Piper: sermon tone

Please read John Piper's post below on the tone of our preaching.  This is an important thought and one that I latched onto a few years ago in a different way.

My thought on this is to equate tone with sections of an orchestra.  The sounds of the prophets might be likened to trumpets, while the psalms might sound more like the string section (with all the variations that a string section offers!).  Some portions of Scripture may sound more like a reed section, and others more like the bombast that can come out of a percussion section.

You can like fill these ideas out and come up with some of your own.  Piper's point is that the tone is set by the Scripture to be preached and that is a very important insight.

What's the Best Tone for Your Preaching?

John Piper
Desiring God

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Scripture:

Luke 21:15
Romans 15:4
Romans 8:32

Date Published:

6/16/2011

"The question I have for preachers is: What tone should you aim at in preaching? This is an urgent question because, if you don't answer it, your listeners will answer it for you."

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Phillips Brooks, who died in 1893—and who, along with Jesus, Paul, John Stott, Dick Lucas, and other preachers, never married—most famously said that preaching is “truth through personality.”

This personality factor raises the question of preaching tone. What should a preacher aim at in the tone of his preaching?

By “tone,” I mean the feel that it has. The spirit it emits. The emotional quality. The affectional tenor. The mood.

Personalities Are Like Faces

Every personality has a more or less characteristic tone. That is part of what personality is. Some personalities play a small repertoire of emotional instruments, while others play a larger repertoire. Nevertheless, whether a personality plays a two-piece band or a symphony of emotional tones, there is a typical tone. A kind of default tone for each personality.

This has a huge effect on peaching. And there is no escaping it. Preachers have personalities, like they have faces. They can smile, and they can frown. But they have one face. It was given to them.

The question I have for preachers is: What tone should you aim at in preaching? This is an urgent question because, if you don’t answer it, your listeners will answer it for you.

The Tone of the Text

Over my 31 years in the pulpit, I have received a fairly steady stream of affirmation and criticism related to the tone of my preaching. The very same sermon can elicit opposite pleas. “More of that, pastor!” “No, we already get too much of that.”

This is totally understandable. Listeners have personalities, too. Which means they have default tonal desires. They have preferences. They know what makes them feel loved. Or encouraged. Or hopeful. Or challenged. And some people feel challenged by the very tone that makes another feel angered or discouraged.

So I ask again: What tone should you aim at in preaching?

My answer is: Pursue the tone of the text. But let it be informed, not muted, by the tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles and by the gospel of grace.

Ten explanatory comments:

1. Texts have meaning, and texts have tone. Consider the tonal difference between “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden . . .” and “Woe to you, blind guides . . .You blind fools!” The preacher should embody, not mute, these tones.
    
2. Nevertheless, just as the meanings of texts are enlarged and completed and given a new twist by larger biblical themes, and by the gospel of grace, so also the tones of texts are enlarged and completed and given a new twist by these realities. A totally dark jigsaw puzzle piece may, in the big picture, be a part of the pupil of a bright and shining eye.
    
3. The grace of God in the gospel turns everything into hope for those who believe. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that . . . we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32). Therefore, all the various tones of texts (let them resound!) resolve into the infinitely varied tones of hope, for those who believe in Jesus.
    
4. If there is a danger of not hearing the tone of gospel hope, emerging from the thunder and lightning of Scripture, there is also a danger of being so fixed on what we think hope sounds like that we mute the emotional symphony of a thousand texts. Don’t do it. Let the tone grip you. Let it carry you. Embody the tone of the text and the gospel dénouement.
    
5. But it’s not just the gospel of grace that should inform how we embody the tone of texts. We are all prone to insert our own personalities at this point and assume that our hopeful tone is the hopeful tone. We think our tender is the tender. Our warmth is thewarmth.
   This is why I said our capturing of the tone of the text should be informed by the tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles. We may simply be wrong about the way we think tenderness and hope and warmth and courage and firmness sound. We do well to marinate our tone-producing hearts in the overall tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles.
6. Tonal variation is determined in part by the nature and needs of the audience. We may well shout at the drowning man that there is a life preserver behind him. But we would not shout at a man on the edge of a precipice, lest we startle him into losing his balance. Jesus’ tone was different toward the proud Pharisee and the broken sinner.
    
