Stage 5 – Message Purpose

Preaching Tones and Texts

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ToneHead2This series is not about “adding tone” to lifeless letters and words.  It is about recognizing the tone of the text, and then being sensitive to the impact of our tone as we preach that text.  Here are a couple of example contrasts:

1. Tone of writer: Galatians and 2 Timothy.  This is perhaps the two extremes in Paul’s writing.  In Galatians Paul is very upset about the false teachers.  He forsakes convention to deliver a stinging astonishment statement in 1:6 instead of the standard thanksgiving opening.  In chapter 3 he is questioning who has cast a spell on the believers who he obviously loves deeply, but is so concerned about.  And by chapter 5 he makes the strongest remark in all of his writings, again about the false teachers.

Compare that with the sensitivity of Paul in his later letter to Timothy, beloved Timothy.  He writes about false teachers there too, but the tone is completely different.  He is concerned, he is deliberate, he is urgent, but he is gentle at the same time.  Paul wanted both letters to get through – one as a wake-up call, the other as an encouragement.

2. Imposed tone of preacher: Hebrews and Ephesians.  One example of how we can impose a tone that contradicts the material we are preaching can be seen when we think about these two letters.  Hebrews is a sermonic message designed to encourage and warn.  It startles.  It urges.  It paints pictures and explains a small number of specific Old Testament texts in such a way as to urge the believers on.  But preachers can bring in a foreign tone – one of theologically dense intensity that loses the energy of the original letter/sermon.

Or think about Ephesians.  The opening sentence in 1:3-14 is abundant in language choice.  The grace of God seen in the choosing, the giving of the Son, the giving of the Spirit, is lavished on believers.  And what might we do with it?  To be honest, too many of us turn it into a sterile detailed presentation of a theological doctrine triggered by one or two key words in the passage.  I wonder if the Ephesian elders would recognize our presentation of it?

Tone matters.  The tone of the text.  And the tone of the preacher.

Final Focus

/ Peter Mead / 7 Comments

mirror2In a recent discussion, my colleague made a passing remark that is well worth pondering for us preachers.

When the message ends, where are people focused?

Traditional preaching tends to leave listeners focused on themselves.  After an introduction, compelling and gripping or otherwise, then comes the body of the message, followed by an applicational conclusion.  So where are people looking as they leave?  If we are not careful, they will walk out with gaze firmly fixed on self.

1. Is there a problem with fixing the gaze on self?  After all, isn’t our goal to have people working harder to be good christians?  I hope we have a more gospel-oriented goal than that!  The turn toward self was the fruit of the fruit tasting back in Genesis 3 (take a look at the passage and trace the “nakedness” theme starting in 2:25, for example).  The turn toward self is the constant tendency of our flesh in its autonomous rebellion.  The teaching of the Bible should not be throttled down to a set of to-do items that leave us self-oriented and self-concerned.  To get to that we have to evaporate the very life from the Bible!

2. So where could or should listeners be looking?  The Bible is God-centred, and Christ-targeted.  A healthy message will surely leave people more God aware and more Christ focused.

3. But what about getting better behaved believers?  If all we have ever witnessed is pressured people striving to live up to the pressure of applications, perhaps it is time for an experiment . . . try getting some folks’ to gaze on Christ and watch the transformation that will come.  The gospel really is not about work, at least, not our work.  It is about Christ and His work for us.  And I am convinced that while short cuts to conformity are tempting, the harvest will be meager.  Try working messages to the point that the end stress is on God and not on the listener to perform.  The results may be significant in behavioural terms, and so much more.

Preaching Layered Story Sensitivity

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

WeavingJust a little post to finish off this mini-series.  So you have decided not to pluck a story and lift sometimes imaginary life lessons from it.  You have studied it in its context and started to note the layers of intricate story within story crafting that the author has done.  Maybe you’ve been nudged to recognize the meaning of the story with the help of commentaries too, of course.  But how do you preach it?  This can seem overwhelming.

