A pastor friend of mine told me that there are many so called “great” preachers who preach “great” sermons, but their preaching does not seem to have the conversion power only given by the Holy Ghost.
Too many preachers are simply preaching sermons about “God hooking you up.” Their sermons are about what humanity is going to get. It is about the money, jobs, fame, etc that God has for those who are God’s own.
To this point we have looked at poor methods of relevance. Now I want to look at a better method. This is where you take the doctrine and show its significance for…
Another approach to relevance that preachers use is the ignoring relevance approach. Here you don’t even worry about relevance. Instead of telling folks that something is relevant because you must believe it…
Another approach to relevance in preaching is to present a “take it or leave it” approach. Here the preacher instead of simply saying the truth is relevant, as in the brute force…
“Show Don’t Tell” is almost a mantra among many novelists. The cliche’ comes from the idea that you should not tell people things or points in your writing, you should show them….
I was listening to a preacher this Sunday who was an expert at the bad news. His sermon was 90% bad news. Then when it was time for the celebration there was…
One of the interesting problems in some preaching is a premature celebration. The people are with the preacher and she or he has the church moving towards a powerful end. But then…
Another very common error is to preach a point without making the practical dimensions of the point clear. Here is when the preacher spends much time defining and describing a point, but…
The gospel has implications for how we treat others. A vibrant and growing relationship with Jesus Christ will of necessity cause a change in how we treat one another. Simply put, racism,…
Another error that can creep into our preaching is the imprecise point. This is when your point is not clearly defined or presented. Another way this can creep into our preaching is…
Another subtle error is when the preacher is disconnected from the people. Here the preacher stands up separated from the people barking orders at those who must obey or else. These pastors…
When I was in my twenties and was attempting to learn to play Jazz, one writer said, “all the answers are in the music.” What the author was saying is that we…
I preached a sermon where I told a story. It was a rather common story about flying into a city where the wind was blowing strongly. I described the calm above the…
Some preachers only serve desert. They end up “shouting about nothing.” You know the experience. You have gone to church to hear a word from the Lord and you are shouting. The…