Homiletics

Verse-by-Verse Preaching

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

There are many who advocate a verse-by-verse approach to preaching.  Some entire denominations take this approach.  Some (wrongly) define expository preaching by this form.  Here are Steve Mathewson’s lists of strengths and weaknesses of the approach. 

Strengths. 1.  Verse-by-verse sermons dig deeply into the text, thereby countering the contemporary trend toward biblical illiteracy.  2. Verse-by-verse sermons lead the preacher to follow the contours of the text rather than an artificial outline.  3. Verse-by-verse preaching has a tendency to real the author’s intent rather than imposing an idea onto the text.

Weaknesses.  1. The verse-by-verse approach does not serve all literary genres of Scripture equally well.  2. The verse-by-verse approach sometimes results in sermons that lack unity, wherein there is much analysis, but little synthesis.  It is possible to obscure the flow of thought in a text by giving emphasis to every passing detail.  3. There is a tendency in verse-by-verse preaching to overload the sermon with raw data and short-change application.  4. Verse-by-verse preaching can slow the preacher’s pace so much that a congregation does not get to hear the whole counsel of God over a reasonable period of time.

(See Mathewson’s chapter 110 in The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, pp407ff).

My Communication Heroes

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Naturally I have heroes who do what I desire to do.  Effective preachers who handle God’s Word very carefully and preach it very relevantly.  Some of these are big names, others are not.  But there are other communication heroes that are not doing what I am trying to do.  They are doing what I feel very incapable of doing.  Here are a couple of examples:

Effective Children’s Sunday School Teachers – the ones that capture the attention of a group of young children and present the teaching of the Bible in a way that makes sense and sticks.  Seeds planted that will bear fruit long into the future.  I’m happy to teach my four children, but I am scared to death of a group of non-Mead children.  People who can handle that are communication heroes in my book!

Effective and Proactive Interpersonal Evangelists – the ones that seem to be finding opportunity after opportunity to share the gospel and lead others to Christ.  I try to get around non-believers, I try to get the conversations around to the gospel, I try to be a witness in the power of the Spirit, but I am also clear that my primary gifting is not in the area of evangelism.  Those that make this look easy are heroes in my book!

What about you?  Are there people using communication skills in the work of the gospel that you know you cannot emulate?  They may look up to you as a preacher and express how glad they are they don’t have to stand in front of a crowd of adults and preach.  Let’s be sure to also affirm those who do what we are glad we don’t have to do!

Preach Grace Not Moralism

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Tim Keller makes a critical point.  Too often as preachers we preach a gospel that moves people from rebel to legalist.  We so easily preach so that younger sons become older sons, but somehow miss the glory of the father’s prodigious grace in humiliating himself for the sake of both sons.

Let us be careful to distinguish rebellious sin and moralistic self-righteousness (still sin), from true grace.  We cannot overstate the danger of preaching that turns worldly rebels into pew-filling moralists, but fails to preach the unique distinctive of grace that only the Christian gospel has to offer.

Preaching to Real Ordinary People

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Remember that you are not preaching to some kind of super-saintly collection of elite spiritual warriors. You are preaching to ordinary people. Ordinary people have doubts that they don’t think they’re supposed to have. Ordinary people generally feel tired and short on motivation. Ordinary people often have fears that may be unfounded but still feel ever so real when they lie awake at night. Ordinary people think they struggle, but everyone else has it all together in life. Ordinary people sin. Ordinary people, even after responding to the gospel of grace, still feel that their standing before God depends on their own effort and spiritual “success.” Ordinary people already feel guilty about several things, not least their lack of proactive witnessing. Ordinary people are very ordinary. This has implications in how you present yourself, how you present the message, and how it is supposed to intersect with their lives. We preach to very real and very ordinary people.

Great Expectations

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Perhaps you have experienced it.  Great times of prayer.  Real passionate prayer and even a sense of spiritual breakthrough, all in the context of a forthcoming sermon.  I remember times when I would preach through a message ahead of time, then pray for the people and the event at which it would be preached.  I remember times of great excitement, great expectation.  Maybe you’ve had those times too?  Maybe you’ve also had that let down feeling when the real event happened and the sermon and the response and the atmosphere was all so normal.

It is easy to let the normal-ness of ministry diminish our sense of expectation.  It is as if we don’t really expect people to be transformed or the Spirit of God to be at work.  It is understandable, but it is wrong.  As Haddon Robinson has put it, “we’re handling dynamite, and we didn’t expect it to explode!”  The Spirit of God is at work, the Word of God is powerful, and whether we see it or not, we should prepare and pray with great expectation.  (What about the disappointments and struggles that come internally after we preach?  We pour them out to God and then press on, daring to dream again, daring to pray big and preach big for a big God!)

The Preacher, The Worship Leader

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In many churches there is a separation of sermon and worship.  Both are seen to occur in the service, but they are perceived to be distinct elements.  In some churches the service feels like two events – the song service and the sermon.  In other churches the preacher is expected to lead the whole service whether or not the preacher is capable or desirous of the responsibility!

