Sorry about the lack of blogging over the last week ,I havent been to well.
On the positive side I was able to have a little bit of time surfing the Blogging World
Found this article on preaching form Dunstan Bells blog site
About two years ago I heard Chris Hill share TD Jakes' four rules of preaching - here's an exert...
1. Study Yourself Full
Know absolutely everything you can about the text you’re speaking on
- when was this text written
- why was it written
- who wrote it
- who was it written to
Look at the text from the perspective of every person and object. For example: If preaching on Job, don’t just be Job, be his wife, be his friends, be the boil!
When approaching a text, don’t speak from what you’ve heard others say about that text.
Know the text so well that you can live it
2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
It only takes one person to stand up and ask a question at the end of your sermon; if you don’t know the answer your credibility is gone.
Study one hour for every five minutes you plan to speak
- i.e. 30 minute sermon, 6 hours study text
2. Think Yourself Clear
Once you have gathered your information/revelation of the text, you must think your way through it logically
Points are the skeleton of your sermon upon which you layer the muscle (revelation)
A sermon with no points is pointless; a sermon with too many points is a porcupine and nobody can handle it
It’s often difficult to communicate with your mouth what you hear in your heart, therefore say your sermon out loud before you come to preach it
3. Pray Yourself Hot
> Prayer burns you hot with passion
> Prayer gets the sermon from your head to your heart
> Prayer gives you a burden for the people
> If I’m not red hot about it before I speak, I have not prayed enough
> Pray for one hour for every five minutes you plan to speak
4. Let Yourself Go
> We have a generation that is looking for people to keep it real. One of the characteristics of a postmodern generation is that they want things real.
> "Preacher, don’t cover up, smile, and pretend that your life is perfect. If you’re perfect, I don’t want to listen to you because my life is not perfect and I cannot relate to you."
> Any speaker you enjoy shows you that they are a real person
> Only when you’re transparent will the light of Jesus shine through you.
> Preaching is the process of unzipping yourself and letting people see your guts. Let people see your raw emotions, let them see that you have highs and lows.
> When you get up to speak, let everything that’s burning inside of you come out and don’t worry about how you look or what people are thinking.
> When you have diligently studied your text, given your sermon structure, and prayed yourself hot, only then can you let yourself go
February 18, 2008
Four Rules of Preaching
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2 comments:
Hey Jeremy,
Some good points there.
I have couple of thoughts:
"When approaching a text, don’t speak from what you’ve heard others say about that text."
- I'm not so sure about this, obviously you don't want to go around repeating everyone else's messages but often you can hear something from someone else and feel that it is a revealation you should bring to those listening to you as well. Naturally It would be polite to mention the source if you are using someone's message :) I also worry that by trying to look for the 'new' and 'innovative' interpretation for the text you are in danger of trespassing beyond what the text is really saying and trying to communicate. We have a lot history with studying the bible, so if you come up with some new idea from a verse that no one has noticed before, be very careful as it could be that you have it completely wrong :)
"Preaching is the process of unzipping yourself and letting people see your guts. Let people see your raw emotions, let them see that you have highs and lows."
- I think this a good point but not something to be taken too far. As a person in authority you need to be open but not stupid. I love the way Simon Moetara always shares some of his struggles when he preaches, but he doesn't go too far to the point the people will lose respect. I'm guessing this would depend a lot on your audience, how much you can trust them and how much they trust you.
That's my 2cents anyway.
Very good points about knowing the text and being prepared to defend your message. I think that is where a lot of preaching would fall down today :)
James
Hi Jeremy,
Simon M here (I had to use anonymous; didn';t know how else to leave a comment). Hope you're doing well...
I agree with James' comments above re. not being afraid to draw on the wisdom & insight of others in expositing your text; however, I concur with Bell when he says, "don’t speak from what you’ve heard others say about that text. Know the text so well that you can live it" -- I think the point is, we should work primarily, first & foremost, from the Biblical text, allowing God's Spirit to speak through His Word; only after this time with the primary source should we then go to secondary sources (e.g. other preacher's, commentaries etc.)...
Thinking yourself clear is important. CS Lewis pointed out (somewhere!) that if you cannot explain yourself clearly to the average person, then your thoughts are not clear; if we understand it, we will be better able to communicate it...
Prayer is absolutely key... people should ultimately encounter the Living God when they hear His Word; often when people have been especially moved during my preaching, it has been because of something they heard that I never really said! (or merely alluded to) This is the mystery of preaching; we work hard to prepare and deliver, but it's God who truly speaks and impacts His people...
Re. 'Letting yourself go", Postmodern people crave authenticity; they do not care what you know 'til they know that you care. However, as James points out, there is great wisdom in knowing how much of one's weakness to reveal; I recall Haddon Robinson telling the story of a young man who preached, saying, "I have struggled with lust. I have struggled with lust today. I have even lusted after some of you here this morning." Too much information!
I believe the preacher should share their struggle, speak as a fellow pilgrim on the journey, but always maintaining the authority and mana of the shepherd; we need to speak from victory, not defeat; we need to bring the focus onto Jesus, not ourselves... To use a pastoral metaphor, we must maintain a balance between being a fellow sheep and being a shepherd.
Those are a few of my thoughts, anyway... :0)
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