I just came across a radio feature by Paul Butler of Moody Radio. It was aired back in July on Prime Time America, but somehow I missed it. It lasts about seven minutes and includes snippets of Erwin Lutzer, K. Edward Copeland and yours truly. Instead of a post to start the new year, here’s a radio clip:
Religion
Suggesting Future Posts
Happy New Year! I’ve freshened up the look of the site and made a few tweaks, hope you like it? Now I think we’re ready for 2011!
When I started this blog back in 2007, I didn’t know what would happen with it. It was just a venue to write some thoughts down regarding preaching. I tend to write each day, apart from when I write a batch of posts (out of necessity, or because I have a lot of things on my mind regarding preaching). This means that posts are not really planned, and the diet is not really balanced. There will be times when I focus on one type of Bible literature, or on some aspect of delivery, or on some approach to preaching, or on some element of the preacher’s personal life, or on one particular writer’s thoughts on the subject, etc. I will continue to work in the same way during 2011, God willing.
However, I am very open to hearing suggestions of things to write about. Perhaps you have been pondering some aspect of preaching. Mention it, then I may write on it and you can comment on the post. Perhaps something on the site isn’t as clear, or as emphasized as it should be. Any suggestions are welcome, and those that spark my thinking will result in posts.
I hope this is a great year for your preaching ministry – may your listeners delight more in God, and may He delight in your ministry. Happy New Year!
Final Preaching Lessons from a Low Budget Film
I’ve stretched out the lessons I noted from watching a low budget film to three posts. We’ve considered the importance of speech, the challenge of natural speech in unnatural circumstances (like preaching), the need for less important lines, and the importance of historical/cultural details in the telling of an historic story. Two more lessons for us, one potentially overwhelming and one hopefully very encouraging!
5. The je ne sais quoi of engaging the audience. What makes the listener or viewer sit forward? What makes them sit back and ponder their blog? What makes a story riveting? What makes it pass you by without leaving much of a mark? A good film captures your attention, engages your mind and heart, and makes a mark. A poor film doesn’t. It sits on the screen and generally remains at arms length. Yet the difference between the two is often hard to define. It’s the same with preaching. It’s something about timing, and energy, and word choices, and details, and movement, and effective transitions. It’s something about creating identification with what is presented, about the people being believable, about the story stirring the heart. It’s as if you can get most details right, but one or two out of sync and the listener feels disengaged. It’s hard to pin down, but on the positive side, it surely keeps us from resting on our laurels. Surely it urges us to continue pursuing helpful feedback and to strengthen our preaching so that listeners might engage more fully. Surely it urges us to pray more fervently and recognize that as preachers we cannot generate something in others that it may be God’s business to generate.
But that is discouraging. Not being able to pin down a complete recipe for preaching. Surely we’re all doomed? None of us can get every element right all the time. One final lesson:
6. There is good news – listeners know and engage anyway. I watched the film gladly, not negatively. I knew the background story. I knew why the film was low budget and I knew how little background the actors had. So while I was not riveting as I might be by some higher budget films, I did choose to engage with the film, follow the plot, get the point, and I did appreciate it. We need to remember that listeners are not film critics (even though some may give the impression of never being satisfied by anything served up on Sunday morning!) Most listeners want their preacher to do well. I have often taught preaching classes where students had to preach in English, even though it isn’t their first language. I always try (probably unsuccessfully) to convince them that actually they have an advantage over mother-tongue English speakers: namely, the listeners respect the effort it takes and will listen more carefully and will want them to succeed even more! If, like me, you are not a perfect preacher, thank God that most listeners know that and choose to engage with our sermons anyway!
More Preaching Lessons from a Low Budget Film
Yesterday I posted a couple of observations made while watching a low budget film this Christmas. Observations that demonstrate I was thinking about this blog while watching a film (which probably gives you opportunity to make an observation about me…)
While recognizing the difference between preaching and acting, I noted how actual speech is critical and how it is hard to be natural in an unnatural environment. I’d like to add another speech related lesson, then point out a couple of other lessons that stood out to me.
3. Don’t try to make every line a humdinger. In a good film every word counts, but not every word is presented as if it is meant to count. The film I watched seemed to try and make every line a memorable quote (but in effect became a bit tiresome rather than effective). It might be a rare disease, but there are a few preachers who try to make every line count, even when they don’t. Probably the more common problem is to waffle and say nothing of substance, but some do seem to say a lot of sentences as if they expect you to write them down and ponder deeply. Perhaps you recognize this by the pregnant pause, the verbal selah, the look on the face, the rhythm and intonation. But every line cannot be a humdinger, a home run, a knockout blow, a profound wisdom saying.
