and 35 minutes. I think that longer than that and people tend to only remember what you said towards the end, shorter than that and you can't really lay down the groundwork to say something significant.

However, this is a personal thing. I have heard some strong preachers preach on a very interesting topic for an hour and have wondered where the time went. I have also heard dry ponderous presentations that felt like 2 hours when it was really 30 minutes. So I guess we have two points. The first point is to say something significant and needed and helpful. If you present something significant in an interesting way, then you will have few people disappointed in your length.

However your average preacher would do better to preach shorter sermons because it is easier for the people to process and it is easier for the preacher to stay interesting.

Teresa Fry Brown continues onto another point as she presents Charles Adams' 9 suggestions to preachers found on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs. This one has to do with imitating other preachers.

The thought here is to strive to be yourself. Certainly one can learn from other preachers. I have written about this in many other articles. Just as the Jazz musician listens to other musicians, certainly we will listen to preachers and gain something from them. However, it is very problematic to imitate someone, especially when one has heard the one that you are copying. The people have come to hear you preach so you preach. God has called us to preach in our own gender, ethnicity, and denominational tradition. Copying will short circuit your creativity and make you redundant. If I want some big name preacher to preach, I will get them, but if I have called you, I want you. Let God speak to the people with your voice.

Teresa Fry Brown hits on another important topic as she presents Charles Adams' 9 suggestions to preachers found on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs. This one has to do with re-using sermons.

The book argues that we should not repeat a sermon unless we "filter" it. I have heard homiletics instructors argue over this topic. One of my homiletics teachers stated that you should never re-use a sermon. In this instructors mind, the sermon is so tied to circumstances and situations that it can not legitimately be used again in another circumstance and situation. Certainly there is some truth here. The vast majority of sermons are so closely tied to this situation that it cannot be used again verbatim.

However, as one of my other professors stated, if it is worth preaching once, it is worth preaching again. However that professor would agree with Adams, through Brown, who states that "new experience, new information, [and] new communication" require that the sermon be recast into the new situation.

Read the Rest Here

In this article we continue discussing simple strategies that will greatly increase your effectiveness as a preacher. The next one is something of special interest to those of us who are especially prone to CP (Colored People) Time. I don't necessarily believe that there is a correlation between melanin and tardiness, but there is amongst us an ongoing realization that too often we are not on time. To increase your effectiveness, you must be punctual.

Why Being on Time is Important?

We cannot say enough about being on time. Being on time is a necessity. It informs members of the congregation that you take ministry and their time seriously. While it is true that circumstances arise in all of our lives that force us to be a little late at times, but timeliness in the matter of preaching ought to be our habit. Arriving late makes it seem as if you were preoccupied with more pressing matters than both the Gospel and the people; what could be more important than these things?

Conclusion

To Conclude, being on time will demonstrate to the people that you take your role as a preacher seriously and that you think that their time is important. If at all possible be on time and watch your effectiveness as a preacher increase.

While God plays the most significant role in the preaching task, the preacher must aid God in the work. Preachers can follow some simple strategies that will greatly aid the preaching moment. In the next 4 posts we will look at a few of these simple strategies. The first is to simply be present.

Arriving is a Statement

Simply arriving at a preaching engagement, is a powerful statement. As a minister, or ambassador of Christ we face many arduous circumstances, hindrances, and devilish detours all aimed at derailing us from spreading the gospel. Thus in a very real sense simply showing up and being present at the preaching moment is a powerful proclamation of God's keeping power. Showing up also demonstrates that the preacher sees the preaching moment as more important than creaturely comfort. So be present because when you show up you are saying, "God is more powerful than Satan, and Good is more powerful than evil."

Read the Rest Here

Teresa Fry Brown makes a startling statement in her presentation of Charles Adams' 9 suggestions to preachers found on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs. She says:

One lacks homiletical integrity, authority, creativity, character, calm, and spirituality if one's entire preaching life is stolen.

Brown notes that one should at least credit a source if one uses another's introduction, alliteration, or other device. Stealing sermons hurts you because as you steal, you slowly lose your own creativity to put together strong sermons. In addition, there is a great possibility to lose credibility with the people. I remember hearing a particularly strong sermon from a well-regarded preacher. Later in my seminary study, I was reading a book of sermons and found that sermon word for word. This brought into question all of the sermons that he had preached.

Read the Rest Here

Now we continue our discussion of Charles Adams' 9 suggestions to preachers that Teresa Fry Brown reported on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs.

Brown notes: "We preach with people not at, over, or under them." That is a very compact and powerful statement that deserves some unpacking. First, we do not preach at the people. Preaching at, over, or under the people would seem to infer that the people do not play the proper role in the sermon creation as well as sermon delivery. We all have heard the preachers who do not take the people into account in their preaching. Sometimes the preachers use language that does not help, but hinders the reception. Some preachers seem to attempt to prove their intelligence or their preparation time. They are always throwing greek terms in their sermons and using technical terms from their seminary days. While I think that Greek should be an intimate part of your preparation, in presentation we should attempt to translate the ideas into language understood by the people.

In addition, there are those who preach under the people. Some preachers never give the people anything but milk and never attempt meat. They never attempt to give the people the things that will push them to a higher level in Jesus. In addition, there are those who preach as if they are talking to children. Your sermons should take into account who is in your audience.

Yes the we must preach with the people. That means that when the people tell you something is hard to understand (maybe through puzzled looks or even vocally) then you should expand on that point. when people tell you that they want to linger there a little bit more, go ahead and linger. Sure you must preach what God has given you to preach, but the preaching must be WITH the people and not TO them. If you preach with the people, your presentations will be much more effective communications of the gospel.

In this post, we will continue our discussion of Charles Adams' 9 suggestions to preachers that Teresa Fry Brown reported on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs.

Don't be Monotonous

Adams, through Brown, stated "Don't be monotonous." Then Adams, through Brown, provides musical language by stating: "Inflection, melody, and tempo changes are essential." Here we see that the key to overcoming being monotonous is to use vocal change. We can speed up or slow down our speaking. In addition, we can raise the tone or lower the tone as well as put together strings of tones. Finally, we can use inflection in our preaching. The key to all this is vocal change. Now one might ask, "should we attempt to change these things or should we simply let it flow?" I think generally, we should just let it flow. Listen to two people in an animated conversation. Listen to how the speed and pitch of the voice changes based on what is said. The person in the conversation doesn't attempt to artificially change these things, it just comes naturally when one is invested in what one is saying. Likewise, preachers should put their emphasis on being invested in what they are preaching. After having said that, many preachers have to practice so that they can be natural. There is no getting around it, the preacher is not talking to one in a natural animated conversation, but is in front of 50 (or 5, 500, or 5000) people in an artificial situation. Some will have difficulty, especially at first, being "natural" in such an "artificial" situation. The preacher might have to practice sounding "natural" with all the natural vocal changes.

Paint the Picture

Then Adams, through Brown, makes a very interesting statement: "If used correctly, the voice can paint a picture with minimal language." Because how you use your voice is as important as what you are saying, one should do everything that that one can do to help people get the message. Here the preacher embodies the message and becomes the message. Let us embody our messages and work on being natural. When one does this, one's messages connect with the people in greater ways.