Preaching with Passion

On Tuesday morning I wrote a sermon for this coming Sunday.

Those who know me well will be surprised that my thoughts were coherent this early in the week and also that I WROTE them down.

I don't usually script my sermons because I find that I can't preach with passion from written notes and also because I loose the sense of immediacy and openness to what the Spirit may be saying through the earlier part of the service.  The flip side is that by not crafting my sermon in the quietness of an office, I don't have the opportunity to choose just the right verbs and adjectives, to consult a thesaurus, or to minimise the pauses filled with annoying ummm's and ahhh's.

But I really appreciate immediacy.

So why did I write on Tuesday?  Because my thoughts were immediate and strong and I did not want to lose the power of the thoughts by waiting.  (In fact, the thoughts were so strong that we will probably have to censor them and not podcast for the general public!!)  They arose out of a time of community prayer when the words of Peter in Acts 10:28 leapt out at me: "God has shown me...".

Peter's vision changed everything for him.  True vision from God is like that.  It engages, captures and transforms.  The challenge is sometimes to discern where the vision comes from.  Was the vision fuelled by Peter's recent experiences such as the Samaritan converts (Acts 8) or by his hunger (Acts 10:10)?  Did my Tuesday sermon arise out of the angst within me or was it God-directed?  Was it for me only or was it for our church community?  I'm pleased that I have until Sunday to pray and discern.

Sometimes immediacy is not so good...

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Comments

[beth]

I often think that the 'sermon' (and consequently the deliverer) gets put under a lot of pressure, and we expect it to do everything for us...explain the gospel, call the lost, thoroughly exegete the text, edify the disciples, roll out our vision, represent considered scholarly wisdom and be a fresh immediate word of the Spirit for the moment, speak prophetically against the evils of our systems, keep it to under 20 minutes and make us laugh, cry, use a variety of adjectives but not too many unusual words and convince us that the preacher is not too bad a bloke (or sheila). I guess I'm speaking autobiographically, as a deliverer of sermons in a former life, hearing all of these expectations...all good things. Perhaps, by the grace of God and in Spirit of his wisdom it is possible to address all of those functions at once?
However, now from the perspective of a pewsitter, I'm now on the edge of my seat with expectation for what you're going to say on Sunday. And I'm also wondering about how we process things as a community. If you share your strong 'censor-worthy' words with us on Sunday, and then straight away we are to move into decision making in the AGM, am I able to trust the immediacy of our response to the words God has given? Do I anticipate that I might think differently at 11:30 am on Sunday, having received the message that is burning within you, than I think I would now on Thursday afternoon? Am I genuine open to change?

[beck]

praying for your delivery on Sunday am David.

[Paul]

A pastor friend of mind used to, half jokingly – half seriously, threaten to get even with me by using me in a sermon illustration the following Sunday. Whilst this never happened, there was immediacy about his preaching. It was obvious to his congregation that the stuff of his week shaped his sermons.

Another of my pastors used to follow his preaching plan like a slave. Regardless what was happening in the life of the church he pressed on with the plan. One couldn’t help but feel that he was somewhat detached from the issues of his people.

The former resulted in a lack of balance in his preaching. His focus on issues resulted in a skewed preaching diet. It neglected large areas of the faith about which his church needed teaching.

Whereas, the latter approach simply seemed too clinical; it lacked immediacy and relevance. It was difficult for his listeners to relate to the point of his messages or find practical life application for them, particularly when there were some serious matters within the life of the church that he seemed to be ignoring.

Neither extreme worked well.

[David Chatelier]

Beth, now I really feel under pressure...
Paul, I hope your current Pastor has a better balance (joking).
A couple of definitions of preaching that I like: "Truth through personality" (Phillip Brooks). "True preaching takes place where the Word of God and the needs of the hearers intersect".