Resources

One thing I have noticed about writing for this blog - and this November I’ll have been doing it for 19 years - the content inspiration from the posts comes from what I am doing at the time.  If I’m reading a devotional book (or any kind of book), if I’m taking a class, if I’m preaching or teaching - then these things fuel the posts.  If I’m not doing those things, it becomes difficult to produce any kind of writing.  That’s not surprising, right?  It makes sense.

Our most recent CLM class was about preaching, and the students spent several weeks learning about different ways to prepare a sermon to preach.  When I was first preparing the curriculum for this class, I read a book called Preaching Grace: Possibilities for Growing your Preaching and Changing People’s Lives by Kennon L. Callahan.  The author works through eight possibilities for ways preachers can grow their preaching and offer sermons that are more helpful.  I reviewed the book here.

One of the possibilities the author describes is resources.  When I think of resources as related to preaching, I think of commentaries and study bibles.  That’s not what Callahan means.  Resources are those activities you do - your involvement in the community.  He suggests finding a group that relates to your hobby, or going out and doing service work in the community.  Find something you enjoy that helps you build relationships with people. This will be a resource for your preaching. 

Are you expecting?

I preached yesterday.  It was a sermon about expectations.  What do we expect from our God?  This was a part of that sermon:

Eighty six years ago, a son was born to an African-American Baptist minister and his wife in Atlanta, Georgia.  He was born into a society that considered discrimination based on the color of skin not only acceptable, but inevitable.  He was born 67 years after Lincoln declared, “that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free.”  He was born in a time when our country had stated what it believed, but had not yet begun to believe what had been proclaimed.  He was born in a time when I imagine the situation seemed hopeless.  And yet, Martin Luther King, Jr, had expectations of his God.  He believed his God was powerful, loved him with an intensity he could never explain, and would keep his promises.  He believed that his God would turn water into wine, would scatter the proud, bring down the powerful, lift up the lowly, and fill the hungry with good things.  So he stood up, and he said so.  One hundred years after Lincoln had declared freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  He had expectations of his God.  Later in the speech, he said, “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.  He said, “This is our hope.”

He stood up, and acted on his hope in God, expecting great change in what was a hopeless situation.  He stood up and declared what he believed, over twenty five hundred times, across more than six million miles.  He stood up, and others stood up with him, protesting the hopeless situation of our country and declaring that it should and must change.   If Martin Luther King, Jr., or any of the thousands of men and women who had stood with him had been asked what great thing they knew, they would have said, “I know my redeemer lives.”  They said it with their voices, and they said it with their actions.

Preparation

 A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my living room, drinking a cup of coffee, relaxing on a Sunday morning.  I hadn't started getting read for church - it was just a quiet time.  I had agreed to read the scripture for the day, and was thinking that I needed to pull it out and prepare it for worship. 

A text arrived from our lay leader.  She said that our pastor was sick and was unable to come to worship.  Would I preach?

I've always said I could do almost anything in worship (not musical) without much warning except preaching.  I have hoped to not be asked to preach on short notice (and this was a little more than 2 hours of notice), and yet that is what was happening.  I told her I would do it. And then I started looking for a sermon.

I wanted to keep the scripture the same.  It was an advent Sunday, and it seemed important to use advent scriptures.  The problem is that I am rarely asked to preach during advent because pastors want that time with their congregations.  Summer sermons, fall sermons - I have those.  But not advent sermons. 

I keep my sermon texts organized on my computer by scripture.  I looked through the directory.  Nothing there.  I pulled out the commentary I often use and started reading - resigned to the idea that I needed to WRITE a sermon in what was now less than 2 hours - and also get ready and drive to church.   I sat down at the laptop and pulled up the blog - would there be anything here that could be developed into a sermon?  I found three posts based on the scriptures we were reading that day - Isaiah 35 and Luke 1.  What was this sermon?  Why had I not found it on my laptop?

I went back to the laptop and search for it by title.  There is was.  Saved with the scripture names Isaiah 25 and Matt 1.  I had not remembered that I had been asked to preach in December of 2019 (three years ago - same lectionary year).  I edited the sermon for my church, got dressed, and went to church. 

This is a long story that I'm telling you in order to make one important point. God prepares us, even when we don't know it.  A few years ago, I would never have had said yes to preaching with 2 hours of notice.  I didn't really even hesitate last month to say yes.  The work we do, the times we agree to ministry, the classes we take, the Christian Conversation, the grace of God all prepares us for what may come next, even when we don't know what that is - can't imagine it.

