Miles McPherson: The "End" of Your Preaching

by Miles McPherson

A consultant once asked our leadership team what the desired “end” of each Sunday service should be. I shouted, “Evangelism.” She said, “Wrong!”

I am always asked why I park my car in backward, and the answer is simple. I know that at some point I will be leaving, so I begin with the “end” in mind.

What’s the desired “end” of your 
preaching?

A consultant once asked our leadership team what the desired “end” of each Sunday service should be.

I shouted, “Evangelism.”

She said, “Wrong!”

Another person said, “Teaching.”

She said, “Wrong!”

Worship? Fellowship? Ministry? Service?

“Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!”

She paused and said, “To bring people into an ‘experience’ with God.”

People do not need information as much as an “experience” with a Person. The gospel is not only a list of propositional truths, but a Person, and in the end, preaching must lead to an “experience” with that Person.

Therefore, let me share with you a simple three-step process that might help your preaching achieve that “end.” 

First, you must pray that you “experience” God in your sermon preparation.

While writing a novel, I was once told that authors write nonfiction, but fictional characters come alive and write their own story.

If you do not have a powerful God-experience in your sermon preparation, it is likely that your congregation won’t experience Him in your sermon delivery.

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Cor. 2:4-5)

We must wait while we prepare, pray while we study, listen while we write and cry out for His message.

Just as fictional characters move the pen as you write, God must move your heart as you prepare.

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Source: churchleaders.com