1. Determine the main idea of the story.  In light of its context, what is the main thought of the story you are actually preaching?

2. Figure out how much context you need to set.  This is determined not only by the story itself, but also by your context.  Some groups of listeners are ready to handle the bigger picture more than others.

3. Decide which layering details help communicate that main idea.  There will be so much you could spot and point out, but some of it will not make sense to listeners, or will seem like exegetical trivia if you can’t give a full sweep and explanation.  But if you don’t give some “fingers on the text” observations, listeners may think you are making up your own take on the meaning of the story.

4. Be sure to tell the story.  So easy to think our task is to share exegetical insights and theological profundities and applicational nuggets.  Remember that God inspired the story to mark lives.  Let it do that.  Tell the story.

5. Make the application the theocentric application intended by the text.  It is about God and it is supposed to mark us in response to God.  Don’t drop God out for the sake of a top-tip for creative truth telling in foreign lands.

6. Don’t forget to invite people into the text.  Your preaching, with sensitivity to the flow of the book, should motivate listeners to want to read and dig for themselves.  Don’t be shy to suggest that.

So much more could be said, but let’s leave it there for now . . .

Letter Frame – Preacher’s Treasure 7

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PenInk2In this series I have looked at letter openings and closings.  Lots of treasure that is often overlooked and ignored despite being fully inspired and massively preachable!  Here are a few closing ideas to pull the series together:

1. Preach a whole book through the lens of a key element in the letter frame.  By taking an opening greeting, a doxology, or whatever, it is possible to introduce and preach the big message of an entire epistle.  This could function as a stand-alone message.

2. Introduce or conclude a series in a book using opening or closing elements.  Instead of sounding like an introductory page in a study Bible (i.e. just giving a bland author, recipients, date, occasion, map, etc.), diving into the body of an epistle and ignoring the opening or finishing a series abruptly, consider the value of an overview intro or conclusion that is a legitimate exposition of an inspired text.

3. Consider a series of doxologies, closing prayers, or whatever, with whole epistles reinforcing each message in the series.  This would be a challenge for the preacher, and might require some awareness from the listeners, but it could be highly effective.  It would help us break out of a “standard section length for every sermon” approach. Whole books have big ideas that transform lives.  Letter frames offer summaries that root those ideas in shorter texts.

What other ideas would you add?  How have you heard a letter frame preached effectively?

Letter Frame – Preacher’s Treasure 6

/ Peter Mead / 5 Comments

PenInk2There are some stunning doxologies in the epistles.  They are a potential treasure for preachers:

1. Doxologies tend to offer a succinct overview of the content of a letter.  What the writer was pondering as he wrote or dictated tends to come out in this late point of praise.  As preachers we can tap into that to review or overview the epistle as a whole.

2. Doxologies offer the preacher an opportunity to preach a different genre within the epistle.  Just as introductory and closing materials can offer a more narrative type of content (i.e. accessing the narrative behind the letter), so the doxology allows the preacher to preach something akin to poetry.  Preaching poetry offers something different to the discourse that predominates in the epistles.

Here are some doxologies to ponder:

* Hebrews 13:20-21 . . . The preacher (remember that Hebrews is not an epistle, but rather a sermon with an epistolary postscript) points to God’s raising Jesus from the dead, and to the blood of the eternal covenant, as the one who will equip the hearers to live lives pleasing to Him.  The Jesus-focused encouragement throughout the “letter” is seen even here.

* Jude 24-25 . . . One of the more famous doxologies pointing to God’s ability to guard and protect believers in an antagonistic world.

* 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 . . . An easy one to miss, this is effectively a doxology within the body of the letter (similar to Paul’s explosions of delight at the end of Romans 8 and Romans 11:33-36).

* 2 Corinthians 13:14 . . . Is Paul offering three elements of God’s goodness within a trinitarian framework, or is he actually referring to the One who is the grace and love of the Son and Father, that is, the Holy Spirit?  Jonathan Edwards understood this doxology as being entirely about the Spirit, which would fit a letter gripped by the New Covenant ministry theme.

