Connectional Technology and Sermon Prep

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

This week I am looking at the use of technology in sermon preparation. Yesterday I shared three online research tools that I find helpful, but there’s more to “connected” technology than accessing articles and notes. Here are a few more possibilities to consider:

Social Media – I see some real advantages and disadvantages to the use of social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (if you are on any of these, please click the link and let’s connect there). Sometimes asking a question on one of these sites can get a helpful response from folks in your network, which may be useful in sermon preparation. I certainly don’t use this as much as some do. I have seen the Facebook page associated with this site used a bit along these lines, and the LinkedIn group for Biblical Preachers is certainly growing as a helpful venue for pre-sermon discussion. But if I’m honest, I see the main pro and con on a fairly simplistic level: good connections tend to post helpful links to resources that may be useful, but the noise generated by all social media can very easily become a significant distraction and time waster.

Quick Book Access – I don’t have a kindle or equivalent e-reader, but I do see one big advantage (apart from the benefits in travel) . . . instant access to a book. Generally, of course, it is better to be planning ahead and have what you need. But I’m sure I’m not alone in getting into situations where I suddenly realise a specific book would be really helpful and the clock is ticking. A couple of times I have bought a book for access on a free Kindle app, just so that I can have instant access. Luxury? Absolutely. But at the same time it is good to give our very best in sermon prep.

Note Taking – Smart phones can be just another source of noise and distraction, but they can be helpful too. I’ve taken audio notes while out and about. And I know some preachers delight in the free app Evernote, for example. I think this does have good potential in terms of logging observations and illustration ideas, as well as capturing research information.

Telephone – Don’t miss the obvious! Sometimes there’s nothing like getting on the phone to someone you trust and talking through your prep with them. What can be achieved in twenty minutes in conversation with someone on your wavelength can sometimes break open a log jam in your thinking and save hours of low productivity preparation.

What other connectional technology do you find useful?

A Starter for Ten?

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

It’s great to have another guest post, this time from a Welshman in Italy. Huw Williams was in the Cor Deo programme in 2011 and every week Huw and I enjoyed great conversations about preaching as he pursued his mentored personal study in the area of homiletics. Since finishing Cor Deo, Huw and Alison have moved to Turin, Italy, where Huw is the pastor of the International Church (check out his blog here). Huw’s practical insight here is so on target for us all as we try to be clear and effective biblical preachers…

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Over the Christmas period, I found myself preparing three short talks, each of around ten minutes. As a newbie to the rhythms of the preaching calendar (I’m at the end of my first three months in full-time pastoral work) there were a few surprises in store for me. Here are a few reflections.

Firstly, I have learned that it’s difficult to speak for only ten minutes and say something. (I guess it’s relatively easy to speak for ten minutes and say nothing but I’m assuming none of us are interested in that particular art.) I was struck by how hard I had to work on my material to say something of substance, in (I hope) an engaging way and remain within the time limit. In my naiveté, I had reasoned along the lines of “well, I normally preach for around 30 minutes, so this should be a third of the preparation time.”

Won’t be making that mistake again.

In turn this caused me to reflect on my ‘regular’ preaching, by which I mean, those times when I am going for the 25-30 minute sermon. If I find it a challenge to distil and expound the message of a passage into ten minutes, then isn’t there a possibility that my longer sermons might just have a bit of unhelpful padding around them?

What I mean is this; I’m a pretty convinced exponent of the one-point sermon (which you can read about elsewhere on this blog) and as part of my weekly sermon preparation, I usually try and get to a one-sentence passage summary. I find it a great exercise, to try and condense all my text-observation study into a single summary sentence, which usually serves as my key preaching point.

But what happens next is perhaps the weak link in my preparation chain. Because it is at this point that I simply start writing. And writing. And writing. And what begins with a single sentence summary, often turns into – a few hours later – the realisation that my sermon is too long and unwieldy.

