50 Summer Preaching Tweaks: 1-5

August 15, 2013 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

As we are all about to head into a new (school) year of preaching, how about a big collection of little tweaks for effective preaching? In no particular order, here come the fifty summer tweaks to sift through and prayerfully consider:

1. Be mastered by a book. Whether you regularly preach through whole books or not, make sure you spend enough time soaking in a book that it can truly grip you. Be saturated so that when squeezed, you ooze the content of that book. Then prepare a series to invite others into that blessing.

2. Invite others into the preparation process. We all tend to go solo on preaching preparation. Invite some folks to join you. Perhaps in a group, perhaps a series of conversations, perhaps ask for help on facebook or twitter. Perhaps talk through the message, perhaps ask for help on support material, perhaps find out where others think the points of tension lie. It will probably be better together.

3. Lean less on your notes. If you are a manuscript reader, take only an outline. If you are a notes user, experiment with note-less. Be as prepared as you can, but make the message simpler in structure, stick in a passage and run through it several times. Going noteless is not as hard as you think, and the benefits might mean you never go back!

4. Stay put, dig deeper. If you are a concordance freestyler, try preaching a message where you stay put. You will find that you will tend to dig deeper in the passage and apply more fully in the present. Both are good things! Only cross-reference if there is a genuine need to do so.

5. Craft the main idea a little bit more. Take an hour at some point and work on the main idea of the message for an hour more than you normally would. How can it be more precise, more memorable, more relevant, more text specific, more encouraging, less wordy, less historic, less theologically phrased?

Preaching Myths #2 – Cool Preaching

August 3, 2013 / Peter Mead / 5 Comments

Here’s another idea that bounces around in various forms, but I think should be probed a bit:

“Cool preaching attracts people.”

This could be the thinking of church leaders who decide to go with a “cool preaching” option in order to seek growth. Or it could be the critique of traditional church folks who are looking sideways at a different church which has a perceived “cool factor” and is growing faster than their church is. When used as a critique, it tends to carry with it the implication that such a church must be dumbing down, softening, weakening, diluting or corrupting the gospel in some way.

Before critiquing the myth, I suppose both thoughts can be affirmed. Some churches do make superficial style issues a driving factor in their growth strategies and in some cases it does seem to attract people (although any style may well put others off coming in the first place, even a contemporary style).

And indeed, some contemporary styled churches have weakened the gospel leading to shallow conversions and poor discipleship. But let’s be fair here, some traditional styled churches have weakened the gospel leading to shallow conversions and poor discipleship too! Sweeping generalizations about contemporary versus traditional are very naive.

So, does cool preaching attract people? I would say that it might, but probably not. The primary people who tend to be attracted to “cool Christianity” may well be Christians whose tradition store has become overstocked and they want to try something different.

Three thoughts:

1. Christ attracts people. Re-read the gospels and notice how normal and broken people were so drawn to Jesus.

2. Christlike communities attract people. If people are not drawn to Jesus today, it is probably because their exposure to his body is cluttered by other baggage and distraction. A community being transformed by the love of God so that they love each other (like Christ) will spill outwards in love to the community (like Christ) and thereby be a magnet to broken people (like Christ).

3. Effective preaching engagingly communicates what matters. Cool preaching without biblical substance is see through. People may well see through “cool-empty” just as they may see through “traditional-empty” (although sadly there will be those who don’t see through one or the other). So what then for our preaching?

A. We must seek to get the substance right: the Bible offered engagingly, the gospel full and clear, and the presentation of God in Christ as clear as the incarnation requires.

B. We must seek to remove unnecessary obstacles: issues of delivery, packaging, presentation, and content need to be carefully evaluated to make sure that people are not choosing to walk away from the gospel because of something other than the gospel.

Being cool is not the goal in preaching, unless you are wanting to temporarily attract young disenchanted Christians. Cool is really not the issue at all, but recognize that in your pursuit of best substance, obstacle-light preaching, you will probably be critiqued for being “cool” but shallow. Make sure you’re not.

