Month: November 2008

Patient Expectation

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Preaching ministry requires patience, not just passion.  It requires prayer, not just power.  It is about long-term faithfulness, not just fireworks.  As we head into another Sunday, let’s keep our thinking straight.  God is at work in the lives of His people, Christ is building His church, the Spirit is working all week in all manner of ways.  We stand to preach and we do so as part of God’s greater work in and through the church.

We should preach with prayer-fueled passion and faith-filled expectation.  Yet we must also preach with patient trust in God’s timing.  We preach for the small step forward unheralded during the handshakes and not just the dramatic outbreak of revival heralded in the Christian press.  We preach for small pieces of an invisible puzzle to move into place, for links to be added to a private chain, for unannounced questions to be answered in the quiet of a struggling heart.  Every Sunday cannot be earth-shaking, but every Sunday can be eternity-shaping.

We preach not for the glory of man, but for the glory of God.  So often His glory is tied to his loving patience and not just to His dramatic outpourings for the content of another bestselling paperback.  As we’ve said before, so we must say again this Sunday – we preach by faith.  By faith trusting that the God who is the same yesterday, today and forever, will as always be working out His purposes in far too many ways for us to realize.  We know the end of the story, so let’s not lose heart during the quieter chapters when so much is achieved behind the scenes, in the hearts, in private struggles, in personal journeys.  Let’s preach today with prayerful, faith-filled, passionate, and indeed, patient expectation.

Preach It From The Right Passage

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

It is a temptation that we all face at one time or another.  We have a passage to preach and there is something in the passage that moves our mind somewhere else in the canon.  Perhaps a term, a theological issue, a familiar concept.  Then we are tempted to preach the other text using this one.  I remember taking a distance learning course once on the Pastoral Epistles, but the lecturer obviously would have preferred to be in Romans as he kept going back there!

I was just listening to Walter Kaiser teaching on Genesis 4.  He pointed out how we so readily want to read in a Leviticus 17 focus (“blood sacrifice”) while the text of Genesis 4 places the emphasis not on the sacrifice type, but on the state of the man as he offered what he offered (“first fruits” being significant on the part of Abel).  My goal here is not to teach Genesis 4, I’ll leave you to sort out tradition from exegesis on that passage.  My point is that we must always try to preach the passage we have before us, rather than reading in a concept that would be better taught in a passage that really teaches it.

The Bible has so much in it, but that doesn’t mean we can preach anything from any passage . . . or even multiple things from any passage.  Let’s be sure to preach the Word!

Why We Preach

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Where there is no vision, the people perish . . . so starts a well-known, oft-quoted and usually misunderstood proverb (Proverbs 29:18).  The second half of the proverb completes the thought and makes it clear that this is not about having vision statements, 5-year plans and strategic documents (good as those all are).  It is about a word from the Lord.  Where there is no word from the Lord, the people go wild, they cut loose, they sin with abandon.  The same verb is used twice of the Israelites sinning out of control with the golden calf (they weren’t just dancing – Exo.32:25!)  It is used to describe the wickedness promoted by King Ahaz (2Chron.28:19).

So as you continue to prepare for Sunday, remember how important it is that God’s people hear the word of the Lord.  If we consistently fail to preach the Word, the results will become evident.  Whether or not you have a vision statement in the church, make sure the Word of God is preached clearly, accurately, faithfully and applicatonally.

Ingredients of Delivery: Biblical Narratives 3

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I just wanted to add one more important ingredient to the list.  We need to describe well and preach dynamically.  To effectively preach the story, we also need . . .

High Definition Imagination – To put it simply, if you can see it, they will see it.  Instead of just describing “about” the story, we need to describe the story.  We need to study well so that the image forms in our mind, then we need to describe what we can see as we tell the story.  We need to be careful to preach the inspired text, rather than the event itself.  However, in preaching the text, we do describe the event/story.  If that is merely facts, it will not communicate well.  If it is a foggy view through the mists of time, then people will only hear the fog.  But if we can study ourselves through to a point of clarity, then we have a chance of preaching so that the reality of the narrative forms in the minds and hearts of the listeners.

This certainly overlaps with description skill, but all the skill in the world will fall flat if we do not have a high definition imagination that is thoroughly informed by Scripture.  We have to see it, if they are to see it.

Ingredients of Delivery: Biblical Narratives 2

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Yesterday we noted how critical description is in the telling of a Bible story.  Today I’d like to mention another key ingredient.  Without thinking through this, your preaching of that Bible story will not be what it could be.

Dynamism – Stories move.  They have tension, movement, interaction, emotion.  We cannot tell a story while standing like a four-storey building.  We need to consider motion, body language, and emotion in voice, face and gesture.  Consider how to physically and subtly represent the movement of the story on the platform.  Always point to Goliath in the same direction, generally let time flow from left to right from their perspective, etc.  Stories move.  Good storytellers generally do too.  And the best storytellers move physically, in gesture and in expression in a way that is consistently natural!  Being natural takes work!

Effective description and engaging dynamism . . . two critical ingredients for the effective preaching of biblical narratives.