So here’s a thought. What if in my preparation, I moved from summary statement, to 10-minute sermon, and then to ‘full length’ sermon? What if my ‘ten-minute version’ was a halfway house in the preparation journey? Having reached this post, and if things have gone well, I have found a way of saying what I trust the text is saying, succinctly and briefly. Now the final stage in my journey – all those extra minutes – are all then put to the use of complementing the argument; further sharpening, further illustration, further application, all of the one main argument of the text.

I think I’ll try it. Perhaps I’ll let you know how I get on.

Let Man Not Separate Holy Spirit and Sermon Delivery

December 30, 2011December 28, 2011 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Yesterday I urged the preacher to not abdicate the role of text explainer, or text applier, but rather to do both in full prayerful reliance on the Holy Spirit. Apart from Christ we can do nothing, but we are not asked to do nothing. Now a third danger of illegitimate separation of Spirit and ministry in preaching, the issue of delivery:

3. The idea that any overt attempt at effective communication is somehow a slight on the Holy Spirit, who would much rather the preacher was completely ineffective so it could be “all of God.” Another strange one, and again, quite inconsistent. While it would be ridiculous to make the presentation all about the preacher’s ability to perform, leaving God out (and we’ve probably all sensed that now and then with some), surely it is equally ridiculous to try to abdicate our role as communicators.

The Holy Spirit is preeminently concerned with effective heart to heart communication (that is the ongoing ingredient in almost all His roles in Scripture, it seems). We don’t honour the Spirit by communicating as poorly as possible. Equally, we are inconsistent if we make any effort to be loud enough to be heard, or if we at least speak with coherent and distinct words – why bother at all? Just mumble quietly. No, in reality the Spirit is the One who is at work in peoples’ hearts and lives, yet for some reason He also works through us as we preach. Preacher, lean fully on God’s strength and pray continually for the Spirit to be at work, and communicate as effectively as you can, that’s part of your role.

Let Man Not Separate Holy Spirit and Preaching Content

December 29, 2011December 28, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Yesterday we addressed the issue of preparing to preach, and how that is a part of ministry life that truly and profoundly involves the Holy Spirit (or at least, it should). The danger of divorcing our ministry from the Spirit persists into the preaching event too.

There are a few places where this danger lurks:

1. The notion that explanation is not needed from the preacher, for the Spirit will bring home the truth of God’s Word. I have come across this a few times. It comes across as if something profoundly spiritual is supposed to be happening as the preacher states the Word, but fails to explain it. It may be accompanied by knowing comments and tones that give the impression that those “in the know” have some sort of insight here, and hopefully the rest of us will get that mystery knowledge too. Then maybe the preacher carries on with this statement-without-explanation approach, or perhaps they move into a list of highly relevant personal applications (or anecdotes).

From my perspective this lack of explanation tends to come across to some as profound spirituality that inspires or intimidates, and at the same time it can come across to others as indicative that the preacher is incapable of explaining the text and is sort of bluffing. Preacher, lean fully on God’s strength and pray continually for the Spirit to be at work, and explain the text, that’s part of your role.

2. The idea that application is the Spirit’s work, not the preacher’s. I have come across this one more than the other, perhaps at the other end of the ecclesiastical spectrum. It is exemplified in my experience in a sentence that rings alarm bells – “Now may the Spirit apply to our hearts and lives the truths we have seen in His Word. Amen.” This sentence sometimes comes after a lengthy lecture of biblical content devoid of overt application and clarified relevance. Why is that somehow the Spirit’s role, but not at all the role of the preacher? Is this phrase suggesting that the explanation was all of the preacher, and nothing of the Spirit? I hope not.

So why not follow through and not abdicate a key role the preacher is called to – namely to not only lecture biblical content, but rather to communicate the meaning of the text with an emphasis on its relevance to the contemporary and specific listeners? Preacher, lean fully on God’s strength and pray continually for the Spirit to be at work, and apply the text, that’s part of your role.

One more area tomorrow – the whole matter of delivery.