Preaching [Insert Word] Jesus

July 27, 2013 / Peter Mead / 6 Comments

Preaching Jesus. This is the calling of the preacher. It is an incredible calling. We aren’t called to preach tips or suggestions, mere commands or philosophy, not even just ideas or concepts. We get to preach a person. When I met my wife-to-be, I was very capable of “preaching” her to any who cared to listen. I didn’t struggle for motivation because I knew her, I liked her and I wanted to talk about her. But over the years I’ve had to do some presentations I wasn’t thrilled about . . . ideas, subjects, topics. These opportunities were very different. The personal connection and consequent motivation is far different when we grasp that Christian preaching is primarily about preaching a person.

Preaching for Jesus. And what a person we get to preach! We get to represent the great object of the desire of all creation, the one who made it all and will bring it all to a close. The one who brings eternal delight to the Father and who will reveal the delightful Father to all for all eternity. This is not a political leader with tenuous temporary influence, or a new fad who will soon pass. This is not preaching some hyped up celebrity, or some high achiever in one area or another . . . this is the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace. And we get to preach about him, and for him. That means he cares, he takes interest, he wants it to go well.

Preaching with Jesus. It just gets better. We often think of our ministry being for Jesus, but can forget the great biblical theme of working with God. He commissioned us to go and make disciples, but he did so with the promise of his presence! What a privilege to not only speak of Christ and for Christ, but also with Christ. As we preach to proclaim the gospel, we are doing so with him who is at work fishing for humanity. As we preach to edify the church, we are doing so with him who is at work building his church. As we preach to bring glory to God, we are doing so with the eternal Son who is well practiced and ever pleased to bring praise to His and our great Father. Ministry with. Seems like we don’t think about that enough!

Mixing the Matters

July 5, 2013 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

You matter. Preaching matters. Your preaching matters. But don’t mix these up.

You matter – you are a person for whom Christ died, a person who has been bought with a price and baptised into the body of Christ to participate in the fellowship and life of God himself. Just like the people you preach to, your worth and value are to be found in Christ.

Preaching matters – what God has done in Christ for your listeners and you is truly worth sharing boldly and openly. Preaching matters because God is an incarnationally-minded communicator and as a result, we have something to say. Preaching the word of God has always been a key part of God’s mission in this world, for there is a revelation and a proclamation at the core of that mission.

Your preaching matters – you may not be so-and-so famous preacher who draws huge crowds, but you are more than just the person scheduled to preach this next time. The people gathered have a divine appointment with the word of the gospel, so you will want to give your very best for their sake, and for His. The famous preacher is not scheduled to be there, by God’s providence, you are.

Don’t mix these up – one of the ways we can get into trouble as preachers is to start to confuse these truths. Since preaching matters, I matter because of my preaching? Careful! The moment we confuse our identity in Christ with our role in ministry, we are set for trouble. I recently heard of a visiting preacher who marred his reputation by his reaction to a circumstance that thwarted his opportunity to preach. It is good to take your preaching seriously, but never think you are indispensable. It is good to serve God in preaching, but never let your identity be determined by it. Your preaching matters, but God can, and does, work apart from your ministry.

Treasure Shifts

May 3, 2013 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I am currently enjoying Paul David Tripp’s Dangerous Calling. This is my book of the year, so far, and once I finish it I will be sure to review it on here. There is so much good stuff in this book, but just as a taster, here is a list of five “treasure shifts” that can occur in the heart of a pastor/preacher (this is straight quotation from Tripp):

1. IDENTITY: Moving from identity in Christ to identity in Ministry.

In pastoral ministry, it is very tempting to look hirzontally for what you have already been given in Christ. . . . Rather than the hope and courage that come from resting in my identity in Christ, my ministry becomes captured and shaped by the treasure of a series of temporary horizontal affirmations of my value and worth. This robs me of ministry boldness and makes me all too focused on how those in the circle of my ministry are responding to me.

