Preparing to preach life-changing sermons requires careful composition. Since life change requires work, we want to connect what we are saying with what God has said and what we want people to do. The people of God are “God’s workmanship,” which we could translate as “God’s poem.” (Ephesians 2:10). The art of preaching allows the Holy Spirit to shape the way we live out the poetry of God’s will (Hebrews 10:36). The preacher’s challenge is to plan and prepare life-changing sermons that engage daily life.
What Life-Changing Truths Do You Want to Communicate?
Good poetry finds its way through the poet’s heart; good preaching begins by breathing life into the preacher’s heart. Good poetry often costs the poet time and energy as the pieces of his poetic struggle come together. Likewise, good preaching takes an investment of time and energy to quicken the heart of the preacher and illuminate the way for the people.
A Chinese seminary student in Nanjing, China, once told me he would graduate soon. Since he was moving to western China, he wanted to know how to preach with meaning and authority. So I asked, “What resources will you have?” He said, “The Bible.” I told him to read his text twenty times, and God would reveal what needed to be addressed. Then, communicating what God had put on his heart entailed designing the sermon. To give him a picture of what I meant, I suggested he speak as if he were relaying God’s message to a blind man. How could he picture his message so one who could not see would understand?
God’s message, by definition, allows the text to say what it says. Good preaching does not try to make the Bible say what it never said. So the sermon seeks to engage both heart and mind with the soul of the passage.
Poets and preachers work with a goal. What are we trying to accomplish? J. I. Packer reminds us that preaching is:
… the event of God himself bringing to an audience a Bible-based, Christ-related, life-impacting message of instruction and direction through the words of a spokesperson.
J. I. Packer, “Some Perspectives on Preaching,” in Preaching the Living Word, ed. David Jackman (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 1999), 28.
What Will Improve Your Communication?
People cannot know how to assimilate what the text says if the preacher does not provide insights into its meaning and application. Theology can inform the hearer, but life-changing connections require capturing the heart. Cliches and platitudes are rarely transformational. When the last syllable has faded from the sound waves, what life-changing truths are people taking home in their hearts?
Biblical preachers pay attention to texts and parallel texts. Every verse stands in its context, just like good pictures have a point of focus and background. Let the passage generate a thirst for understanding its story.
Strong preaching travels through the senses. Therefore, if the preacher can engage imaginations with sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch, the mind’s eyes of the hearers open. Luke paints a compelling word picture of this concept when he describes what happened after Peter’s third denial.
Just as the rooster crowed, the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him.
Luke 22:60-61
We could hear the rooster crowing and see our Lord’s eyes meet Peter’s. We could also feel the memory crushing Peter’s heart. The writer engaged the reader in his story. The preacher should do the same.
Finally, poetry and preaching welcome metaphors and similes. Jesus often followed the words “I am” with a metaphor. “I am the good shepherd… the way, the truth, and the life… the light… the bread of life… the door/gate… the vine.” If we refer to a person’s sacrificial gift, we might say, “Her gift is like the ‘widow’s mite.’” When we use “as” or “like,” we are using similes.
What Have You Communicated?
Preachers and poets may lose what they intend to say as they take excursions disconnected from the text. Maybe we start well, but forget the emphasis of our passage as we try to engage the people. Soon, painting pictures and telling stories becomes more important than the life-changing message of the Word. Failure to connect the end with the beginning leaves the listener perusing the art of the moment with little idea regarding how what was said should make any difference in real life. Preachers have a choice. We don’t want people leaving thinking, “So what?” Therefore, we can choose to send them away challenged by the “Now What?” of the text.
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Life-Changing Sermon Preparation
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Posted: March 11, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
Preparing to preach life-changing sermons requires careful composition. Since life change requires work, we want to connect what we are saying with what God has said and what we want people to do. The people of God are “God’s workmanship,” which we could translate as “God’s poem.” (Ephesians 2:10). The art of preaching allows the Holy Spirit to shape the way we live out the poetry of God’s will (Hebrews 10:36). The preacher’s challenge is to plan and prepare life-changing sermons that engage daily life.
What Life-Changing Truths Do You Want to Communicate?
Good poetry finds its way through the poet’s heart; good preaching begins by breathing life into the preacher’s heart. Good poetry often costs the poet time and energy as the pieces of his poetic struggle come together. Likewise, good preaching takes an investment of time and energy to quicken the heart of the preacher and illuminate the way for the people.
A Chinese seminary student in Nanjing, China, once told me he would graduate soon. Since he was moving to western China, he wanted to know how to preach with meaning and authority. So I asked, “What resources will you have?” He said, “The Bible.” I told him to read his text twenty times, and God would reveal what needed to be addressed. Then, communicating what God had put on his heart entailed designing the sermon. To give him a picture of what I meant, I suggested he speak as if he were relaying God’s message to a blind man. How could he picture his message so one who could not see would understand?
God’s message, by definition, allows the text to say what it says. Good preaching does not try to make the Bible say what it never said. So the sermon seeks to engage both heart and mind with the soul of the passage.
Poets and preachers work with a goal. What are we trying to accomplish? J. I. Packer reminds us that preaching is:
What Will Improve Your Communication?
People cannot know how to assimilate what the text says if the preacher does not provide insights into its meaning and application. Theology can inform the hearer, but life-changing connections require capturing the heart. Cliches and platitudes are rarely transformational. When the last syllable has faded from the sound waves, what life-changing truths are people taking home in their hearts?
Biblical preachers pay attention to texts and parallel texts. Every verse stands in its context, just like good pictures have a point of focus and background. Let the passage generate a thirst for understanding its story.
Strong preaching travels through the senses. Therefore, if the preacher can engage imaginations with sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch, the mind’s eyes of the hearers open. Luke paints a compelling word picture of this concept when he describes what happened after Peter’s third denial.
We could hear the rooster crowing and see our Lord’s eyes meet Peter’s. We could also feel the memory crushing Peter’s heart. The writer engaged the reader in his story. The preacher should do the same.
Finally, poetry and preaching welcome metaphors and similes. Jesus often followed the words “I am” with a metaphor. “I am the good shepherd… the way, the truth, and the life… the light… the bread of life… the door/gate… the vine.” If we refer to a person’s sacrificial gift, we might say, “Her gift is like the ‘widow’s mite.’” When we use “as” or “like,” we are using similes.
What Have You Communicated?
Preachers and poets may lose what they intend to say as they take excursions disconnected from the text. Maybe we start well, but forget the emphasis of our passage as we try to engage the people. Soon, painting pictures and telling stories becomes more important than the life-changing message of the Word. Failure to connect the end with the beginning leaves the listener perusing the art of the moment with little idea regarding how what was said should make any difference in real life. Preachers have a choice. We don’t want people leaving thinking, “So what?” Therefore, we can choose to send them away challenged by the “Now What?” of the text.
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Category: Ministry Helps Tags: Bible, communicate, goal, life-changing, preacher, preaching, prepare, sermon