Book Review: Preaching Grace

Information about the book

Kennon L. Callahan.  Preaching Grace: Possibilities of Growing Your Preaching and Touching People's Lives.  Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1999. (Amazon link)

Summary

From the book cover:  This is an age of mission.  This is a time when our gifts and strengths can truly touch people's lives - often for the first time.  In Preaching Grace, Kennon Callahan... shows pastors how to develop an approach to preaching that builds upon their unique gifts and strengths and gain the confidence and assurance to grow their preaching.

The structure of the book is to devote a chapter to each of eight strengths or gifts a preacher could develop in order to grow her preaching in a way that increases sermon's helpfulness to the members of the congregation.  The chapters outline what each strength is, why it is important, and suggestions of  how to develop it.

Impressions

I liked this book and plan to use the content in summary fashion in the curriculum for our Conference CLM Course.  I am usually wary of books that are more than 20 years old because church life and ministry has changed in the past two decades.  I was impressed that this one begins with the thesis that the church has changed - we are no longer preaching to church members who feel an obligation to be present; we are not even preaching to bring absent members back.  We are preaching to a mission field with the goal of reaching those who have never been in church.

I like the author's approach that perfection is not the goal.  He urges readers to release the guilt of what they "think" they should be doing, and find the methods that work for their personality and their congregation.  Smart and helpful.

I like the systematic approach to eight possibly ways to grow preaching with the goal of increasing sermons' helpfulness to the congregation.  I many cases, the strengths were not what I anticipated form their name.  For example, Resources is not the books on your shelf.  It is counting the time you spend in ministry - reaching people, working in mission, providing pastoral care - and using that time to not only increase the helpfulness of your sermon but also your connection with the congregation so that they are more receptive to your preaching.  In other words, sermon prep and pastoral care are not competing for time on your schedule - they are interwoven so that pastoral care and mission work are resources for your preaching.  This makes sense when you consider that a sermon should address a human issue - how will you know the issues people face unless you are working with them to face the issues?

Posts concerning the book

If I've written any other posts with information from this book, they will be tagged as Kennon Preaching

Book Review: From Pew to Pulpit

 

Information about the book

Clifton F. Guthrie.  From Pew to Pulpit: A Beginner's Guide to Preaching.  Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 2005.  (Cokesbury/Amazon)

Summary

The book is written to provide guidance for lay persons to who are venturing, as the title says, from pew to pulpit in order to preach.  From Amazon:  "Written with the needs of those for whom preaching is not their sole or primary occupation in mind, it begins by emphasizing what every preacher brings to the pulpit: an idea of what makes a sermon particularly moving or memorable to them. From there the book moves into short chapters on choosing an appropriate biblical text or sermon topic, learning how to listen to one's first impressions of what a text means, moving from text or topic to the sermon itself while keeping the listeners needs firmly in mind, making thorough and engaging use of stories in the sermon, and delivering with passion and conviction. The book concludes with helpful suggestions for resources, including Bibles, commentaries, other print resources and websites."

Impressions

As the Summary describes, this is a practical book that leads a lay person through a process of developing, delivering, and evaluating a sermon.  I found it to be encouraging to lay person, respecting their gifts and experiences.  The bulk of the book outlines steps to take to develop a sermon from a scripture reference.  I especially liked its approach to study of scripture and the author's on focusing on a message.  I used the book as one of the texts for our Conference CLM Course.

Posts about book

GuthriePewPulpit

Preaching Presentation Hints

I'm teaching the Conference CLM class, and we just finished a month talking about preaching.  What follows are the 10 preaching presentation hints I shared with the class based on my own experience (so, grain of salt time)

1. It is the great debate – what to use in the form of notes for your sermon.  I think the answer is that you have to use what works best for you.  Just remember that the sermon is not a reading – it is a speech.  It is talking.  And it is relationship building with people.  Don’t sacrifice the connection because you are too busy reading from a manuscript, or searching through your notes.
2. That said – the best way to accomplish that is to practice ahead of time.  Out loud.  If you are comfortable, with someone to listen to you.  Saying it out loud means that you will hear what you are saying and catch those things that don’t flow well, or don’t make sense.  Someone else can help you with that, too.  Saying it out loud means that you will be more familiar with it – more confident in it. Saying it out loud means that you can time it. 
3. Speaking of timing, honor the time that you have been given. 
4. Ask someone to watch you preach.  Are there any strange habits you have?  My church has a pulpit that extends down the sides, so that when you preach, you are in a U shaped area.  I caught myself leaning on the sides and hunching my shoulders.  Be aware of what your body is doing when you preach and don’t let it be a distraction. 
5. If you are using notes at a pulpit, turn the pages in a way that no one sees them move.  Just pull them across rather than turning them like a book.
6. Speak more slowly than you think you should.  Speak more clearly than you might usually.  Aim your voice to the people who are listening.  Pause when you need to.
7. If there is a microphone, use it.  Even if you think you are loud enough, use the microphone.  Don’t ask if everyone can hear you without it, because those who can’t, won’t tell you.  There will be those who cannot hear you.  Use the microphone.    If microphones make you uncomfortable, practice with one until you aren’t any more.  I am serious about this.  Use the microphone.
8. Make eye contact.  Or at least look where the people are. 
9. Have water available.
10. Stop when you are finished.  Don’t keep going.  End.  And be done.

