Preaching Tips

Your sermon is not a performance!  If you are preparing, practicing, ready to give a performance, the sermon will end up all about “you” and nothing about Jesus.  Your sermon is like a “connector” of a current that allows people to see Jesus better.  Your sermon points to Jesus in…

If you are not excited about the gospel, convinced of the power and presence of the living and breathing Christ in the here and now, if you are not authentically and visibly glowing with the presence of Christ, there is no way you will be able to enable a sense…

It’s not about you! Performance preaching is about you, all eyes on you, you talking, you in control. Participation preaching is about everyone, and above all about the presence of Jesus and how we all participate in the experience of Jesus.  To learn “about” Jesus is one thing;  to “know”…

Think of your preaching space as a playing field, where you can pass the ball to anyone at any given time.  Perhaps someone jumps for it at one point.  Perhaps several people share it at another time.  Perhaps it doesn’t come back to you right away but gets passed off…

Make your sermon EPIC  –Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich, and Connective! Ask these questions when you are creating your sermon: 1) how can my sermon serve to connect people with Christ 2) how can my sermon facilitate people’s ability to experience Christ during that moment, during their worship, during their lives in ways that will transfigured…

Semiotic sermon builders are metaphor miners.  When you read a text, underline the metaphors you see right away. As you mine those metaphors for meaning, chances are, others will emerge as well.  Soon your metaphors will begin to form a web of interconnections illuminating scripture in ways you’ve never seen…

Stories (homiletics often calls them illustrations) do not serve as ancillary to a sermon.  They ARE the sermon.  A good story carries the entire message if it’s brought to life through animation.  Don’t illustrate, animate.  Allow your story to come to life, so that people can see it, hear it, feel it…

Think of your preaching space as a “playing field,” in which all of you take part in the joy of worship.  In “field preaching,” everyone participates.  It isn’t strictly planned, but you need to move according to the movements of others, and above all, the movement of the Holy Spirit. …

Sometimes the mood and the atmosphere of worship becomes “too serious.”  When seriousness pervades, one’s focus can be more on decorum and behavior than on the Holy Spirit.  The lightness of humor can break through those moments and allow for a breakdown of the walls that keep people from being…

When you are reading scripture, try to envision it as a “motion picture.” When you can see the scriptures in living color and hear Jesus’ words in surround sound, you will be able to feel the power of the Story.  The scriptures must not be treated as “dead wood” but…