7. But audiences are usually mixed, with one person susceptible to one tone and one susceptible to another. This is one reason why being in the pulpit week in and week out for years is a good thing. The biblical symphony of tones can be played more fully over time. The tone one week may hurt. The next it may help.
    
8. There is a call on preachers to think of cultural impact and not just personal impact. In some ways our culture may be losing the ability to feel some biblical tones that are crucial in feeling the greatness of God and the glory of the gospel. The gospel brings together transcendent, terrible, horrific, ghastly, tender, sweet, quiet, intimate, personal realities that for many may seem utterly inimical. Our calling is to seek ways of saying and embodying these clashing tones in a way that they sound like the compelling music.
    
9. In the end, when a preacher expresses a fitting tone, it is the work of God; and when a listener receives his tone as proper and compelling, it is another work of God.
    
10. So we pray. O Lord, come and shape our hearts and minds with the truth and the tone of every text. Let every text have its true tone in preaching. Shape the tone by the gospel climax. Shape it by the tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles. But don’t let it be muted. Let the symphony of your fullness be felt.

John Piper

Desiring God

John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, where he first sensed God's call to enter the ministry. He went on to earn degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary and the University of Munich. For six years he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 30 books, and more than 25 years of his preaching and teaching is available free atdesiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and an increasing number of grandchildren.

"The question I have for preachers is: What tone should you aim at in preaching? This is an urgent question because, if you don't answer it, your listeners will answer it for you."

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Print Friendly

Phillips Brooks, who died in 1893—and who, along with Jesus, Paul, John Stott, Dick Lucas, and other preachers, never married—most famously said that preaching is “truth through personality.”

This personality factor raises the question of preaching tone. What should a preacher aim at in the tone of his preaching?

By “tone,” I mean the feel that it has. The spirit it emits. The emotional quality. The affectional tenor. The mood.

Personalities Are Like Faces

Every personality has a more or less characteristic tone. That is part of what personality is. Some personalities play a small repertoire of emotional instruments, while others play a larger repertoire. Nevertheless, whether a personality plays a two-piece band or a symphony of emotional tones, there is a typical tone. A kind of default tone for each personality.

This has a huge effect on peaching. And there is no escaping it. Preachers have personalities, like they have faces. They can smile, and they can frown. But they have one face. It was given to them.

The question I have for preachers is: What tone should you aim at in preaching? This is an urgent question because, if you don’t answer it, your listeners will answer it for you.

The Tone of the Text

Over my 31 years in the pulpit, I have received a fairly steady stream of affirmation and criticism related to the tone of my preaching. The very same sermon can elicit opposite pleas. “More of that, pastor!” “No, we already get too much of that.”

This is totally understandable. Listeners have personalities, too. Which means they have default tonal desires. They have preferences. They know what makes them feel loved. Or encouraged. Or hopeful. Or challenged. And some people feel challenged by the very tone that makes another feel angered or discouraged.

So I ask again: What tone should you aim at in preaching?

My answer is: Pursue the tone of the text. But let it be informed, not muted, by the tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles and by the gospel of grace.

Ten explanatory comments:

1. Texts have meaning, and texts have tone. Consider the tonal difference between “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden . . .” and “Woe to you, blind guides . . .You blind fools!” The preacher should embody, not mute, these tones.
    
2. Nevertheless, just as the meanings of texts are enlarged and completed and given a new twist by larger biblical themes, and by the gospel of grace, so also the tones of texts are enlarged and completed and given a new twist by these realities. A totally dark jigsaw puzzle piece may, in the big picture, be a part of the pupil of a bright and shining eye.
    
3. The grace of God in the gospel turns everything into hope for those who believe. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that . . . we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32). Therefore, all the various tones of texts (let them resound!) resolve into the infinitely varied tones of hope, for those who believe in Jesus.
    