Why Preach?

What is the purpose of preaching? I think anyone you ask would have a different answer to that question.  Preaching is such a centering point of our worship experiences, that asking its purpose is an important question.  I think it is a question we need to ask, because the "why” question is always important.  So, why preach?  What is the “so that” of preaching?

Fred Craddock was a Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emery University in Atlanta.  His definition is “Preaching is making the revelation of God present and appropriate to hearers.”  The author of From Pew to Pulpit, Clifton F. Guthrie, said in his book: “Aim rather that your preaching will have a cumulative effect on the faithfulness of your hearers.  Trying to change or convert them all at once can be manipulative, and conversion really God’s business, anyway.”  Reading that, I can conclude that one of the purposes of preaching is to have a ‘cumulative effect on faithfulness.’  In Preaching Grace, Kennon L. Callahan says that most sermons that are preached are helpful, and after reading his book, I think he would say that the main purpose of preaching is to help the listeners.  

“Most preaching shares help and hope.  People discover the love of God.  Grudges and resentments no longer have power over them. Forgiveness and reconciliation come.  Anxiety and fear lesson. Anger and rage become strangers.  Serenity and peace enter their lives.  Compassion and community become good friends.  Lives are richer and fuller.” 

It’s a tall order – but be sure to see it in parallel with what Guthrie said – a cumulative effect on faith.  We don’t have to – and are not able to – accomplish everything Callahan says in a single sermon.  Still, preaching is meant to be helpful.  In fact, a question you can ask yourself as you prepare a sermon – How will this be helpful for people?

The purpose of your preaching and my preaching is to be a means of God’s grace to enter into our lives.  What I say when I preach (or any other time) does not really have the power to transform people’s lives.  That isn’t to say that words aren’t powerful – they certainly are – they can heal or hurt, encourage or diminish.  But, God’s work is God’s  work, and none of us is God.  Preaching is a means of grace by which others can come to know God, through God’s action, through us as preachers.  Rest in that.  Find peace and joy in that.  What happens after the words are spoken – in the air between you and your listeners – is shaped by God.  You may never know the effect of your preaching – you should never assume that it has no effect just because you don’t know what it is.  What you are doing when you preach is sacred.

Preaching

 

I'm teaching a CLM course for the Conference.  Our most recent topic was preaching.  The class read From Pew to Pulpit, and I additionally read Preaching Grace.  Callahan, who wrote Preaching Grace, advises readers to find the method of preparing a sermon that works for you, and use that.  That was an interesting suggestion in the light of Willimon's book, Guthrie's book, the module, and our guest presenter (Mike Estep, who did a wonderful job talking about preparing to preach).  All of them provided ways to prepare a sermon (all of which were helpful), and Callahan's statement lifted some of the guilt of having all of these methods for sermon preparation and not always following them.

How do I prepare a sermon?  What works for me?

Ideally:

1. Read the lectionary readings at the beginning of the week.  Let them bop around in my head for a day or two.
2. Read the lectionary readings again in a Study Bible with notes, to enhance my understanding of the scripture.  At this point, I hope I'm narrowing down to the actual scripture I'll use as the basis of the sermon.
3. Read Commentary.  This helps me to see more clearly how I can bring these words to life in a sermon.
4. Intentionally pray - somewhere else if I can.
5. Outline my thoughts - short outline - what is the focus? How will I develop it?  If I can do that, I feel I "have" the sermon.  I have direction and know where I'm going.
6. Start writing.  I might not start at the beginning, though.  I usually start a sermon with a story because I think it is engaging.  I might not have that story at the beginning of the writing.
7. I write and write. 
8. I let it sit and bop around.
9. I pick up pieces of the sermon that don't belong and move them to the end.  This feels better than deleting them.
10. Read it through and refine it.  Delete those extra pieces at the end.
11. If possible, ask someone else to read it
12. Read it out loud. Time myself.  Fix the bumpy bits.
13. Print it, if I haven't already.  

