It’s like a wave crashing onto the beach. It can be big or small. It can be obvious or hardly noticed. But as a preacher you must notice your transitions. What you can’t afford to do is forget the power in a transition. Like a wave it can be beautiful, or destructive. A transition can reinforce the content and flow of your message. It can give people another entry point into your content. It can convey a sense of unity and progress and order! Or a transition mishandled can throw people right out of the message, it can lose them in a moment. Taking your transitions for granted is like standing with your back to the ocean – you may get away with it, or you may be destroyed by it.
In your next message, evaluate your transitions. Are they thought-through and deliberate? What is the strategy for each one? Is it to reinforce the main idea, or restate the question in an inductive sermon? Is it to review ground covered? Is it to signal progress? Is it to continue a list (as when a subject is gradually being completed)? Is it to change pace or give a concentration break? Is it moving from one point to an equal, or to a subordinate? Is the transition developed enough? Is it slow enough so that people are not thrown out in the curve? Is it too weak to stand between the power of the points? Does it promise too much for what will follow? Is it begging for deliberate pause to make it effective?
Transitions are powerful, whether you plan them or not. They can make a message. They can destroy a message. Take some minutes to evaluate and plan your transitions in your next message. It’s worth the effort.
And tell us, what is a transition defined as?
The element of a sermon where the preacher shifts from one point, movement or section of the message to the next point, movement or section of the message.