4. If there is a danger of not hearing the tone of gospel hope, emerging from the thunder and lightning of Scripture, there is also a danger of being so fixed on what we think hope sounds like that we mute the emotional symphony of a thousand texts. Don’t do it. Let the tone grip you. Let it carry you. Embody the tone of the text and the gospel dénouement.
    
5. But it’s not just the gospel of grace that should inform how we embody the tone of texts. We are all prone to insert our own personalities at this point and assume that our hopeful tone is the hopeful tone. We think our tender is the tender. Our warmth is thewarmth.
   This is why I said our capturing of the tone of the text should be informed by the tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles. We may simply be wrong about the way we think tenderness and hope and warmth and courage and firmness sound. We do well to marinate our tone-producing hearts in the overall tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles.
6. Tonal variation is determined in part by the nature and needs of the audience. We may well shout at the drowning man that there is a life preserver behind him. But we would not shout at a man on the edge of a precipice, lest we startle him into losing his balance. Jesus’ tone was different toward the proud Pharisee and the broken sinner.
    
7. But audiences are usually mixed, with one person susceptible to one tone and one susceptible to another. This is one reason why being in the pulpit week in and week out for years is a good thing. The biblical symphony of tones can be played more fully over time. The tone one week may hurt. The next it may help.
    
8. There is a call on preachers to think of cultural impact and not just personal impact. In some ways our culture may be losing the ability to feel some biblical tones that are crucial in feeling the greatness of God and the glory of the gospel. The gospel brings together transcendent, terrible, horrific, ghastly, tender, sweet, quiet, intimate, personal realities that for many may seem utterly inimical. Our calling is to seek ways of saying and embodying these clashing tones in a way that they sound like the compelling music.
    
9. In the end, when a preacher expresses a fitting tone, it is the work of God; and when a listener receives his tone as proper and compelling, it is another work of God.
    
10. So we pray. O Lord, come and shape our hearts and minds with the truth and the tone of every text. Let every text have its true tone in preaching. Shape the tone by the gospel climax. Shape it by the tonal balance of Jesus and the apostles. But don’t let it be muted. Let the symphony of your fullness be felt.

John Piper

Desiring God

John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, where he first sensed God's call to enter the ministry. He went on to earn degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary and the University of Munich. For six years he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 30 books, and more than 25 years of his preaching and teaching is available free atdesiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and an increasing number of grandchildren.

From SermonCentral.com

How to Preach to the Heart

John Bjorge
WorkingPreacher.org

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Topic:

Preaching

Scripture:

Judges 3:15-7:6

Date Published:

6/15/2012

Most pastors do an ardent job of trying to faithfully preach from the Biblical text.

We spend hours in biblical and exegetical study and preparation for each week's sermon. But when we get in the pulpit, we typically offer our wonderful insights about the text(s) then segue to what these observations may have to do with our lives, our community, and our world. Amen.

The 4-H program promotes faithful stewardship and life skills. The four Hs stand for head, heart, hands, and health. Many preachers are good at preaching for the head, and often we also preach for the hands. But rarely do we preach for the heart, which may well be why we have a certain lack of health in the body of Christ. The thing is that with all of this new information we share, as wonderful as it might be, it rarely creates new hearts.

To preach for the heart means a number of things. First, the preacher needs to imbue trust in the listener. A preacher could be saying all the right things so as to move an entire nation to faith, but if they are not trusted it is all for naught. Trust is your biggest commodity as a pastor. Guard it with your life and do all you can to sincerely cultivate it. Part of building trust is to realize that the office itself no longer holds the kind of trust it once did. Clergy were once among the most trusted figures in society. Sadly, that is no longer true. To build trust one needs to live what they preach. They need to be sincerely "Christian."

Preaching for the heart is to always preach "from within," not "from afar." The congregation must be made to see where it is that the Word of God touches down in their pastor's life and experiences, even those that may be relatively uncomfortable or unpleasant. If the sermon has not touched the preacher, it will not touch the listener! This is what gives integrity, authenticity, and credibility to the message and helps others to see the incarnational nature of the gospel.