Preaching Proverbs 5: Random Thoughts

December 16, 2011December 9, 2011 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

To finish off this series of posts on preaching Proverbs, here is a randomly organized collection of brief thoughts. See what I did there?

1. Preaching topically may be fine. I’ve avoided the more obvious approach of addressing a subject that Proverbs addresses with multiple references, but it’s fine to do that. And it would be fine to not be exhaustive, why not just focus more on two or three proverbs and aim for effectiveness over exhaustiveness?

2. Preaching a shorter sermon will be appreciated. I’ve shared how a full-length sermon may be possible from a two line truth, but why not preach short? Finish ten minutes early and your listeners may talk about the message for years!

3. Preaching a section may be effective. You can check out Bruce Waltke and discover structure that you’ve never seen before. Or you can go where my Hebrew prof suggested . . . preach a series of apparently random proverbs since that is how life is experienced from our perspective.

4. Remember that Proverbs is primarily observation, not promise. Don’t turn an observation of life lived under the covenant of Deuteronomy 28-30 into a promise for all people of God in every age.

5. Preach a pugilistic match-up of contemporary wisdom with Proverbial sagacity. That is, take a saying from our culture and watch it lose in a fight with one of God’s inspired sayings.

6. Preach Proverbs with humour and with poetry. Help people see what life is like and what it could be like with a healthy dose of sanctified wit and biblically saturated poetic presentation. Certainly the main idea should be proverbial, poetic, memorable, pithy, precise.

7. Preach Proverbs for living with godly wisdom, don’t preach godly wisdom to fuel the fires of self-centred success.

8. Provoke further thought, don’t bore listeners into submission as if your extensive knowledge is the focus. Their further thought, in the fear of Lord, worked into their hearts and lives: that is the focus.

And if you don’t have it yet, get hold of a copy of Jeff Arthurs book, Preaching with Variety – his chapter on Proverbs alone is worth the price of the book. Actually, the rest is good too . . . and I will be giving a copy away on the facebook page promotion later this month – click here to go to the promo information.

Preaching Proverbs 4: Sayings and Sermons

December 15, 2011December 9, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Yesterday I described two masterpieces of the art of preaching Proverbs (click here to see post). Both the explanatory emphasis of the first and the applicational emphasis of the second affirmed the possibility of a full-length single saying sermon from the Proverbs. What were some of the key features of these sermons?

1. Repetition. In both cases the preachers repeated the main idea (the proverb) multiple times. It never felt forced or tedious, but it did tattoo the truths on the hearts of those listening. Proverbs are designed to be memorable. While we don’t have the memorability of the original language to aid us, repetition certainly helped.

2. Memorability. We don’t have sound-play in the wording like the Hebrew, but memorability can be achieved in other ways. In the first example Haddon Robinson achieved memorability by pursuing visualization. That is, through vivid description, the listeners could see what he described, and having seen it on the screen of their hearts, they wouldn’t forget. In the second example, Gene Curtis achieved memorability by a different type of sound-play. Not the sounds of the words, but the clever use of a repeated first line of a song. Actually, this musical marker was so effective in flagging up the need for the proverb because he ended the mini-rendition by tweaking the tune into a melancholic minor key each time – a refrain introducing the main idea each time.

3. Non-linearity. Neither sermon imposed what felt like a foreign sermon structure on the text. There was no overt three point with sub-point presentation involved. Both felt relaxed and slightly circular, yet on paper could have been defined using standard outlining, of course. There wasn’t the urgency of a narrative, or the driving progression in logic of an epistle. The structure seemed to fit the genre.

4. Application. Both sermons were marked by specific, tangible, relevant and vivid application. While the one placed greater emphasis on explanation, both felt absolutely preached to the listener, to mark the listener and to bring about transformation. I’m sure many of us could manage it, but surely it must be wrong to turn a practical, vivid, life truth, into an academic curio. It takes great intellect to make something simple and clear, but a lesser preacher can impress and confuse the listener. Hey, was that a contemporary antithetical distich? Nice.

