Thou Shalt Have Good News

I sometimes feel like a broken record….But one of my pastors used to always say, “Repetition deepens the impression.”.

Anyway, this is something that preachers often ignore so I want to write about it again.

Your sermon…every sermon…The sermon you bout to preach…the sermon you are preparing..

Every sermon….

Should have Good News.

Your people need to hear it. They long for it.

Yes, they want you to inform them.

You must do that.

They should know more about the Bible after hearing your sermon than they did before.

Yes, they want you to challenge them.

You wouldn’t be a preacher if you didn’t train them in the way that they should go.

But…Always…Always have that good news.

Now someone emailed in the previous email about good news wanting an example…So here we go…

Let’s assume you have a sermon about Jonah and the Big Fish.

Now I have actually heard sermons that go like this…

Point 1 – Jonah was running from God

Point 2 – Jonah was caused to go into the belly of the fish for disobedience.

Point 3 – therefore don’t disobey God…

Then you might here someone tack on a tired whoop or an unrelated ending.

I ask where is the good news in that? I see bad news. Jonah got swallowed. I see a command, Don’t disobey God. But I don’t see good news.

Another sermon might go like this:

* Jonah got swallowed by a big fish.

* Liberal scholars tell us that this is not possible, but we know it is possible.

* God did it, and you best believe it and not the liberals who are undermining the Bible.

Again, where is the good news? Again I see bad news. I see attacks on others that we may or may not disagree with, but I don’t see good news?

So how do you rescue these sermons?

I say, go back to the text and find you some good news!

So you might zero in on the fact that even though Jonah was running from God, his very interaction with the sailors changed them from praying to their own gods to the God of heaven.

Yeah its in the text at Jonah 1:16.

That’s good news.

Now you can celebrate how even though you may be punished. Even though things may not go the way you hope it goes, God can and does use even our missteps for his glory.

Ok…Let’s go back to the text.

Remember that even though Jonah was showing his xenophobia and hatred for a nation of people. God still didn’t give up on him. He still worked with him. God still sought to teach him.

Now that’s good news. God doesn’t just throw us away, even when we are not the people we should be.

Yes…See find the good news.

So if you want to talk about liberal scholars…ok…but still don’t forget the good news.

A few of you will have some issues with conservative scholars cause you come from a more liberal tradition..ok…but you need to remember good news as well…

If you want to instruct…ok…but don’t forget the good news in the text.

Remember the good news and then it will be a lot easier to find something to celebrate…

Remember to keep on preaching!!

Brother Sherman