When we are trusted, this allows us to preach with passion and we can demonstrate the liveliness of our faith, as well as the vulnerability of our humanity. It is at this point that the Christian leader becomes more real and approachable and can then serve as a reliable lens through which to see God's saving work among God's people.

But we are not the only lens through which the Gospel is magnified. By telling stories of redemption, life-change, and struggles in faith from the lives of our community of faith, we allow our people to see God's saving work actively demonstrated in our midst.

Paul, in essence, tells the Colossians early in the first chapter of his epistle, "Take a look at yourselves! There is very good reason to put your hope in the Gospel, the word of truth, because it is at work in you and you are not the same people that you used to be!" Paul says to the church at Colossae that a really good reason to believe that the Gospel is worth putting your hope in is to stop and look at the fruit that it bears in your lives. I do not know that we do this often enough.

To the Colossians, Paul says, "Look what the Word is doing in your midst!" Undoubtedly God's Word is doing wonders in the midst of your people as well.

As a preacher, help your congregation see how people have come to know God. Tell the stories. Help them to see how struggling people have been given power from God, how defeated people are having prayers answered by God, and how drifting people have been given a calling by God. With proper permission, tell their stories. Let them see the power of God's Word is active in their midst.

People are wondering where they can put their faith, in what can they place their hope, and to what can they give their lives. By preaching for their hearts, as well as for the head and the hands, lives will be changed with the power of the Gospel, and faith and hope will grow within your community of faith!

John Bjorge

WorkingPreacher.org

John is Senior Pastor of First Lutheran Church of Richmond Beach Seattle, WA. He was raised in southwestern Minnesota. He graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

From SermonCentral.com

Francis Chan's Seven Questions to Ask Before You Preach

Francis Chan
FrancisChan.org

6/9/2012

In a message at a Desiring God National Conference, Francis Chan highlighted seven questions that he asks himself in preparing to preach.

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In his message at the Desiring God National Conference, Francis Chan highlighted the importance of loving the people to whom he preaches. He mentioned seven questions that he asks himself in preparing to preach. 

1. Am I worried about what people think of my message or what God thinks? (Teach with fear)

2. Do I genuinely love these people? (Teach with love)

3. Am I accurately presenting this passage? (Teach with accuracy)

4. Am I depending on the Holy Spirit's power or my own cleverness? (Teach with power)

5. Have I applied this message to my own life? (Teach with integrity)

6. Will this message draw attention to me or to God? (Teach with humility)

7. Do the people really need this message? (Teach with urgency)

This post was originally featured on DesiringGod.com. 

Francis Chan

FrancisChan.org

Francis Chan is an author and church leader, formerly the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. Chan has authored several books, including Crazy Love and Forgotten God. He is also the founder of Eternity Bible College and sits on the board of directors of Children's Hunger Fund and World Impact. Francis lives in California with his wife, Lisa, and their four children.

From SermonCentral.com

Preach Our Story, Not Your Story

Joy Moore
Divinity.Duke.Edu

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6/8/2012

Even if your illustration comes from a real-life experience, it must also be "real life" for your listener.

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Many sermons begin with a funny story or captivating movie image told right after the reading of Scripture.

This is the hook—in homiletic technical speech—a way to capture the attention of listeners who have gathered from various quadrants of the community with a multiplicity of concerns ranging from loss of faith to loss of employment.

Our knowledge of the latest breaking news, international and local political unrest, and impending weather seem to provide the best commentary for acknowledging the shared existence of the community of faith.

We know that there is a lack of religious literacy even among those who regularly hear sermons.  From mainline denominations to independent communities, Christians today lack the capacity to express the biblical revelation of God's activity in human history as demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ.  The sermon's task is to counteract the amnesia that has undermined so much of Christian expression.

