Review: Preaching that Connects, by Mark Galli and Craig Brian Larson

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Subtitle: Using Journalistic Techniques to Add Impact

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Both authors are journalistic editors (Christianity Today and PreachingToday.com respectively). Both are also preachers. They wrote this book to show how the skills of journalism can help the effectiveness of preaching.

The book is short, but a worthwhile read. A dozen brief chapters deal with the following subjects: the motivation of effective communication, creativity, introductions, sermon structure, illustration, story telling, language style, and conclusions. The goal in journalism is effective and captivating communication. What preacher does not desire to be effective and captivating?

As the foreword suggests, this book might only take a couple of hours to read, but there is potentially a lifetime of benefit.

Why Bother With an Outline?

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I was recently chatting with a pastor who told me he never writes down an outline in preparation; rather, he just studies hard and then preaches. If it is possible to study a passage and then preach from it without doing an outline, then why bother?

Haddon Robinson teaches that the outline is for the preacher, not the congregation. The benefits of diligently outlining a message are at least four:

1. The unity of the message. You can view your sermon as a whole, and therefore, get a clear picture of its unity. Since an outline is essentially a hierarchical structure, any disconnected elements will not fit comfortably under the headings where they are placed.

2. The logic of the message. An outline clarifies in your mind the logical connection between the parts of your sermon. How does movement one flow into movement two, and why in that order? The outline will demonstrate this (or fail to do so if there is a problem).

3. The order of the message. An outline crystallizes the order of the ideas so that you can give them to your listeners in the appropriate sequence.

4. The flesh of the message. You will be able to recognize places in your sermon that require additional supporting material. Or you may see that your supporting material is all clumped together in one section, while other cupboards are bare.

Preaching First-Person: 5 Essential Questions

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I am no expert on first-person (in character) preaching. However, when I have preached in this way I have had very positive feedback. Here are some basic questions I ask myself before preaching in this way.

1. Which character? It can be a character explicitly involved in a passage, or an implied character (an observer of the events).

2. Who is traveling through time? Is the character coming to today to speak to the congregation, or is the congregation going back in time to the historical context of the character?

3. Will I use costume or props? There is no benefit to looking like a child in a Christmas play, but a carefully thought out costume or prop may help the presentation. On the other hand, it may serve as a distraction.

4. Will I conclude in character? Transitioning between character and self is not easy, but applying the message in character is also not easy . . . so who will drive the message home? The character, me, or someone else?

5. Is this a true sermon? Preaching in character is no excuse for sloppy preaching. The message still needs solid exegesis, a definite main idea, clearly defined purpose and relevance to my listeners. Preaching first-person must never be less work than a normal sermon. It takes the normal preparation, plus a lot of extra work.

Make Your Sermon Sizzle!

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There is one of you, and lots of them. So in your desire to be relevant to as many listeners as possible, perhaps you tend to speak in general terms. Don’t.

Remember that generalities are as gripping as generic goods in a grocery store. Specifics sizzle. When you describe a Biblical scene, or an applicational situation, or an illustration, be as specific as possible. When you are specific, then listeners will be able to see, feel and experience. Do it well and your sermon will sizzle.

Galli and Larson, in Preaching that Connects, agree, “Being specific means saying Luger, rather than weapon; ’89 Taurus, rather than vehicle; adultery rather than sin; the nails through Christ’s palms, rather than Christ’s sufferings; Bob, the 45-year-old, overweight Chicago detective with the scar on the back of his hand, rather than officer.” (Obviously, be specific in the cultural language of your listeners.)

Like generic own label products in the supermarket – generalities are easy to find, they cost us little and they do a job. But they are bland and uninspiring. If a sermon was a meal you took many hours to prepare, you would want it to sizzle. Be specific.

Peter has responded to comments on this post – see comments.

Tell the Story, but Preach the Text

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I believe in vivid description during preaching. It takes time for an idea to form in the minds and hearts of listeners. It takes specific detail for listeners to “see” a Biblical story and to feel its tension. But the solution is not simply to add and embellish freely.

1. Preach the text, not the event. The writer made choices. He chose to selectively include limited detail and was inspired in the choice of each word. So while it is tempting to fill out the details, be careful not to lose the point the writer is making. For example, in the gospels, each writer is writing historically accurate accounts, but is doing so theologically. A writer may include or omit specific details in order to make his point. If we simply harmonize all four gospels and preach the resulting composite story, we will be preaching the event rather than the text. It is a good idea to consult a harmony of the gospels to make sure your description is historically accurate, but preach your specific text. The event is historically true, but the text is inspired.

2. Preach the text, not added detail. There is a constant danger that in telling a story well, we might preach an idea born out of the added (uninspired) detail. Therefore, it is critical to do solid exegetical work in the text before working on how to tell the story. Work on the passage must come before work on the message. Then if you decide to add some detail, you can do so carefully, seeking to honor the emphasis and detail of the text.

Let a Story be a Story

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If God inspired a story, why don’t we preach it as a story? Simple question. Sometimes we think stories are for the flannel-graph in the children’s Sunday School room. But in church, to adults, we don’t tell stories. Perhaps we summarize the story and then get down to preaching our points – lessons derived from and illustrated by the text. Or we dissect the story and preach a protruding skeletal outline that makes our points as we work through the text.

Maybe we should tell the story? When faced with a Biblical story, in very basic terms, the default approach might be a simple three steps. 1. Tell the story. 2. State the main idea of the story. 3. Apply the main idea. There are many other approaches that might be worth considering, but consider this one first. Story – Principle – Application.

