My Sister and Brother preachers, preparation will help the preacher weather the storm of standing behind the sacred desk. It is our hope that this series of simple suggestions lifts your spirits and increases your confidence. Reverend Harris and Elder Cox believe that these suggestions will help you be heard.
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How to Prepare – Feeling the Culture
To preach in the African American Tradition one must understand and feel the culture. This comes from being a part of the community and really feeling the dual consciousness that makes the African American Tradition work.
How to Prepare – Editing the Sermon
When you are preparing for preaching, one must edit the sermon. One must take a very close look at the sermon and rewrite it. Henry Mitchell has written a very important article on this very subject that you can find in Best Advice for Preaching. I would encourage all new preachers to get this book.
How to Prepare – Which Bible Version are you Using?
A preacher must always be prepared with his or her sword. However, which Bible should you use? The question breaks down into two components. The first question is which Bible should you use in preparation? The second question is which Bible should you use in presentation?
Which Bible – Preparation
How to Prepare – Practicing the Sermon Out-Loud
As Reverend Harris notes in his helpful article, we should re-read the sermon before we can believe that we have prepared. I wish to make a small addition to that suggestion. When you read it, you should read it Out-Loud. Our inner voice can hide many issues that only show up when you read it out-loud.
How To Prepare – Leaving Room for the Spirit
Reverend Napoloeon Harris has been in the midst of a series on preparation for effective sermons. I am adding a few posts to that series and then Minister Harris will finish it up.
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SoulPreaching.Com was launched on September 1, 2006. Since that time we have had a number of articles and audios on preaching. In addition, we have provided a free ebook that taught the reader how to create an effective sermon in the African American tradition. We now have over 400 articles on preaching.
A few months ago we kicked off the newsletter and it has been well received, however some wonder what are the benefits?
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How to Prepare – Know the Congregation
The preacher’s preparation must include attention to the congregation. As far as possible, the preacher should have a knowledge of the congregation and current events therein.
How to Prepare – Preach to the Occasion
One of the best ways to show the congregation that you prepare is to preach to the occasion. If it is youth day, preach to the youth. Youth sermons may prove to be the hardest sermons to perform because they involve all of the intense exegetical and theological work of any other sermon, but they also require another big step. Youth sermons require one to posit intensely deep messages in language and life experiences that children can understand.
If you are asked to preach at the Usher’s annual day, preach about that, likewise for Men’s day, Easter and the like. A minister friend of mine often jokes about attending a sunrise Easter service in which all of the preachers kept preaching Good Friday texts, and continually going to the cross out of habit. He said to me “man don’t these folks know Friday was two days ago, it’s Sunday, and today He got UP.†Likewise, we don’t want the congregation saying, “Doesn’t the preacher know what today is? Men’s day was last month and today is Women’s day.”
To conclude, if you have been called to preach a sermon, preparation means that you know the occasion otherwise you are opening yourself up to certain embarrassment.
Prophet or Psychic
Early in the morning I turned on the television to hopefully cure some insomnia. On this day, I found what looked like one of those Psychics. Only upon further reflection, I found some well known Christian personalities supporting the person. Then I found out that although the preacher was using the techniques of psychics he was a Christian minister, a “prophet.”
The prophet told us that if we give him a call, he will tell us our personal prophecy. If we call him, we will be assigned a personal prophet who will help us. The program told us that we should not ever have want for financial resources. God would take care of us if we would only follow the instructions that God had provided in God’s word. Then a well known Christian author supported the “prophet.”
Using the Devil’s Formula
There were two things that really surprised me about this. First was the use of the psychics formula to sell these aleged prophecies from God. We see the prophet asking us to give him a call for his personal “prophecy,” Very much like the personal “reading” that the psychic gives those who call. It was a very disorienting thing to see a prophet using the mechanisms of the demonic to prop up and sell his prophecies.
In addition, what was surprising was the belief that when you are right with God you will be right with your money. These “prophets” are telling us that if you have money problems you are doing something wrong. When you get diseases you have done something incorrect. When everything is not right in your life, then you need to straighten up so that God can “bless” you.
No One Wants to Hear the Truth
These prophets will always have an audience because no one wants to hear the truth which is that sometimes you can follow all the principles and laws of God that you should, and you still don’t get the new car. Sometimes you can cast out the demon of poverty and find that your bank account is still empty. Certainly we should pray without ceasing, but grandma may still die. That is the simple truth. We know it experientially, but we still hope that the new “prophet” can give us the word that sidesteps the Biblical word that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12)
Yes there will be those who can guarantee money, fame, and fortune, but one must always be careful, for Satan himself promised fortune and a kingdom to Christ in the temptations in the wilderness. One must be careful of the “prophets” that you listen to for even Satan himself shall be transformed into an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)
God With Us not Someone’s Empty Promise
God’s promise is that God will be with us in the pain and heartache. Let’s accept this truth as the Psalmist who said, “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4). I would rather have the true God with me in the shadow of death, than an empty belief in a flimsy promise by a so-called “prophet.”