Ingredients of Delivery: Biblical Narratives

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

When it comes to preaching a Bible story, many skills come into play.  I would like to mention a couple for your consideration.  In the next weeks many will be preaching story, even those who tend to stay rooted in the epistles.  So what is needed for effective delivery of a Bible story?  One thing is important to mention before we get to the delivery . . . when you are preaching a Bible story, tell the story!  Don’t just dissect it, label it, apply it, etc., but fail to tell it.  Stories are powerful, so let them loose on your listeners.  Here’s the first key skill, another is coming tomorrow:

Description – Good stories form in the imagination of the listener.  In the old days people would crowd around a crackling radio to catch the latest installment of a powerful story.  Ever since there were children, stories have been told to captivate, excite, scare and encourage.  In recent generations the visual media of television and film have overwhelmed the traditional theatrical presentation of story.  Either on the screen, or on the screen of the mind, a good story forms images, it can be “seen.”  When we preach we need to tell the story in such a way that people aren’t hearing information, but seeing the images.  Description is not easy, but it is worth working on.  Accurate description is important, but so too is sensory description – what it looked like, what the sounds were, the smells, the touch, the taste.  We need to grow in our awareness of and use of adjectives.  Not to show off obscure vocabulary, but to effectively describe so that the story can form for the listener.  When was the last time you read quality descriptive literature?  (And I don’t mean description of kenosis or intra-trinitarian relationality!)

To tell story well, we must describe well.  Practice in your conversations today, practice on your children, seek to develop this skill . . . your preaching will benefit every week!

Getting Into the Christmas Spirit

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Just a month to go until Christmas.  The shops are gearing up, children are more than ready, but are we focused on it yet?  I don’t mean that we should be thinking about what to buy wives for Christmas (although we should, Christmas Eve panic buying is never healthy).  I mean focused on it for preaching.  After all, there are only a handful of Sundays between now and the big day.

Perhaps you are preaching a series from Matthew or Luke, or maybe only one of a series.  Take a look at the passage now and turn on your amazement again.  Don’t worry about how to preach it, what sermon form to use, etc.  For now just read the text with a very open heart and get excited about the Incarnation again.  Tinsel, shopping, carols and dark evenings may excite some, but turn off others.  But if we are going to preach something of the reality of Christmas, then we need to be prepared.

Let’s not preach a tinsel Christmas this year, but a genuinely-excited-incarnation-wonder-season of sermons!

Don’t Be Intimidated By Your Previous Sermon

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

I’m not sure if this is a common experience or not, but I’ll mention it just in case.  One week you preach a sermon and it seems to work very well.  The next week you feel a pressure for this sermon to have the same elements as last time.  For instance, last week I was in a church and was asked to preach John 9 – blind man healed.  This week I am in a different church and need to preach the last episode in Mark 10 – blind Bartimeus healed.  Somehow I have felt an internal pressure to find similar sermon elements to last week.

The truth is that this message, whatever it is for you, is a unique passage and unique message.  We should not preach it under the shadow of a previous positive or negative experience.  We should look to preach it in all the simplicity and specific elements required of this text for this people on this occasion.

Whatever you did last week, make sure that this week you preach this week’s text.

The Preparation Process in Question Form

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Perhaps you have already thought it through in this way, or perhaps this will be helpful to you.  The eight stage preparation process can be stated in the form of questions:

1. Passage Selection – Which passage will you prepare to preach?

2. Passage Study – What does the passage say and mean?  (What is the content of the passage?)

3. Passage Purpose – Why was the passage written? (The intent of the passage.)

4. Passage Idea – What is the author saying about what he’s writing about?  What is the heart of the unit of thought?  What is the main point here?  (The goal is to write a one sentence statement succinctly and accurately.)

At the mid-point (not necessarily half-way through the preparation time), you begin to seriously consider to whom you will be preaching the passage.  Audience analysis is essentially answering the “who?” question in reference to the preaching event.

5. Message Purpose – Why do these people need to hear this passage?  Why will you stand and deliver this passage to them?

6. Message Idea – How can the idea of the passage be stated with an emphasis on the relevance to these particular listeners?  How can the idea be stated in a way that is succinct, clear, accurate and ideally, memorable?

7. Message Outline – How can the purpose of the message be achieved?  How can the idea of the message be delivered?  This is the point of deciding the form of the sermon, the preacher’s strategy.

8. Message Detail – How can each movement in the message be developed: explained, supported, applied?  How can the message be most effectively introduced?  How can the message be most effectively concluded?

Just a couple of observations on this:

Observation A – The idea of a passage must be informed by both content and intent, by both what and why.  Equally, the idea of the message must be influenced by the what of the passage, but also by the why of the message (ie.why preach this passage to these people?)  Too often the idea of a message is influenced by content, but not by a carefully considered purpose for the message.  (Even more “oftener” the idea is absent altgether, but that’s another issue!)

Observation B – The first four stages are all about probing and understanding the passage.  Most of the questions in the last four stages are “how?” questions.  The preparation of the message is largely a “how” issue – a matter of preaching strategy, creativity, deliberate clarity, etc.

Passage Precedes Message

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I just read a post on communication that related to content versus visuals in their relative importance.  The conclusion was that neither trumped the other, but in fact connection trumped them both.  In the more specific realm of biblical preaching, we have to give precedence to the content, but that does not mean we neglect all other aspects of effective communication.

A point made concerned the preparation of a presentation.  It is not good to start by sitting at the computer to plan the visuals.  It is much better to spend time in thought with pen and paper to determine the desired outcome and the best way to achieve it.  How true that is.  It is true for a business presentation, and it is true, with modification, for preaching as well.

How easy it is to slip into starting with illustrations, visuals, message details.  It is also easy to start with thinking about what we want to achieve and then go hunting for a text to utilize in that quest.  But really we should be starting away from the PC, Bible in hand and congregation in our prayers.  Good preaching preparation does logically follow the eight stages I advocate on this site, but this is not a formula.  Good preaching starts with a real soak in the text, out of which can spring the budding thoughts on how to preach that text, outline, illustrations, etc.

It is that initial soaking in the text (study, analysis of structure, content and intent, coalescing of the main idea, etc.) which is the critical first half of the bridge we are hoping to build to our listeners.  Too many preachers build backwards only to discover the bridge is weak on the Bible side and consequently, weak in authority, power, etc.