Allow the dynamics of a story to work, even for adults. After all, God inspired it as a story . . . and it was written for adults.

Peter has responded to comments on this post.

The Preacher’s Cutting Room

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Watching a movie on VHS was simple. Watch it, rewind it, return it. Now we use DVDs – watch it, then watch as many hours of extra bonus material as you can tolerate! You can enjoy “The Making of . . .” and “Meet the cast . . .” and “Humorous gaffes.” Then there is also “Deleted scenes.”

A scene might take days to film, more days to edit, cost thousands of dollars, and then be mercilessly cut from the final edition of the film. One such scene was in the movie Gladiator. As Maximus waited under the Coliseum, he looked out through a barred window to see Christians praying as the lions approached. A powerful scene, very moving. It was cut.

The director’s commentary on the scene explained the situation. It did not help the progress of the plot. It was potentially overwhelming, too weighty.

After many hours of preparing a sermon, get out the scissors. It isn’t easy, but there may be an element of explanation, an illustration, or a story that does not help the message, or may overwhelm it. If it would not be missed, or if its absence would not result in reduced understanding of the message . . . cut it. Perhaps when your sermon is on a DVD you can make it available, but for now we are still preaching in VHS.

Protruding Outlines

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The outline of a message is often compared to the skeleton in the body.  The most transformational and life changing encounters with a person are never focused on their skeleton.  I stayed awake through an anatomy lecture as I learned the difference between a clavicle and a scapula, but my life was forever transformed by meeting the beautiful lady who would become my wife.  Her beauty required the presence of a skeleton, but my heart was captured and my life transformed by the smile, the character, the life, but not the lower mandible’s connection to the cranium.  As we preach the Word of God, may the goal be the transforming life and beauty of His Word, rather than an unnecessary display of the skeleton of our thoughts.

Luke 18:9-14 – Contemporizing a Parable

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Timothy Reynolds commented on my post regarding the preaching of parables. I’d like to elevate that comment to a post, along with my response, so that perhaps others might want to have a go at a modern retelling of Luke 18:9-14. If there is some activity on this, I might also post what I actually preached. I used a contemporary version of the parable as my introduction to the message. My introduction is by no means a great example, but it is an example. Anyway, Timothy wrote:

Interesting idea to retell the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in a modern context – I’d be interested to know how you did this in a way that would gain the same reaction or anticipation as Jesus’ audience had. I can’t see how it would work, because congregations don’t have the same sort of expectations of religious leaders as those in Jesus’ day did. Let’s try:

An elder arrived early for the service and sat down on the other side of the chapel from the young lad he’d never seen before. He looked like one of that gang that hung around outside the swimming pool being a nuisance on their skate boards. The elder bowed his head to pray as he always did and said, “Thank you, Lord, that by your grace I have been kept from that sort of life and was a member of the church and had a good job by the time I was this guy’s age.”

The young lad didn’t even bow his head or close his eyes, but just said , “God, I don’t even know why I’m here, but I know I need you. Please forgive me for ignoring you.”

Are we getting any where near with that? I’m not sure – I think most congregations would see it coming!

My response:

Thanks Timothy – perhaps you have started something here. Your story certainly parallels the original in many respects. Like you wrote, I also think most congregations would see it coming! Of course, it’s hard to really surprise people when the reference for the message is in the notice sheet. Having said that, I think it is possible to think through a modern version of a parable, deliberately paralleling key points, but also deliberately obscuring some parallels, so that the tension is not given away too early. The goal is not to totally surprise people, but to have our story “do” what the original story “did.” So, perhaps others will follow your lead and give modern versions of this parable.

Peter has responded to a question on this post – see comments

Preaching Familiar Texts

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What should we do with stories that are very familiar to our listeners?  For example, a friend of mine recently preached the crucifixion account in Matthew 27.  How should he approach a passage that is so familiar and is a subject addressed every week in his church in one way or another?

1 – Know your audience.  For some groups, more emphasis on explanation or proof of the passage would be necessary.  In this particular case the people would generally understand the passage (apart from the miraculous events as Jesus died).  They also have little need of proof.  This leaves the majority of the focus on application.

2 – Retell familiar stories, but help people feel them.  It is easy for people to hear something often and be familiar with it.  This does not mean the passage should not be preached.  People often know Biblical stories, but rarely feel them.  Take the opportunity to tell the story in a gripping way, helping people to feel as if they were there.  You cannot force this to happen.  It doesn’t help to keep haranguing people with phrases like, “Imagine you were there, come on!”  It takes the skill of vivid description and effective story telling to achieve this.  Perhaps a slightly unusual angle could help.  Since the text eventually brings in the centurion’s perspective, why not tell the whole story from where he is standing, still keeping to the details in the text?

3 – Apply, apply, apply.  Don Sunukjian teaches preachers to give only as much explanation and proof as necessary, then apply, apply, apply.  This is good advice.  It is easy to give redundant explanations and exegetical details.  As preachers we are prone to do information dumps on our people (after all, we worked hard on this message!)  But people can always benefit from more application.

4 – Apply specifically.  What does the crucifixion story mean to a Christian working in a factory this week?  What does the familiar story mean to a mother of small children and sleepless nights?  What difference could this make tomorrow morning at 10am?  It is easy to preach a “church” sermon, and easy to listen to one, but get the Word into real life by being as specific as possible.