2. MATURITY: Defining spiritual well-being not by the mirror of the Word, but by ministry.

Biblical literacy is not to be confused with Christian maturity. Homiletic accuracy is not the same as godliness. Theological dexterity is very different from practical holiness. Successful leadership is not the same as a heart for Christ. Growth in influence must not be confused with growth in grace. It is tempting to allow a shift to take place in the way that I evaluate my maturity as a pastor. Rather than living with a deep neediness for the continued operation of grace in my own heart, I begin, because of experience and success in ministry, to view myself as being more mature than I actually am. Because of these feelings of arrival, I don’t sit under my own preaching; I don’t preach out of a winsome, tender, and humble heart; and I don’t seek out the ministry of the body of Christ. This allows my preparation to be less devotional and my view of others to be more judgmental.

3. REPUTATION: Shifting from a ministry shaped by zeal for the reputation of Christ to a ministry shaped by hunger for the praise of people.

. . . My heart begins to be captured by the desire to be esteemed by others, the buzz of being needed, the allure of standing out in the crowd, the glory of being in charge, and the power of being right. This makes it hard to admit I am wrong, to submit to the counsel of others, to surrender control, to not have to win the day and prove I am right. It makes it hard to accept blame or to share credit, and it makes me less than excited about ministry as a body-of-Christ collaborative process.

I will finish the list tomorrow.

(NB. This list is found on pages 105-107)

Popcorn?

March 12, 2013 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

This week I may be a bit quieter than usual on the site. I am working on notes for the European Leadership Forum that is coming up in May. It is a privilege to be involved in the Bible Teachers Network there and your prayers are appreciated as I finish off the teaching notes for that event. Meanwhile, here’s this week’s Cor Deo post, simply titled Popcorn?

So Why Do We Preach?

December 22, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

This week I’ve been pondering the motivations for a preaching ministry. Here are the eight points, followed by a summative two:

1. We preach because God is a God who speaks, therefore we have something to say.

2. We preach as an act of service to others.

3. Because the Gospel is thrillingly good news.

4. Because people need to hear the Gospel.

5. We preach to build God’s kingdom.

6. We preach to equip others for ministry.

7. Because we can’t help but speak of Someone so wonderful.

8. Because we care about the people to whom we preach.

9. (Odd Numbers) – We preach because we love the Lord. All of the odd numbered points have been different angles on the same issue. I certainly haven’t exhausted the possibilities here. Preaching as an act of devotion, an act of worship, and even preaching as obedience to God’s Word and as obedience to His calling on our lives – these could all be added. But the bottom line surely is this: as we take stock of our own motivation in preaching, are we still gripped and driven by a vertical responsiveness? This can so easily grow dull or become corrupted by a self-elevation and self-worship. Surely the best thing to do here is to spend time on our face before God and ask Him what our motivations are (ask yourself and you may respond with a lie!)

And what if motivations aren’t good here? Chase Him. Seek Him. Recognize that you cannot fix your own spirituality through personal resolutions and effort. The solution must always be a fresh vision of who God is. Open the Word, open your heart and here I come, ready or not!

10. (Even Numbers) – We preach because we love our neighbour. All of the even numbered points have been different angles on the same issue. Again I have by no means exhausted the possibilities. We could add preaching to strengthen the relationships of others (both vertically and horizontally), or preaching to influence society, or preaching to mark eternity.

Again, the bottom line is whether we have a horizontal outgoing motivation, or whether we have been corrupted by our flesh into a self-serving ministry that uses others to pursue our own goals and agenda. I find that the vertical spills into the horizontal. When I am the god of my life, then others become servants in my subconscious motivations. When God is clearly God from the perspective of the eyes of my heart, then I gladly reach out to serve others. Love the Lord, love your neighbour . . . always in that order.

Why Do We Preach 2

December 19, 2012 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

As an end of year pause for reflection, we are considering why it is that we preach. Yesterday we looked at the fact that God is a God who speaks, and that our preaching is not for our own sake, but as an act of service to others. From a slightly different angle:

3. Because the Gospel is thrillingly good news. The mission of the preacher is not merely to communicate ancient truths relevantly. God has given us a message. And that message is labelled as good news for a reason. The great sweep of redemption history involves the intra-trinitarian mission to rescue fallen creatures and restore them to full glorious fellowship with a loving and giving God.