A few years ago, one of my students prepared a sermon on Psalm 34 as capturing the fear and turmoil of David hiding from Saul in 1 Samuel.  The sermon captivated us as we listened because we were invited by description to actually fear for our very lives.  After the sermon, the other students asked how the preacher had imagined so clearly the anxiety.  The student acknowledged that he described for us his own feelings experienced in a near-death incident in his own life.

What made his message so captivating was that during the sermon, he never injected his life experience directly.  While he had used a real-life incident, he didn't deviate from the biblical narrative by inserting a personal illustration.  Instead, he described distress, despair, and disorientation, leaving the story of David central in our imaginations against these feelings of anxiety.  This seamless narration proved more memorable than raising our sympathy toward the speaker as he recounted his own story.  I marveled at the impact of this telling of the biblical story as it must have been originally passed down through the generations of ancient Israel.  Since then, I have encouraged preachers to pause in writing their sermons to craft a biblical narrative rather than merely a biblical idea.

When one thinks of an illustration to insert or an idea to insert, consider if it truly belongs in the scene from Scripture one is rehearsing.  If so, can the point be made directly in the biblical episode?

An example is to describe John's care for Mary, the mother of Jesus, after the crucifixion, as ministry to a middle-aged Palestinian woman who has just attended her son's public execution.  In our current political reality, these words carry the weight of both the death of Jesus and the massacre of young men today in ethnic wars. Who cares for their mothers?

Or maybe one could describe Eve's parseltongue encounter as leading to the first residential foreclosure.  While beckoning images of our movie-going imaginations, the context remains a narrative of detrimental consequences resultant to a verbal exchange with a serpent.  Suddenly J. K. Rowling is not so original and the biblical narrative is recovered as humanity's foundational story.  One-liners and intentional turns of phrases register the force of the biblical image against the realities our listeners experience today.  God's people then, and now, can trust the comforting intrusion of the Holy Spirit.

What do your listeners do with the sermons you preach?

Are their lives a continuation of the drama of God or do they leave the Sunday service as consumers and commentators imitating and supplementing the world as presented by the networks?  Just how do we captivate the imaginations of a high-tech audience with instant global news and portable movie theaters on handheld devices?

Timeline, Redefined

Here we are, thousands of years later, reading an ancient equivalent to Facebook.  Everything from the transcripts of the spoken messages of Jeremiah to the Letter to the Hebrews are ancient blog posts sent out through the progressive technological advancement in communication known then as writing.

As the media continues to exploit negative images of religious practice, people of faith must negotiate the question of how to speak of spiritual disciplines in a secular society.  A final example might be how to speak of sharing meals.  From Adam and Eve's sin-filled snack in Genesis and the wilderness-wandering worship community's servings of fast food to Jesus' stories of banquets and practice of smoked-fish fellowships, gathering at the table to feast serves as a constant metaphor for community formation.  Describing the multiethnic, intergenerational, bilingual fellowships in the Epistles with attention to the gatherings for refreshment, rather than merely a weekly ritual, may invite Christian dining with neighbors rather than religious spates over Eucharist.

Such fluency with the language we call Christian requires a grasp of the entire biblical narrative—an imagination informed of God's purpose and the speech to convey it in a world that can't conceive the divine intention to restore the goodness of creation.  This requires conveying Scripture in order to expose the reality it is narrating.

What we craft as a Christian sermon should expose our listeners to the drama suggested in the storied testimony to God's justice, in such a way as to make discernible its demonstration in the life of Jesus.  Such a message will recover the witness to the God of Jesus Christ as the shared knowledge of the community of faith called Christian.

I believe the most effective proclamation of the word of God, the most effective way to tell this story, is to tell it in such a way that the drama it tells happens all over again—first among the listeners who call themselves followers of Jesus.

Joy Moore

Divinity.Duke.Edu

Joy J. Moore is associate dean for black church studies and church relations and visiting assistant professor, homiletics and the practice of ministry at Duke Divinity School.

Even if your illustration comes from a real-life experience, it must also be "real life" for your listener.

Email this article

Print Friendly

Many sermons begin with a funny story or captivating movie image told right after the reading of Scripture.

