For you preachers out there, along with you sermon enthusiasts: A sermon is a delicate arrangement as an art and a science. With “art” being one key component, any given sermon will appeal to some but not others, just as certain types of music appeal to some but not others. All people are unique, and all people have different tastes. And each preacher has a unique personality and unique interests, presenting information and giving illustrations in a personal way.
“Personal” is key here. Why? Jesus was personal. Jesus, being fully God, became fully human in order to minister to us people on our level. When you, as a man or woman saved by Jesus and gifted to preach, carry out the craft of creating a sermon to be presented to willing listeners, be personable as Christ was personable. As a human saved by Jesus, you are a new creation in Christ, but you were once in the darkness as many are now. Remember that point in humility, and you will get the attention of folks who are not Christians. We are saved because Christ bore our sins because He loves everyone! That is a message a person may only hear from you. Regarding your fellow followers of Jesus who listen to your preaching, your faith in Jesus in the midst of the countless challenges and struggles in this fallen messed up world will shine through.
The “science” is the fact a sermon needs to give a message from the Bible. Jesus preached personally, yet He also preached with authority as the Messiah. A person giving a hermeneutical message of the Bible is a person is giving a message from God. Failure to do so results in a person giving his or her own message, which is done every day in countless venues outside of Christian preaching. Jesus said, “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations” (Mark 13:10). That gospel comes from the revelations of God given in the inspired Scripture.
You are a creative herald, and relying on the help of the Holy Spirit to be personable, and relying on the authority of Scripture to offer God’s messages, you will bear fruit as a person who is talking to people as one of them.
And what is at the root of both the art and the science of preaching: the heart. As a successful preacher, D. Stuart Brisco wrote: “Thankfully, I learned a big lesson early. A preacher’s motives matter more than a preacher’s methods.” (1)
I encourage you fellow preachers to allow God to keep improving your heart for great preaching. And my next piece will address another point for successful preaching, so your loving heart will be heard.
Hunter Irvine
(1) D. Stuart Briscoe, Fresh Air in the Pulpit
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 72.