Tomorrow I’ll finish the series . . .

Preaching Proverbs 3: Full-Length Single Saying Sermons

December 14, 2011December 9, 2011 / Peter Mead / 3 Comments

Jon provoked this series of posts by asking if it is possible to preach longer than five minutes on a proverb (particularly the two-line kind), without preaching topically through a whole subject. I believe it is. Not just in theory, but based on my experience as a listener. Two, perhaps three messages stand out to me, that have been on a single two-line saying, and have warranted the full sermon length they were given. So, two ways to pursue fully orbed Proverb preaching:

The Every Angle Jewel Explanation Approach. The message I have in mind is one I head a few years back from Dr Haddon Robinson. Seemed like a simple saying, until he started probing it. Like a connoisseur of fine jewels, Robinson took up that little saying and methodically turned it in every direction, probing each facet to gradually determine the richness of the meaning of the proverb. Technically he used carefully developed paragraphs of thought. Experientially it was like sitting at the feet of a wise sage giving a guided tour of a fascinating thought. In the process of explanation I learned about metallurgy, about Hebrew culture, about the language used, and most importantly, about myself as the light reflecting from that jewel shone into corners of my life. There was no bony structure sticking out, or jerky transition into time for an application. It was relaxed, it was measured, it was well-crafted, it was a message that marked me.

The Every Direction Intersection Application Approach. Ok, so my label is almost as long as a proverb, but I’m not Solomon. The message I have in mind is one I heard in seminary chapel over a decade ago. Dr Gene Curtis preached a masterpiece of a sermon that still influences my ministry today. A typical two liner. A full length sermon. A lot of marked listeners. How did he do it? He explained the proverb, which didn’t take long, but then he applied it. Then he applied it again. Then he applied it again. Multiple situational applications, all driving home the same point, the main point of the proverb. In this particular case he also used the first line of a children’s Sunday school song to reinforce the point and offer a musical memory marker along the way. If you can imagine a busy intersection in the centre of a large city, a roundabout/rotary with multiple roads leading off it, that was his sermon. He left the world of the Hebrew sage and entered the office of the pastor, the conversation of the spouse, the lap of the parent, the phone call of the friend, etc. Each time showing the relevance of the proverb, each time reinforcing the same point, each time returning to the text and then heading off on a different exit point. I would love to have preached a sermon so effective.

I was impressed recently with a sermon by Andy Stanley on a single proverb, which was excellent, but despite the impressive feats, perhaps it didn’t quite attain to the two I’ve described. (Or perhaps it had the strengths of both!)

Preaching Proverbs 2: Persons Present and Powerful

December 13, 2011December 9, 2011 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Yesterday I suggested we must beware of legalistic moralizing when preaching the Proverbs. Tomorrow I’ll offer two simple approaches to full-length sermons on single proverbs. Today I want to share two more “foundational thoughts” that I think should be kept in mind.

Thought 2 – We should preach Christ, but let’s not be overly speculative and force Christ into every line. I won’t delve into the issues, good and bad, with preaching Christ as “lady wisdom personified” in this post. It is possible to preach Christ from Proverbs, but it isn’t a game where the most creative link wins a prize. Some of what is done with good intentions does come across as Christian gymnastics and even the most informed listener struggles to see how anyone else would have come to that conclusion from that text. Let’s be careful not to lose biblical credibility while trying to “preach Christian.” Better to preach Christ in light of the larger flow of biblical revelation than to make a hop, skip and jump from a rock badger to the Rock of Ages.

