HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PREACHING
I love preaching and teaching God’s Word. It’s an honor and great privilege to share the truths of the Bible with hungry hearts. I’ve been doing it for almost 50 years, often 7 or 8 times a week. That adds up to thousands and thousands of messages I’ve prepared and delivered. The first time I spoke I was so nervous I rushed through all my notes in 12 minutes. I’ve been learning and growing since then, though. Teaching is an important part of the spiritual gift mix God has given me and I love to teach and preach. Yet in many ways I feel like I’m just starting to learn how to communicate God’s Word well. It’s a craft and a skill we never totally master. We never “arrive.” We are always in process. If you think you know all there is about preaching and don’t have to work hard at improving, you are in a dangerous place – and so are the people who have to listen to you. What can you do to keep improving? Here are some suggestions.
Listen to speakers who minister to you. There are many good preachers on the internet, radio and TV. Find some that speak to your heart and listen to them often. Analyze the messages. Break them down so you discover why they communicate to you. Pick out things they do that communicate well and work them into your own style. There have been 3 or 4 times in my life when I felt my messages were dry and in a rut. To help in those times I’d find a good series by a favorite speaker and preach those messages to my people. I wouldn’t copy them word for word, I’d run them through my own personal grid. I would be open to take a different approach than I had been, a new way of packaging material, a fresh presentation of a familiar truth. I wasn’t as comfortable doing things a new and different way, but it stretched me and make me a better speaker. Never copy another message word for word, or do it all the time, but there are times we can feed on someone else’s teaching and pass it on to our people. When you use someone else’s material, always give credit to your source. If not, you can be guilty of plagiarism. I have written a book of my sermon you can use, “Sermons and Bible Studies.” You can email me at jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org and ask for a PDF copy or download one from https://www.christiantrainingonline.org/our-ministries/india/books/
Start early and set aside enough time to prepare. One of the biggest reasons our sermons aren’t more effective than they are is because we don’t put enough time into them. We often start late and rush to finish because we don’t make sermon preparation a top priority. We aren’t always good stewards of our time. According to Jesus, feeding our sheep is our main responsibility (John 21:15-19; Ephesians 4:11-12). We wouldn’t like it if our wives waited to the last minute to prepare food for us, or if they gave us the same leftovers meal after meal. We must make sure we don’t do that to our people.
Spend time reading and studying the Bible. If you don’t have a deep hunger and thirst to know God’s Word better and grow in intimacy with God, something is very wrong. Don’t just read and study to prepare lessons, do it first and foremost to grow your own relationship with God. From that will flow fresh preaching that will reach the hearts of your listeners. The Bible comes first, but also read books about theology and doctrine, Bible history, biographies of great Christians and books about how to study and preach the Bible. If you don’t have copies of my books, “Studying the Bible,” and “Preaching and Teaching the Bible,” email me at jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org and ask for a PDF copy or download one from https://www.christiantrainingonline.org/our-ministries/india/books/
Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray. Even when we do spend a lot of time in sermon preparation, we often neglect to spend a lot of time in prayer. Always pray when you begin. Pray that God will speak to you first so you can pass His truths on to others. Ask Him to teach you His word and for his Spirit to help you understand it and pass it on to others. Pray others would understand your words in their minds and that God would apply them to their hearts. Pray before sermon preparation. During it pray about each point, always seeking His wisdom and guidance. Pray before you speak and pray while you are speaking. When you are done, continue to pray God would take His Word and make it alive in their hearts and minds. Pray God would give you the right words to speak and open the hearts of the people to understand it. Preaching is supernatural work, and you can’t do it without Gods supernatural power working through you. You can pray too little, but you can never pray too much!
Preach often. Any skill develops with use. The more you do something, if you do your very best each time, the better you will get at it. Don’t pass up any opportunity the Lord gives you to teach or preach. No group is too small or unimportant, even if it is only 2 or 3 people. Speaking to children is a very good way to improve your skills for it can be much more difficult to get and keep their attention and make sure they understand what you are saying. Adults will sit quietly and politely even though their minds may be far away, but children will give you immediate feedback and let you know if you are reaching them or not. Have a time in your church service when you speak just to the children for a few minutes. Children will feel important, adults will love it and learn as well, and it will help you be a better speaker. I have always loved speaking to children because they force me to prepare well and communicate clearly. Preach and teach whenever you can. Ask God to give you more opportunities, and never pass any by.
Preaching God’s Word is a sacred task and a great privilege. To stand before others and claim to speak for God is no light matter. God holds us accountable to be good stewards of the wonderful opportunities He gives us. Do not let Him down.
2 Corinthians 2:17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Take a moment to thank God for the tremendous privilege of sharing His Word with others.
Ask Him to help you work hard at being a better preacher and teacher for His glory.
MY OTHER BLOGS: I have two more weekly blogs. “India Update” includes a teaching/devotional blog, an update on our ministry in India and pictures from India. “Spiritual Warfare Blog” is to educate, encourage and motivate people in spiritual warfare. To be added to any list go to https://www.christiantrainingonline.org/ Scroll down, click on India or Spiritual warfare, then scroll half way down the right column and you will see a place to sign up. Or you can email me and I’ll put you on the list jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization