conclusions

Don’t Dilute By Distraction – Part 2

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

In the closing stages of a message, the last leg of the journey, it is easy to lose the focus and momentum of a message.  Yesterday I raised the issue of introducing other texts, which can (not always, but often) dilute the force of the ending of a message.  Here’s another:

Don’t dilute by adding unnecessary new images. After twenty or thirty minutes where the overarching image has been the tender care of a mother for her child, the preacher decides to throw another image into the mix in the closing moments – perhaps the care of a shepherd for the lambs, or a coach for his team, or whatever.  Often a new image, a new illustration, a new set of vocabulary, when introduced in the final leg of a sermon will undermine the strength of what has gone before, or totally overwhelm the message (such as a moving story that is so powerful it makes every other element of the message, including the Bible, mere introduction).  Again, it is not always true.  Sometimes a pithy anecdote, a moving illustration, a well turned phrase, may serve to close a message well…but only sometimes…and not a very big sometimes either.

The final thrust of a message is a critical leg of the journey.  It’s the time to consolidate, not dilute.  A time to pull elements together and drive them home, not add new information that shatters the unity of the whole.

Don’t Dilute By Distraction

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Just a quick thought relating to the concluding movement of a message. This includes the conclusion, but might also bring in the final movement or point of the message. During the final thrust, the crescendo of the message, do not dilute the focus of listeners. It is so easy to unnecessarily add new elements to a message at a time when the need is not variation, nor interest, but focus. For instance:

Don’t dilute by adding distracting texts. It’s so tempting to refer to another verse somewhere or other in the Bible. Often, not always, but often, this is a distraction rather than a help. Evaluate carefully before redirecting the gaze of the listeners to a passage, to wording, to a story, to a psalm, to anything that has not been the primary focus of the message. You may mention one verse, but their minds may blossom out in all sorts of bunny trails, or at the very least, the new information may dilute their focus. Be wary of adding texts in this final leg of the journey. (Sometimes a specific text, painstakingly chosen, and carefully used, may serve to close a message well…but only sometimes…a small sometimes.)

Tomorrow I will bring up another source of distraction that can dilute the end of a message.

At The End – Stop

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Yesterday I wrote about knowing the end from the beginning.  Preach as if you’re going somewhere and when you get there, stop preaching.  It seems obvious, but it is important to note that good sermons end.

As a preacher, once you get to the end, stop.  Don’t add extra exhortation (that should come in earlier), stop.  Don’t keeping talking to fill time (people never mind an early end), stop.  Preach, then stop.

As I’ve written before, so now I quote Haddon Robinson on the same point.  Once you stop, don’t allow a song leader to sabotage the moment by switching peoples’ hearts and minds off.  Often people need some quiet.  Let the sermon do its work.  This is the best time for people to respond, or to write down their notes, so give them space to do so.  A poorly placed song is unhelpful, but so is the preacher overtalking the message.  Conclusions are simple really.  You just need to stop.

Preach As If You Know The End From The Beginning

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Last week I wrote about the issue of concentration and sermon length.  Haddon Robinson taught me that when it comes to sermon length the real issue is not minutes, but perception.

A good sermon is going somewhere and the listeners know it.  Apparently, there was a study of some 2500 people with the question, “How long should a sermon be?”  Preachers would answer in minutes, but listeners would answer along the lines of, “As long as it takes to get to the end.”  By this measure, a sermon that is too long is one that takes too long to get to the end.

Haddon Robinson may not be a perfect preacher, but he is a good model of this principle – when he’s through with the message he finishes.  While I often fall into the trap of several false landings, he seems to nail that ending, and often does it a couple of sentences before the listeners expect it.

A good sermon does not have several stopping places, it has an end.  A good preacher knows the end and goes straight there.