If you can’t tell us this, your sermon prep hasn’t even started
by Stephen Kneale, Building Jerusalem:
I’m writing this, mainly, because I’ve currently got sermon-block. I’ve been staring at the same passage for days and I have no idea what to do with it, to be honest. Even as I open the commentaries, and if I was inclined to throw my hands up in despair and just unceremoniously rip off what they say, I am finding they are ultimately no help.
The thing is, I know what each part of the passage is saying (broadly). It’s not a lack of understanding at issue. There are three bits to the passage, which is handy for a Baptist sermon. I understand (I think) what each section is saying of itself. So, why am I struggling?
The bottom line is this: I know what each bit is talking about; I have no idea how to preach it. I understand the raw words of what the passage is saying; I have no idea how to structure it nor what the principle points of application should be. If I don’t know what the principle points of application will be, I do not have any points for my sermon. Because I am preaching to people, and those people inevitably want to know what this means for them, my points are always the key points of application. But if I can’t work out the application, I have no points and no sermon structure.
I am minded to think, however, this explains why a lot of preaching is so boring or uninteresting. Whilst I am sitting here believing I have sermon-block despite knowing what each bit of the passage is saying of itself, many preachers seem to believe that is 90
% of getting your sermon done. I don’t think I have really started while they would think this is the point at which they have nearly finished. Why is that?
I think it is because we have bought into the belief that preaching is, essentially, ‘explaining the passage’. The problem with that view is that some passages of scripture are painfully obvious. Take the parable of the sower, for example. Even JC Ryle – in his devotional commentaries – essentially says the parable is so obvious it doesn’t really need any lengthy explanation, so he doesn’t do that. So a sermon that goes into great length explaining what is plain and obvious is both boring and patronising. We have all just read it, after all.
Please right-click links to open in a new window.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