* 1 Corinthians 16:22-24 . . . A striking and often ignored conclusion to a letter.  Perhaps verse 22 is key to the complexities of church life in Corinth?  I have never heard anybody preach from this section, have you?

* Revelation 2-3 . . . Don’t miss the treasure in Jesus’ seven epistles to the churches of Asia Minor.  Recognizing the consistent themes within and throughout each individual letter is key to making sense of the details.  The promise to the overcomer always makes sense in light of the description of Christ and the commendation/complaint within the letter.

Seems like there is plenty of scope for a series of messages based purely on the doxologies.  After all, pondering the truth and life-changing relevance of the gospel should lead us to praise God!

Letter Frame – Preacher’s Treasure 5

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PenInk2Yesterday we saw that there are a host of ingredients that could go into an epistle closing section.  One way to use the closing is to select an element and preach an overview of the whole epistle using that text.  Some examples:

1. Preaching Final Personal Remarks – Galatians 6:14-15

Paul keeps on reinforcing the big themes of Galatians: it is all about Christ crucified, the promised deliverer, and the work of the Spirit in making us new creatures in relationship with our Abba.  Here Paul gives a Christ and Spirit (New Covenant shorthand term) summation, just to reinforce the point already made in chapters 3-4, in the summary of 5:5-6, etc.  From these two verses you could effectively preach the whole letter.

2. Preaching Concluding Exhortations – Romans 16:17-20

Paul addressed the issue of a disunited Roman church from the beginning of the letter.  The applicational climax in 15:7-13 is brought back here in the final verses of the letter.  Romans could be preached or reviewed with this text, as it could with the doxology to follow in 16:25-27.

3. Preaching Closing Prayer – 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Again, the big themes of the body of the letter are clearly evident in this single verse: sanctification and anticipation of the Lord’s return.

4. Preaching Prayer Request – Colossians 4:2-4

Not only does Paul offer a “practical” prayer request, but it is focused on the key issue of the whole epistle – the person and mystery of Christ.

5. Preaching Greetings – Romans 16:3-16, 21-23

Paul’s list of connections in Rome gives an insight into the constitution of the church in Rome – several Jewish names among a predominantly Gentile group.  This is tricky, but if handled well, this could be a gateway into the issue that Paul has been addressing theologically throughout the letter.

Tomorrow I will almost wrap up the series by looking at doxologies, and then will offer a final post with some big letter-frame preaching suggestions.

Felt Relevance

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

UserManual2People want relevant preaching, but there are various ways to be relevant.

One way is to make the Bible a resource for advising listeners on how to be more successful in their attempts to live their lives.  This statement is loaded with theological concerns, but the approach is popular and for many, the end justifies the means.  So since people will respond positively to tips for life, and that will multiply attendees at church, then all is well.  But what if we find ourselves uncomfortable with offering this kind of preaching?  Are we forced to give up on relevance and instead switch to a heady theological and doctrinal type of preaching?

I don’t think so.

Another approach to relevance is to recognize the implicit relevance in inspired Scripture.  It is God-breathed and it is useful.  Our task as preachers is not to add relevance, but to make the relevance clear and felt.  When the Scriptures are not treated as a flat data bank from which to pluck truth statements or instructions or whatever, but instead as fully dimensioned interpersonal communication, then we are on the right track.  What I mean is that we need to make the Scripture clear, engaging with it in its historical and literary context so that its uniqueness is not only evident and clear, but also vivid and felt.  Not only should we invite listeners into the world of the text so that the narrative or poem or discourse is felt and experienced, but also we should be inviting listeners to engage with the God who is revealing Himself in the text.

The combination of vivid text and personal revelation of God makes for powerful and felt relevance.  Of course, some may not appreciate this approach.  For one thing, God’s self-disclosure can be offensive to those who hunger more for instructions for independent living.  But this should not put us off.