I do preach from a manuscript.  I hope I don't read it - I hope I preach it.  But I do use a manuscript.  

And that's it.  Toss the manuscript, and move on.

Context

As I've mentioned before, I am reading Short Stories by Jesus, written by Amy-Jill Levine.  I did read the entire Introduction, although I was impatientto get to the chapters.  I'm glad I did.  Here are three great quotes about context:

• "...a text without a context is just a pretext for making it say anything one wants."
• "In order better to hear the parables in their original contexts and so to determine what is normal and what is absurd, what is conventional and what is unexpected, we need to do the history."
• "If we get the context wrong, we'll get Jesus wrong as well.  The parables are open-ended in that interpretation will take pace in every act of reading, but they are also historicallly specific.  When the historical context goes missing or we get it wrong, the parables become open to problematic and sometimes abusive readings."

Reading scripture carries responsibility with it, especially if we are teaching or preaching.  We have to take that seriously and do our homework.

Talk about God?

To continue yesterday's quote from Wesley's sermon, Scriptural Christianity:

Can you bear, unless now and then in a church, any talk of the Holy Ghost? Would you not take it for granted if one began such a conversation that it was either "hypocrisy" or "enthusiasm"? In the name of the Lord God Almighty I ask, What religion are you of? Even the talk of Christianity ye cannot, will not, bear.  O my brethren! what a Christian city is this? "It is tie for thee, Lord, to lay to thine hand!"

Do you talk about God?  Do you talk about God outside of church? Do you witness to your faith? Do I?

I think many of us (including me) would answer no, or not often, to this question. The teacher of a preaching class I attended asked us to consider the question: What did life used to be like? What happened to change it? What is it like now?  He said if you could answer those three questions about your faith journey, telling others the change God has made in your life, then you would find it easy to prepare an authentic sermon for when you were called on a Saturday night to preach on Sunday morning.

I think it might also be one of the keys to speaking about God to other people. Do we know our faith story? Can we tell it? Do we know the difference God has made in our lives? Why is being part of a church important to us? Don't put off answering the questions for yourself so that when you are asked you have no answer. If you are prepared, I think God will lead you to opportunities to tell the story.

A Pretend Letter

First, a word of explanation....

I read on Facebook and the internet about pastors who are encountered by comments from parishioners about their sermons -- negative, non-constructive comments.  I can tell by the pastor's posts that they worry about these criticisms and want to respond to them in a positive way, but also in a way that leads to understanding.

I've never encountered this kind of challenge, but I wondered what I would say if I had, so I wrote this letter.  Truthfully, I can't see that sending it would be a constructive move, but it helped me to define what I believe a sermon should be.  The names are all made up, the situation is a pretend one.  This is a fictional response, but it reflects what I think a sermon process should be and my understanding of preaching.

Dear John:

Thank you for the letter you wrote to me yesterday.  I can see that my sermon wasn't what you expected when you came to worship.  I wonder if it would help if I explained my understanding of what a sermon is and should be, and maybe a little bit about my process for crafting a sermon.

I begin the process of writing a sermon not by writing but by reading.  I read the text and let it live in my mind for a few days.  I'm counting on God to distill my thoughts into the message God would like to have delivered to God's people.  I take some time to separate myself from daily distraction and spend time in prayer.  My goal is that the message delivered is not my own, but is God's.

A sermon, I believe, should forward God's purposes to create change.  What response is God hoping for in the people?  I pray that I will discover that hoped-for response, and that I can craft a sermon that moves people toward it.

A sermon should also remain faithful to the scripture.  I pray that God will illuminate God's word for me and that I will see clearly what the message is, and that I can shine light on it for all of us.

The resulting sermon is not always comforting and in fact can very often be challenging.  It is almost always about change.  Its purpose is to illuminate where we are standing, and how far we have to go in order to be closer to God's image for us.  The purpose of Christianity is change -- transformation -- from sinner to saved.  From who we are to who God wants us to be.  The journey can be uncomfortable, as can be the sermon that points to that journey.

If it helps, I didn't find the sermon yesterday to be very comforting, either.  God's message challenges my life and my decisions as much as anyone else's.  My hope is in God, and in God's love for all of us.  I'm grateful God is trying to move all of us closer to who we were created to be.

Thank you for your thoughts. I'm grateful you sent them to me, and I'm grateful that we are on this challenging journey to Christ-like holiness together.

Blessings and grace,
Sheri