It is not some sort of heavenly plan B to make the best of a bad situation and try to restore some semblance of respectability to a God who is on the throne but attacked on every side. When time is wrapped up and we have the benefit of both hindsight and eternal perspective, we will be gasping at the multi-coloured and multi-faceted dazzling beauty of what God has done in Christ.

We get to proclaim that now!

4. Because people need to hear the Gospel. There are only two types of people in the world. Those who need to hear the gospel and be saved, and those who need to hear the gospel as they are being saved. While we may get beyond simplistic and trite presentations of some scaled down version of the good news to some sort of legal loophole, we never move beyond the gospel in its glorious richness.

What God is like, what He has done for us in Christ, how much we need Him, redeclaration of total dependence – justification, regeneration, reconciliation, adoption, fellowship. Preaching Christ so that people will trust in Him. This is something our people can’t hear enough about. They need the hope, the faith and the love that is only found in the gospel. We are not called to give tips for successful independent living, or to offer life coaching team talks. We are called to preach Christ and Him crucified, that all may trust in Him, know Him, enjoy Him.

Gospel preaching, why wouldn’t we want to do that?

The Heidelberg Catechism on Powerpoint

November 10, 2012 / Peter Mead / 8 Comments

Question 130. What does God require of preachers tempted to rely on technology?

Answer: Ok, this was a provocative title, and technically Microsoft programmers were still in the early stages of development and they hadn’t yet released powerpoint in 1563. But the title may not be too far off. I was looking through the Heidelberg Catechism earlier this week in light of a discussion on some historical matters. Along with several other points that I really appreciated, I noticed one particularly relevant to preachers. Question 97 develops the issue of not making images of God with a broader question of the use of images in the church. Then comes question 98 . . .

Question 98. But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the laity?

Answer: No, for we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of his word.

Quick thoughts . . .

1. Do we fall into the trap of thinking that we know better than God in our age of sophistication? I wonder if previous generations had all the same comments about, “Well, you know, this generation now is different and so we need to . . . “

2. Do we think people can’t be engaged and drawn in and captivated by the teaching of the Word of God? I won’t get started on attention spans or this will become a long post!

3. Do we do our best to be alive, life-giving and lively in our preaching? No generation has ever thrived under the dull preaching of God’s Word.

Spaces: Thinking Through the Process

October 26, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

A little while back I offered the preparation process in terms of four locations: Study, Stop and Pray (Prayer Closet), Starbucks, Stand and Deliver (Pulpit). To finish this series on spaces I want to poke around in each of these four locations and prompt our thinking.

1. Study. I’ve talked about this over the past few days, but essentially the issue here is both noise and access to resources. To really concentrate on getting to grips with the exegesis means not being pulled away by other things. It also means being able to spread out the books, while also opening up the heart. Is it worth considering a separate desk for this? Is it possible to make the key resources easily accessible? Can you put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door?

2. Stop and Pray. This one is all about noise. The noise of people interrupting, the noise of phones beeping, the noise of tasks calling you. You need to silence them all. I suspect many of us can’t achieve this in our study or office. Would it be better to walk and pray with the mobile phone left at home? Would it be better to go to the church and pray through this phase in the place where you will preach the message? I find this helpful as it helps to prompt my prayers toward the specific people and families that will be there.

3. Starbucks. This one is about targeting the message. Personally I don’t find coffee shops the most conducive to concentrated preparation. But I see the argument in favour of them (as long as I have music in my ears instead of loud conversations from the volume-unaware that tend to sit near me in these places!) Somehow the goal here is to be sensitive and alert to the people and the kind of people to whom the message will be preached. This could be as simple as putting a couple of pictures up on the screen, or placing names on 3×5 cards on the desk, or being around people. But, if I can’t help but be distracted by being around people, it is better to get the work done in a room on my own!

4. Stand and Deliver. Different issue, but worthwhile . . . what are the issues in terms of preaching proxemics? Is there clutter in the preaching environment? Am I situated in the best place for this congregation? Should I come down to their level? Can I lose the seaworthy pulpit and be seen? Is there clutter from their perspective?