4. Historical and cultural details matter. Now to be fair, the film I watched did very well at this. The history had been researched, the costumes and props were realistic, there was no helicopter flying in the background of a historical scene. But there were a couple of tiny details. Small ones, insignificant ones, but distracting ones once noticed. And while the history was well researched, the accents weren’t. Historical and cultural details can be a significant distraction to the “audience” both in a film, and in a sermon.
Actually, I’ll save the other two lessons for tomorrow.
Preaching Lessons From Low Budget Film
Christmas season is good for eating too much chocolate, enjoying family time and watching the odd movie. We watched an odd movie this year – it was a very low budget film produced by folks with little experience of making movies. Actually it was impressive for who produced it, but it struck me that there are lessons to be learned from a low budget film.
In the next couple of days I’d like to share some lessons that stood out to me as I was watching the film, obviously recognizing that a film is a different thing to a sermon . . .
1. Actual speech is critical. Special effects, beautiful scenery, stunning vistas, impressive wardrobe and even decent plot do not make a movie work if the speech is lacking in some way. The same is true of preaching – the best visual presentation, impressive powerpoint slides, stunning wardrobe and even a good sermon won’t really work if the actual speech feels wrong.
2. It’s hard to be natural in an unnatural environment. I know acting is acting and preaching isn’t acting. However, both are unnatural environments. The actor is dressed up as someone else, at another time, in a strange place pretending to be another place. Unnatural. The preacher is being stared at by a crowd of listeners who usually don’t talk back, with someone controlling the volume of the speakers, a microphone in front, etc. Unnatural. Perhaps the biggest challenge in these situations is to come across naturally. Only when watching a low budget film do you realize how good the normal Hollywood crowd are. Same with preachers. Some command attention, others create a cringe. I think natural presentation is critical, but it takes work, it takes prayer, and in some respects it may take what only God can give.
Tomorrow I’d like to share a couple more preaching lessons from this low budget film.
Vision Month is Coming
Vision is a difficult thing to pin down. It’s a mental and heart picture of what could be and what should be, it’s the energizing motivation that moves people to pour energy into a project, into a church, into a life.
January is vision month. Everyone is at it. People start going to the gym, a vague plan based on a vague awareness that they should be looking after themselves more for some reason. The vague vision is probably part of why people attend only vaguely once February arrives. People make New Year’s resolutions, again based on some vague awareness of what should be, or what shouldn’t be in their lives.
Why do people come to church? Is it the habit of a lifetime and that habit happens to bring them to the same church as you? Is it a vague awareness of what should be, and so they vaguely attend the church you attend? Or is there a crystal clear vision that energizes, mobilizes and invigorates? I suppose there are three types of churches that come to mind:
1. The “Yes we have a vision, but I’m not sure exactly how to define it” church – This is the church that has some statement somewhere, perhaps something relating to the three functions of the church, or something vaguely connected to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. But if it is undefined (or impossible to remember), what value does it have? If we don’t know it, why should anyone else? If we don’t know it, we aren’t energized by it or committed to it and it is borderline irrelevant to the life of the church. January is a great month to clarify with crystal precision the vision of the church.
2. The “Our vision changes each year” church – This is the church that chooses a vision verse for the year, preaches on it in January and then may or may not return to it during the year. It is worth asking what difference this makes, and why a clear “what could be and what should be” picture of the preferred future of this church is not articulated and re-articulated regularly.
3. The “We resist contemporary approaches to vision statements” church – This is the church that puffs out the chest and makes statements about the biblical vision for all local churches being a local expression of the same global vision which is articulated in Scripture. Agreed. But if people are coming to church because of habit, or because it is the nearest option with the right denominational tag, then perhaps it’s time to articulate clearly what that biblical vision for all churches is . . . for your church.
There are other churches too. The “We’ve never thought about it” church, and perhaps even the “clear and compelling vision in place and regularly re-articulated” church. What kind of a church are you in? January is coming, vision month. What’s the plan?
Peripheral Vision
The first step in preparing a message is to prayerfully determine the preaching text. It’s important to make sure you are studying a complete unit of thought – a full paragraph, a full narrative, a full poem, a full wisdom saying, etc. But then be sure you have peripheral vision.
Make sure you continue to look around and be aware of the context of the passage. Too easily we get blinkered by section headings and forget to see what has preceded and what flows out from the text that we are studying. Everything needs to be seen in context. If you happen to be in a place biblically where context isn’t helpful, you’re in one of only a few places.
