Preaching

Sometimes in preaching it seems that the Scripture text has as much to do with the sermon as the National Anthem has to do with a football game—it gets everything started, but you never hear from it again.

I recall the first time a little girl asked me to sign her Bible after I had preached in the fall of 1972. Signing my autograph was easy, but I knew it was customary for preachers to put a verse beneath their names.

None of us preach in a vacuum. We live “in this present world” and have been commissioned by God to declare His gospel in it.

As preachers, our primary responsibility is to herald forth and publish God’s truth. One preacher put it this way, “The business of the prophet is to fill the pulpit, not the pews.”

Abraham Lincoln, in his First Inaugural Address, undoubtedly echoed the sentiments of most Gospel preachers when he said, “I am loath to close.”

Most people don’t blatantly walk out of church services. But a good number of them tune out. To be fair, sometimes such detachment is the fault of the listener himself.

It is to be hoped and presumed that all of us study for our sermons, that we are careful to say what the Bible says and not what we want it to say, and that we give our people good, solid, Scriptural truth. You, like I, however, may have had the experience of preaching a message that is biblically sound, carefully outlined, and seems to fall flat.

The pastor who knows his people is going to communicate with his people better. Why? Because he knows their heart. Shortly after coming to Lancaster Baptist Church I was amazed at how well Pastor Chappell knows his people. I would bring up a name thinking, “He’s not going to know this guy in my Sunday school class,” but he would stop and tell me all about that guy or his family, and I would just stand there amazed. But that is what makes a preacher effective.

Outside of Christ, there is no greater communicator in the Bible than Solomon. Proverbs is a book of metaphors. One common denominator to all great preaching other than the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is a metaphor. A metaphor uses the imagination to picture your point.

Why is it that when Tom Farrell preaches, there is just usually a period of time where it’s really quiet? Have you ever heard this saying: a message in the head reaches the head, and a message in the heart reaches the heart? Go one step further, preachers: a message from the conscience reaches the conscience. Once you’ve reached the conscience of an individual, that’s when the life is going to be changed.

William Ball was a constitutional lawyer in the early 70’s that stepped up to the plate for Christian schools in America. He fought cases all the way up to the U. S. Supreme Court. I was a “young buck” just coming out of college at the time, and somehow I ended up getting to have dinner with Mr. Ball. He said something rather profound.

After twenty-six years of pastoring and thirty-two years of preaching, I can tell you that preaching is no problem at all—it’s practicing what you preach. This came home to me one day through the actions of a young lady. She transformed my preaching ministry.

In the last two articles we have seen how to preach Bible stories by using running narrative, and why preachers should be transparent in their sermons. Let’s see another tip that can transform your delivery:

Once your people trust you, it is amazing how their hearts become open to the truths you are preaching. I go to some large churches, and listen to the preacher, and the preaching is okay. It isn’t anything spectacular, but you can tell that it is effective because the people love their preacher and trust him. The preacher is transparent with them.

In the qualifications of a bishop, pastor, or elder, 1 Timothy 3:2 says he should be, “Apt to teach.” A pastor must be able to teach God’s Word. Have you ever wondered what makes the difference between great Bible teachers and average ones? It’s not the Bible—they are teaching the same one. It’s in their delivery.

To so many, the cross has become almost devoid of meaning. The average entertainer or sports celebrity often dons the cross as a gaudy piece of jewelry. Its image is amazingly prominent in society despite our government’s efforts to eradicate it. But its meaning has never been more obscured from the average man’s thinking. So what is the cross?

Apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, you don’t have a sermon, you just have a lecture. I learned many, many years ago I cannot preach without the power of the Holy Spirit.

How many times in evangelistic crusades have I heard Baptist church choirs sing those wonderful words, “We preach Christ.” That was certainly Paul’s heart as he penned the words to 1 Corinthians 1:23, “But we preach Christ crucified.”

As a child, I remember people saying there are two things you should not discuss: religion and politics. I suppose people thought these were private matters and only led to arguing and disagreement when discussed. But if you truly believe something, shouldn’t you express it to others? Wouldn’t you want everyone to embrace what you believe is the truth?

After preaching several times a week for almost forty years, I am not sure I could honestly say that very many of those thousands of messages were completely pure in motive. Far too many times, (especially, although not exclusively, as a young man) my motive was to impress the listeners with my eloquence, humor, or knowledge.