Stage 8 – Message Detail

Effective Verse-by-Verse Preaching

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Following on from the previous post, I’d like to share Mathewson’s four suggestions for using a verse-by-verse approach effectively.  I could have written my own suggestions, but they’d be much the same as Mathewson, so I’ll let him have the credit for this:

1. Keep the big picture in mind. This means thinking in preaching units or paragraphs, rather than atomistically.  Verse-by-verse is a strategy that serves a larger goal, that of expositional preaching of a unit of Scripture.  Commit to work through a block of text, rather than stopping when the time runs out.

2. Highlight the contours of the text. Include structural observation to help people recognize the contours and shape of the text.

3. Determine which details to cover in depth and which to summarize.  What does the audience need explaining, validated or applied?

4. Use verse-by-verse preaching in concert with paragraph-by-paragraph preaching.  Some sermons in a series will cover larger chunks of text, while others will move verse-by-verse.  Give people both breadth and depth, they need both.

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).

Preaching to Real Ordinary People

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

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.

The Preacher, The Worship Leader

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

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.

Illustrate With Pastoral Care – Part 2

/ Peter Mead / 3 Comments

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

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

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!)

Illustrations Serve the Sermon, Not Vice Versa

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“Any trained public speaker can select a theme and gather a bundle of stories that will touch an audience emotionally, but this is not preaching.” (Chappell, 200.)  We need to remember always that an illustration is there to serve the sermon, to aid in clarifying explanation, support, or application, but not to substitute for sound explanation.

If you suspect that a message might be too illustration-heavy (a rare problem for some preachers), then it is worth going through the message and questioning the purpose of each one.  Is it there to clarify explanation, to support a point, or to apply the teaching in real life imagery?  Or is it there because you really want to tell it, or because you know they’ll enjoy that one?  Be ruthless in filtering illustrations so they are genuinely serving the sermon.

If people perceive you to be a preacher who just tells stories, then your credibility will be damaged.  Be sure the illustrations are the servants, not the focal point of your preaching.

Don’t Treat Everything as Essential

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

There is always a danger, when we are passionate about something, that our passion will run away with us.  For instance, a passion for expository preaching can easily be misdirected to areas that are not critical issues.  The nature of the Bible, the importance of effective communication, the spiritual and divine work in genuine preaching, the need for appropriate relevance, the nature of the gospel – these are key issues for me.  Here are a few issues that are not critical in my opinion, although we all might be tempted to make them core issues!  Three issues today, three more tomorrow, and what would you add?

Bible Version – I have my preference and I think I have some solid justification for my preference.  But this is not an issue I’ll fight over.  I tend to preach from the pew Bible in the church – that way most people are looking at the same thing.  If the church expresses a preference, then I honor that.  If they want The Message, or the King James Version, I suppose I will use that.  (In my preparation I will use my preferred versions and original languages, then shift to the version for preaching in the final phase of preparation.)

Length of Sermon – A church may want an hour, or they may want twenty minutes.  While I am not known for immaculate time-keeping, I am never trying to make an issue out of this.  Some people seem to think anything less than thirty-five minutes is not expository preaching at all.  Others are passionate in their view that people can’t concentrate beyond twenty-five minutes.  I think both are wrong, but I won’t make an issue out of it!

Form of Sermon – Only verse-by-verse is true preaching.  Only deductive sermons are expository.  Only narrative preaching connects with people. There are so many narrow views around.  Some seem to think that their sermon shape came down from the mount with the blueprint for the tabernacle.  I do not support the notion that expository preaching, by definition, implies any particular form.  Expository preaching is a philosophy of preaching.  The form of the sermon is my choice as the preacher – what will be most effective for communicating the main idea and aiming toward the sermonic purpose?

Don’t Get Stung By the Be’s

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

I made a passing reference the other day to Bryan Chappell’s list of three “be’s.” These are worthy of our consideration since he raises a crucial point. It is easy to fall into the trap of being biblically based, but biblically incomplete in our preaching. By focusing on the narrow slice of text we are preaching, and not taking into account the broader teaching of Scripture, we can end up implying (or even stating), that we need to “be” something in order to be loved by God. (See Christ-Centered Preaching, page 289ff).

Be Like – This is where a character is presented, then the congregation are urged to be like them in respect to the chararcteristics highlighted. Chappell acknowledges that biblical writers intended for certain characters to model certain characteristics for the readers to emulate. However, the writers also are honest in presentation of weakness, failure and sin. We must beware of preaching a “be like” message that lacks in awareness of the grace and enablement of God, lest we leave room for boasting and inadvertently preach a works righteousness.

Be Good – While again there is clear biblical instruction to be good or be holy, a message focusing on behavior is dangerous if key elements are lacking. God does not command us to behave well in our own strength. Moralistic harangues are easy to preach and often hard to take, but impossible to justify. Our message cannot be “try-harder-be-better-this-week” and biblical at the same time. Chappell rightly points out that it is wrong to preach that we are saved by grace and kept by our obedience.

Be Disciplined – Very similar to the behavior focus above, this type of message focuses on spiritual disciplines as the means to pleasing God. Many believers fall into the trap of thinking that their identity is tied to their observance of religious practices. Disciplines preached in isolation from the grace of God present a God so easily vexed, a God of “brownie points” spirituality.

It is good to emulate biblical characters in some respects, to be good in behavior and even disciplined in spirituality, but there are dangers in all of these areas. How easily we paint a false portrait of God, a dark shadow of guilt in the place of grace and a false image of true Christianity. As Chappell carefully states it, “‘Be’ messages are not wrong in themselves; they are wrong messages by themselves.”

Is It Only Me?

/ Peter Mead / 12 Comments

I’ve noticed something in my preaching, and I wonder if I’m alone. When I’m preaching a message and coming towards the closing stages, particularly when I am communicating specifically with not-yet-Christians, it seems that the moment is often ripe for a distraction. Just at the point of speaking of the cross and our response to the gospel, a child cries, a door slams, a siren wails, etc.

Perhaps people are simply tiring of staying focused, or increasing activity behind the scenes allows for more distraction as the service comes in to land. Perhaps I just convey tension and communicate poorly at this point. Perhaps. Or perhaps it is a reminder of the spiritual war we are in when it comes to the souls of men and women who are not in Christ. The god of this age has blinded the minds, and to be involved with the light of the glory of the gospel shining in, is to be involved in the greatest spiritual battle that has raged down through time. Perhaps it is a reminder to pray, and to consider the importance of intercessors during the preaching of the gospel. Or perhaps it is just me.