We need peripheral vision as we study the text, or we so easily may miss what is right there.
Preparing for 2010
Before you know it, 2010 will be here. What do you hope for in terms of your preaching ministry during next year? Do you pray for more opportunities or more help with the preaching in your church? Do you pray for more fruit in the lives of your listeners, or more fruit in your private spiritual walk? Do you pray for one area of your preaching to be strengthened, or for greater consistency in your preparation? Do you pray for fruitful times in the Word, or fruitful pastoral interactions with people in the church? Do you pray for diligence in following through on that training opportunity you are wanting to pursue, or for the courage to follow through on mentoring others?
There is a lot that we can pray about in advance of 2010. Of course, praying is vital. But it is worth asking, if you have a specific and tangible goal, what are you going to do to meet it? Prayerfully, of course, but it probably requires something of you too. When January comes everyone goes on about New Year’s resolutions. As a leader you need to be ahead of the game. Perhaps the next few days might give opportunities, moments of respite from seasonal festivities, to prayerfully ponder your preaching ministry in 2010.
The last thing we want to do is preach just because we do. There will never be another 2010 . . . how can we make it count. If you’ve given any thought to your 2010, please share for our encouragement.
Future Christmas Sermons
It would be easy to push through this season and then leave Christmas sermons until next year. It would be a wasted opportunity. Just as it can save money to buy next year’s cards right after this year’s Christmas, so it can save time to give some thought to next year’s sermons now.
Perhaps you have preached through the standard passages this year, but have noticed some connected passages that might make for an interesting series next year. Make a note now while the thoughts are fresh. For example:
Prophecies – perhaps you’ve noticed the references to Old Testament prophecies like Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, even Jeremiah 31:15. Why not take an Old Testament approach to Christmas hopes next year?
People – perhaps you noticed the four other ladies in Matthew’s genealogy . . . Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the one “who had been Uriah’s wife.” Four ladies with question marks over their morality, rightly or wrongly, that set up the lady who has to be in the genealogy (also with a question mark hanging over her morality, wrongly in her case). Or perhaps you’d like to trace the Gentiles in the genealogy to show the greater scope of the Christmas hope.
Themes – perhaps you noticed a theme this year that could be developed with one week in the Old Testament, one week in the Christmas narratives and one week later on in the gospels or epistles. For example, the Immanuel theme from Isaiah 7:14-9:7, emphasized in Matthew 1, continued for our age in Matthew 28:20.
Less Obvious Passages – perhaps you wondered about the less obvious passages, ie. those that aren’t in early Matthew or Luke. So you have the prologue to John’s Gospel, giving the other side of the story, if you like. Or you have references like Galatians 4:4 and similar passages.
Christmas Titles – perhaps you’d like to explore the titles used in the Christmas narratives – Jesus, Saviour, Immanuel, King, etc.
Carol Theology – while some are keen to cut down the errors in the carols, there are some great truths encapsulated in the carols too. Perhaps you’d like to take Hark the Herald Angels Sing or another carol and trace a biblical background to a verse each week. Different, but for some congregations this might be a blessing. Remember that you are preaching the Bible, not the carol.
Contemporary Emphases – you could take key emphases in the world’s view of Christmas and present a positive biblical engagement with each one. Gifts, peace, goodwill, family, etc.
Whatever thoughts you have at the moment, make a good set of notes, it will save a lot of stress later next year!
What Will They Copy?
I was just writing a mini-article in response to a request. As I was writing it, I came across an article I wrote earlier this year. I’ve linked to it previously, but here it is if you didn’t see it back then – click here. Let me just quote a paragraph:
We must preach as those genuinely captivated by the love of God in the Word of God. We must preach contagiously as those who enjoy delightful engagement with this God. Our listeners will subconsciously mimic our leadership in their own “spirituality”–the question is; what kind of spirituality will they mimic? Will theirs be an intellect-only spirituality? Or will it be a purely pragmatic, self-concerned spirituality? Will it be a pseudo-spiritual flight of fancy unearthed in the truth of God’s revelation in His Word? Or will it perhaps be relational, Word-based, heart-level, real?
It is a scary thought, but an important one. Listeners do more than listen. They also mimic. They copy. Not least, they will be influenced by the spirituality they perceive in the preacher. In light of that, it is hopefully not too hard to spot how they might end up with an intellect-only spirituality, or a purely pragmatic spirituality, etc. The problem comes when we start thinking through how to shift their perception of spirituality based on our messages and how we live our lives with them.
Wouldn’t it be great if they could copy a relational, Word-based, heart-level, real spirituality?
Biblical Preaching 