I hope we would agree that worship is more than song-singing.  Actually, worship is about revelation of God and response to God.  While revelation of God need not be restricted to the sermon, it should surely include the sermon.  So the sermon plays a role in the worship of the church.

This has all sorts of possible implications in respect to structuring a church service and planning the interaction of sermon and song.  For example, what comes after the sermon?   It can be a horrible feeling to preach a sermon and then see people switch off and switch back to normal life during the token singing of a closing song (sometimes a sermon and its application needs space to “soak” in).  Equally it can be wholly disappointing to be lifted up through a sermon and then not given the opportunity to respond in well-chosen and well-led song.

I feel that as preachers we need to recognize our role as worship leaders, yet at the same time recognize the wonderful ministry of those capable in leading response through music.  As a preacher I am a worship leader, yet I know so well that there are others who can lead worship so much better than I.  We need each other.

The Pieces of Style

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One last post prompted by Bryan Chappell’s book, Christ-Centered Preaching, from the appendix on style (pp340-343).  Chappell advocates a preaching style that is:

Natural – natural expression avoids pretense and artificiality.  A personal, humble, natural style communicates care, transparency and acceptance (of self and others).

Plain – we should be as clear as possible.  People may be overwhelmed by complex communication, but they appreciate clarity.  Great preachers preach so people can understand.

Genuine – don’t hide yourself, but chose to be appropriately transparent in doubts, struggles and fears.  We should have clear empathy and reality in our presentation.

Creative – be loving enough to anticipate the ebb and flow of concentration in your listeners and creatively seek to help them engage.

Courageous – have the courage to let the Bible speak for itself, not pumping in your own authority, but neither apologizing for the tough stuff it serves up.  In an appropriate manner, have the courage to preach the Word.

The Connection Counts

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Preaching to the same people all the time is quite different to preaching to different people. I have the privilege of regular preaching in our home church, but also regular preaching to different churches and groups of people in my role with OM. I had an interesting experience recently that highlighted the importance of a preacher’s relational connection with the congregation.

Last year we spent a month on one of the OM ships while it was in the UK. This year I visited another of the ships for a quick four-day visit. I gave the same presentation on the subject of guidance that I did last year. It was almost identical. In fact, it was probably better since I took onboard a fair critique I received last year and adjusted that element this time. However, the response was very different. Last year I had numerous conversations after the presentation, and there was an openness toward the presentation and thankfulness for the session. This year there were some positive responses, but a noticeably higher level of negative reaction and outright rejection of the teaching. What was the cause?

Perhaps the people were different. No two groups of listeners are the same, and it is possible that the different situation onboard meant the listeners responded differently. Equally, it is possible that although content was the same, my manner of delivery was different. While there may be elements of both of these, I think the main issue was something else.

Timing. Last year I was onboard three weeks before I addressed this potentially controversial subject. People had heard me speak, connections had occurred, relationships were forming. This year it was scheduled as the first session. No history, no connection, no relationships . . . and a much more negative response.

If you preach to the same people every week, recognize the importance your connections and relationships have in regard to your preaching. If you are preaching to people who don’t know you, be aware of the risks that come when connection can only come from the delivery itself. Empathy and connection count whether people know you or not, and we are wise to think through the implications of this in our preaching.

Illustrate With Pastoral Care – Part 2

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The rest of the list begun in part 1.  Most of this is not new to any of us, but it’s always good to take stock and make sure bad habits have not crept in unawares!

Poke fun at no one but self – just because people may laugh at the joke, this does not justify ridiculing ethnic groups, dialects, political parties, gender, age, or specific individuals.

Share the spotlight – don’t be the hero of your illustration, and don’t be the focus too often either.

Demonstrate taste and respect sensibilities – generally avoid the four “b’s” – birthing, blood, bedrooms and bathrooms!  And don’t use profanity.

Finish what you begin – don’t leave people hanging with a story.  Unresolved story elements can become dominant in listener’s thoughts.

Illustrate With Pastoral Care

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I’m enjoying another read-through of Bryan Chappell’s Christ-Centered Preaching.  He gives a helpful list of guidelines for using illustrations pastorally (p203-4).  Half today, and half in part two:

Get the facts straight – handling facts well instills confidence in the listener, but referring to the “95 theses of Martin Luther King” doesn’t.

Beware of untrue or incredible illustrations – don’t present it as true if it is not.  Also don’t present as true even if it is, but people will doubt it.  Credibility is too important.

Maintain balance – not too long and not too many on top of each other.

Be real – too much E.M.Bounds and George Mueller can present an unreal view of what it means to live a spiritual life today.

Don’t carelessly expose, disclose or embarrass – watch out for tacit approval of entertainment that may be “unapproved” by parents in the congregation.  And be very careful not to disclose confidences or embarrass people present (family as well as people in the church!)