Thought 3 – Proverbs gives us a compelling framing imagery of the two women. Proverbs is a literary piece of art. Now we do lose so much in terms of the assonance, alliteration, word play, etc. – kind of like translating “a stitch in time saves nine” into Italian, or “raining cats and dogs” into Korean. And we are not really attuned to Hebraic parallelism when it comes to poetic writing forms. But we shouldn’t miss how the collection of short, memorable and pithy sayings is wrapped in a frame of human imagery. Specifically the two personified ladies of wisdom and folly. Which path will the young man take? The road to destruction in response to the heady flirtation of harlot folly, or the wonderful blessing of marriage to lady wisdom? I would be inclined to allow that kind of overt literary framing to provide an overriding narratival snapshot into which the issues of wisdom and folly can be placed in relational terms rather than mere burdens of behavior.

So much more could be said on both of these thoughts, so feel free to comment and share your thoughts.

Preaching Proverbs 1: Epilogues and Exhaustion?

December 12, 2011December 9, 2011 / Peter Mead / 4 Comments

Jon sent me an email about Proverbs. He asked whether I thought the preacher heading into Proverbs is bound to either preach for a five minute mini message or an exhaustingly exhaustive topical study of an entire subject? Isn’t the preacher guaranteed to impose a homiletical structure on a simple saying, or preach a plethora of cross-references in order to fill the time? And, why haven’t I written more about preaching Proverbs on this site?

First, the question about this site is easy to answer. I have neither preached from Proverbs, nor heard a sermon from Proverbs in the last few years and so my thinking hasn’t been provoked on this important issue. I was involved in a preacher’s retreat on the subject of preaching Proverbs a while back, but thanks to Jon for provoking my thoughts! (Actually, Jon’s written a lot on this specific issue, for example this post on preaching Proverbs.)

So, three thoughts on preaching Proverbs, before I explain two ways I believe a full-length sermon can be worthwhile on a single proverb!

Thought 1 – We need to be wary of preaching moralistic legalism. This is a danger everywhere in the Bible – “so the moral of the story is . . . be a good boy/girl and obey your parents!” This is too common in preaching, and massively misses the mark of preaching the extravagant relational grace that infuses the Bible with the life of God’s love. This is especially easy in Proverbs. Be good. Try hard. Be disciplined. Be like this man. Don’t be like that one. Let’s be careful to prayerfully ponder the proverb we plan to preach in light of the bigger context of Scripture and in light of what our listeners really need.

Tomorrow I’ll offer two further thoughts before getting to two full-length sermon approaches that I have seen work very effectively.

7 Tone Balances

December 8, 2011November 23, 2011 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

The tone of our preaching is so important. Yet this is a balancing act. Seven “tones” to balance in biblical preaching:

1. Serious yet joyful – We handle the most serious of content in the most serious of circumstances. Yet we have more reason than any to have joy. It isn’t right for a biblical preacher to come across as flippant and silly, but neither is it right to come across as sombre and melancholic.

2. Textual yet relevant – We preach as inhabitants of two worlds: the world of the inspired text and the world of our listeners. It is possible for our tone to be too much in one or the other and for our preaching to be undermined as a result.

3. Contemporary yet genuine – We preach as fellow humans in the present situation. It is incarnational to not come across as a prophet who has been locked in a victorian time capsule. Yet we need to be genuine in this, no good pretending to be contemporary in ways we are not, people see through that.

4. Authentic yet appropriate – In a culture that increasingly craves authentic communicators, we must show the real us when we speak. Listeners don’t connect with plastic preachers. Yet we must be appropriate in what we share. Sometimes too much information undoes everything around it.

5. Welcoming yet exclusive – We preach as those who represent the welcoming spreading graciousness of Christ, yet as those who stand with Him in His claim to absolute exclusivity. We can’t be welcoming in a way that offers hope to those on a hopeless path.

6. Warm yet warning – We preach as ambassadors for Christ. He wasn’t stone cold like some preachers are, Christ was compelling and warm. Yet the self-righteous found Christ to be one who warned, rather than warmed them.

7. Winsome yet real – Maybe this has been covered already, but let me reinforce it. We speak as representatives of a God who seeks to woo the wounded. Our preaching tone should be winsome and Christlike, but that won’t work if it is mere catchphrases that aren’t supported by a deeply stirred reality.