When we preach the Bible, let’s not settle for a tips-for-life kind of relevance.  Let’s instead be Bible preachers who give our very best to help listeners experience the full meaning of the text and encounter the self-revelation of God.

True biblical preaching is relevant, because the Bible is relevant.  True biblical preaching does not just use the Bible, or start with the Bible, instead it brings together two worlds, so that the God who is over all history can work glorious transformation in the world of the contemporary listener.

50 Summer Preaching Tweaks: 41-45

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Summer50bInto the home stretch, five more thoughts today and then the final five tomorrow:

41. Come out from behind the furniture.  Your whole body communicates, so why hide most of it?  If you have huge pulpit furniture, just come out from behind it.  This isn’t just about being contemporary, Lloyd-Jones removed the curtain at Westminster Chapel for the same reason (although he chose to wear a robe, which slightly defeated the logic).

42. Gesture bigger to look natural.  Unless you are preaching to one person across a table, you need to gesture bigger than normal if you want to look normal.  Make sure your gestures and movements are big enough for the room you are in, and then make sure they still look natural and not stiff or forced.  Simple.

43. Discover your stiff preaching zone.  Speaking of stiffness in preaching, what aspect of delivery freezes when you stand in front of a crowd?  It is a typical and subconscious response to public speech.  Find it and deal with it.  It could be your voice getting in a certain pitch range, or a fixed volume, or a specific gesture repeated endlessly, or the direction your eyes look, etc. 

44. Left to right and back to front.  Make sure your gestures make sense from the perspective of your listeners.  Left is right and right is left.  Past is right and future is left.  A bit of practice and your gestures will start to make way more sense to those listening with their eyes.

45. Practice storytelling at home.  Whether you are preaching narrative or giving an illustration, you will need to tell stories.  Some are natural at this, some are awkward in the extreme.  Practice at home.  Children are always ready to listen to a story (it doesn’t have to be biblical for practice time – what happened today while you were out?  Be descriptive, engaging, suspenseful, etc.)

50 Summer Preaching Tweaks: 36-40

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Summer50bAnother five tweaks to add to the 35 we’ve covered so far:

36. Preach a whole book in one.  If you have never done this before, maybe it is time to try.  Instead of preaching slice by slice through a book, give people the whole thing in one.  Obviously Philemon is fairly easy, but why not try Mark or Romans, or even a major Prophet?  Don’t just preach the study Bible introductory outline, that is dull.  Grasp the book for yourself and offer it as a coherent and relevant whole.

37. Preach a tiny text in context.  This is the opposite extreme.  Grab hold of a tiny text and pull on it to see the whole of its context come into play.  Perhaps “God so loved” or “I am the way” or “Before Abraham was born, I am” or something more unfamiliar.  People may be able to walk away with a little truth drilled deep into their souls, with all the meaning and significance it actually has in its context.

38. Up the eye contact.  Whatever you can do to increase eye contact, do it.  Less notes.  No notes.  Overcome the habit of looking over people, or picking two points and “watching tennis” as you preach.  Make meaningful eye contact for several seconds before moving on.  Don’t flit and don’t stare, but do make the kind of connection that friendly relationship is made of.

39. Prepare your people for a future evangelistic message.  If you are preaching an especially evangelistic message in the coming weeks, don’t just tell folks to bring people.  Instead, tell them what you will be doing, how it will come across, how you will conclude.  Allow your people to make an informed decision over whether or not to risk their relationship by bringing their friend to that particular event.

40. Evaluate your visuals.  What people see communicates massively.  Evaluate your expressions, your gestures, your posture, your attire.  Also give some thought to your powerpoint – is it clear, is it helpful, is it necessary, is it clip-arty, is it grainy, is it coherent, is it exhaustive, is it distracting, is it turning the message into an information download?  Good visuals make a huge difference, both you and your projected presentation.  Never offer any visual without thinking it through first.