This is the hook—in homiletic technical speech—a way to capture the attention of listeners who have gathered from various quadrants of the community with a multiplicity of concerns ranging from loss of faith to loss of employment.

Our knowledge of the latest breaking news, international and local political unrest, and impending weather seem to provide the best commentary for acknowledging the shared existence of the community of faith.

We know that there is a lack of religious literacy even among those who regularly hear sermons.  From mainline denominations to independent communities, Christians today lack the capacity to express the biblical revelation of God's activity in human history as demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ.  The sermon's task is to counteract the amnesia that has undermined so much of Christian expression.

A few years ago, one of my students prepared a sermon on Psalm 34 as capturing the fear and turmoil of David hiding from Saul in 1 Samuel.  The sermon captivated us as we listened because we were invited by description to actually fear for our very lives.  After the sermon, the other students asked how the preacher had imagined so clearly the anxiety.  The student acknowledged that he described for us his own feelings experienced in a near-death incident in his own life.

What made his message so captivating was that during the sermon, he never injected his life experience directly.  While he had used a real-life incident, he didn't deviate from the biblical narrative by inserting a personal illustration.  Instead, he described distress, despair, and disorientation, leaving the story of David central in our imaginations against these feelings of anxiety.  This seamless narration proved more memorable than raising our sympathy toward the speaker as he recounted his own story.  I marveled at the impact of this telling of the biblical story as it must have been originally passed down through the generations of ancient Israel.  Since then, I have encouraged preachers to pause in writing their sermons to craft a biblical narrative rather than merely a biblical idea.

When one thinks of an illustration to insert or an idea to insert, consider if it truly belongs in the scene from Scripture one is rehearsing.  If so, can the point be made directly in the biblical episode?

An example is to describe John's care for Mary, the mother of Jesus, after the crucifixion, as ministry to a middle-aged Palestinian woman who has just attended her son's public execution.  In our current political reality, these words carry the weight of both the death of Jesus and the massacre of young men today in ethnic wars. Who cares for their mothers?

Or maybe one could describe Eve's parseltongue encounter as leading to the first residential foreclosure.  While beckoning images of our movie-going imaginations, the context remains a narrative of detrimental consequences resultant to a verbal exchange with a serpent.  Suddenly J. K. Rowling is not so original and the biblical narrative is recovered as humanity's foundational story.  One-liners and intentional turns of phrases register the force of the biblical image against the realities our listeners experience today.  God's people then, and now, can trust the comforting intrusion of the Holy Spirit.

What do your listeners do with the sermons you preach?

Are their lives a continuation of the drama of God or do they leave the Sunday service as consumers and commentators imitating and supplementing the world as presented by the networks?  Just how do we captivate the imaginations of a high-tech audience with instant global news and portable movie theaters on handheld devices?

Timeline, Redefined

Here we are, thousands of years later, reading an ancient equivalent to Facebook.  Everything from the transcripts of the spoken messages of Jeremiah to the Letter to the Hebrews are ancient blog posts sent out through the progressive technological advancement in communication known then as writing.

As the media continues to exploit negative images of religious practice, people of faith must negotiate the question of how to speak of spiritual disciplines in a secular society.  A final example might be how to speak of sharing meals.  From Adam and Eve's sin-filled snack in Genesis and the wilderness-wandering worship community's servings of fast food to Jesus' stories of banquets and practice of smoked-fish fellowships, gathering at the table to feast serves as a constant metaphor for community formation.  Describing the multiethnic, intergenerational, bilingual fellowships in the Epistles with attention to the gatherings for refreshment, rather than merely a weekly ritual, may invite Christian dining with neighbors rather than religious spates over Eucharist.

Such fluency with the language we call Christian requires a grasp of the entire biblical narrative—an imagination informed of God's purpose and the speech to convey it in a world that can't conceive the divine intention to restore the goodness of creation.  This requires conveying Scripture in order to expose the reality it is narrating.