How to Prepare – Know the Church and Pastor
Another way to be prepared is to practice properly established protocol. One should have rehearsed citing:
- The church’s name
- The pastor’s name
- The name of the auxiliary which extended the invitation.
- The occasion that brought forth your invitation
I can recall with dread being asked to preach for a pastor in a surrounding city. This pastor was the president of the state convention, and so I addressed him accordingly, however, I mispronounced his name! I felt like a clown when the congregation communally corrected me. It was like a public chastisement. Previously, only he and I knew that I was a novice preacher, but after that moment everyone knew. It was an uphill battle trying to deliver the message because my lack of preparation ushered in an extreme sense of nervousness.
How To Prepare – Re-Read Your Manuscript
OK, we all know that we should prepare, but how do you prepare? Many put forth much effort into creating a strong manuscript, and then step into the pulpit having spent little time reading the document.
Know Your Manuscript
In contrast, great preacher’s review their sermon several times before arriving at the appointed place. My mentor, the Rev. G.L. Parks, has suggested that one reads their manuscript no less than 10 times prior to preaching it. The preacher should especially pay attention to details like spelling and grammatical concerns. Such efforts will help to ensure that the preacher doesn’t stumble over or mispronounce words.
Know Your Biblical Text
For those who opt to preach without a script, familiarizing one’s self with the introduction, major points transitions, and the close is helpful. Regardless of how one presents the material, a good way to be prepared is to be familiar with the text. Many seasoned pastors suggest that one knows their text well enough to cite it from memory. This is a good idea, and one should be familiar with the text enough to put emphasis where necessary in the text. Also having the proper pronunciation for difficult proper names is also a good way of demonstrating competence through preparation.
Thus preparing a strong manuscript is just the beginning, preparation includes knowing the Biblical text as well as one’s manuscript very well.
The Advantages of Preparation
We cannot say enough about preparation. Some sage once said that proper preparation prevents poor performance. This is especially true in the preaching moment.
Preparation Lowers Preacher’s Fears
My fellow preachers, I have observed a few advantages of being prepared and will delineate some of them in this article. First, being prepared helps to ease nervousness. For the associate minister and the visiting minister alike preaching in a foreign pulpit can be a terror-filled experience. However, being prepared will help the preacher lesson this “terror.”
Preparation Lowers Congregational Apprehension
Let’s be real, most of the time people come to church expecting to hear a word through their pastor. Many have joined the church because they appreciate the ministry of their pastor. Often these people are taken aback when they see another where the pastor “should be.” Being prepared helps the preacher by allowing the preacher to become a willing and energetic participant in all of the service. The preacher can read the text, sing the congregational hymn and participate in other visible ways. This participation can help the preacher get a feel for the congregation and help to lower the apprehension of the people.
Conclusion
Thus preparation helps both the preacher and the congregation. If you have an especially horror filled moment, remember you prepared and say a quick prayer to God as you participate in the praise of the worship service. Perhaps your fear will be overtaken by your praise.
Teresa Fry Brown and Charles Adams Preaching Dos and Don’ts
This is the final post in the series discussing notes on Dr. Charles Adams’ class entitled “Preaching, Black and White.” Specifically the lecture entitled “do’s and don’ts.” Teresa Fry Brown wrote up notes from that lecture on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs. We have had nine articles in the series:
- Avoiding a Dull Sermon – How to avoid being dull in preaching effectively.
- Don’t Apologize for the Message – When God gives you a message, don’t be afraid of it, stand up and preach it if you are to be an effective preacher.
- Preachers must Protect the Voice – If you are to be an effective preacher you must not abuse your voice.
- Your Voice is an Instrument – Preach like It – Don’t preach in a monotonous way, use changes in dynamics, tone, and rhythm.
- Preach with the People – Don’t preach above or below the people, but to them.
- Stealing Another Person’s Sermon – What It Says About You?
– What are the results when we steal other people’s sermons.- On the Reuse of Sermons – How to Re-use a sermon.
- Should You Imitate Other Preachers? – What happens when you imitate other preachers?
- How Long to Preach? – How Long should your sermon be?
These tips can help any preacher become a much more effective one. You can read any of the above articles simply by clicking the article titles.