What we craft as a Christian sermon should expose our listeners to the drama suggested in the storied testimony to God's justice, in such a way as to make discernible its demonstration in the life of Jesus.  Such a message will recover the witness to the God of Jesus Christ as the shared knowledge of the community of faith called Christian.

I believe the most effective proclamation of the word of God, the most effective way to tell this story, is to tell it in such a way that the drama it tells happens all over again—first among the listeners who call themselves followers of Jesus.

Joy Moore

Divinity.Duke.Edu

Joy J. Moore is associate dean for black church studies and church relations and visiting assistant professor, homiletics and the practice of ministry at Duke Divinity School.

From SermonCentral.com

Allowing the Spirit to Take Control of Your Sermon

Leslie Holmes
Preaching.com

6/7/2012

Somewhere inside most of us who preach lingers the need to be in control. It's what we do best, but being in control is the worst thing we can be when it comes to preaching!

He is the breath of abundant life, the source of all Scripture; and without Him what is sometimes called preaching is really not much more than a good (and maybe not all that good!) civic club talk. There is no such thing as preaching without Him. Who is He? Why, He is the Holy Spirit.

An adventuresome fellow from a remote rural community won a trip to New York City on a radio call-in show. Arriving at JFK, he hailed a taxi and asked to be taken to his hotel in the heart of Manhattan. Unknown to the new arrival, he was not the only stranger to the Big Apple in that cab. His driver had arrived at that same airport a few days before and somehow persuaded someone to believe he was equipped to drive a cab. This was his first day at work. Furthermore, this recent immigrant behind the steering wheel knew only a smattering of English. 

Nonetheless, with great enthusiasm, the driver set out to impress his fare by demonstrating his driving skills. With great daring, he sped away from the terminal, and it was not long before they were speeding through the clustered streets of Manhattan, the new immigrant not at all concerned about driving politely. Making bold turns, he drove through Times Square, barely missing other cars and seemingly unaware that the horns and hand gestures of other drivers were directed at him.

All the while, he kept up a broken English conversation while looking back over his shoulder to make eye contact with his petrified passenger.Finally, the prize winner found the courage to ask the driver to slow down, heed the signs, and keep his eyes on the road ahead. "No problem, Boss," the taxi driver replied. "I'm in charge, and I got it all under my control."

"I'm in charge, and I got it all under my control!" Somewhere inside most of us who preach lingers the need to be in control. Being in control is what we do best as we go about our duties. Being in control is the worst thing we can be when it comes to preaching!

Scripture repeatedly spells out the need for the Holy Spirit to be our guiding force when we prepare and when we preach. We need to bathe each sermon in an ongoing prayer for the Spirit's guiding grace to inspire us and to keep us on the straight and narrow. Otherwise, we run the risk of thinking we know exactly what we are doing when all we are is a danger to ourselves and those who sit before us when we preach.

The Spirit's presence when we preach is more than an attractive option. Moreover, the Spirit is not the sole property of preaching's often fanatical fringe. Instead, He—the Spirit is a Person, not an It—is an imperative part of any sermon worthy of the name."The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified" (Isa. 61:1-3).There, in one paragraph, is Isaiah's justification for being a preacher.

Then, in case we missed it in Isaiah, Jesus took up Isaiah's words in His first temple sermon in Luke 4:18-19.The apostles, too, were empowered by the Holy Spirit; and on Pentecost we read that those who heard them preaching "were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?'" (Acts 2:7-8).Paul recognized this personally, as each of us must personally.

To the Corinthians he wrote, "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:5-6). Are you listening, dear preacher? "God…has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit." If that were true for Paul then surely it must be true for us.

Is it not time we gave up control and invited the Holy Spirit to sit in the driver's seat and take the wheel? A sermon without the Spirit never will be effective long-term. Only when we open our lives to His lordship and His leadership can we hope to be what we surely all dream to be for Jesus' sake.

Leslie Holmes

Preaching.com

The Rev. Dr. Leslie Holmes is professor of ministry and preaching at Erskine Theological Seminary in Columbia and Due West, SC. A Presbyterian minister, he was most recently senior pastor of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church in Augusta, GA.