200churches

  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Home
  • About
  • Podcast Series
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Home
  • About
  • Podcast Series

How To Not Preach Boring Messages

8/20/2013

 
Well, this is an easy one, right?! Just make sure that at some point during your message, three armed police officers interrupt your service to arrest, handcuff, and lead away at least one person in the front row. That’s it, no more boredom!  


But alas, there is one reason why that can’t happen… no one sits in the front row!  Okay, so let me suggest something else.
Picture
The fear of the majority of pastors is that they will bore their people when they preach or teach God’s word. Why, it’s inevitable at some point. The guy in the third row is sound asleep, people check their watch, or their smartphone. Even you or I get bored once in a great while during a message. But there is hope.

I’ve been preaching and teaching for thirty years now, so let me share a few presuppositions, then a few ideas.

Presupposition #1 – God changes hearts with his holy Word. The Holy Spirit of God uses his word, to do the work. He can use what we might think of as the most boring sermon or lesson.

Presupposition #2 – We do not use presupposition #1 as an excuse to bore people.

Presupposition #3 – The listener must have a pulse. What I mean by that is the listener must have at least an entry level intention and willingness to listen, hear, and be changed. If not, we could explode, and they would still yawn.

Presupposition #4 – Boredom is as much in the mind of the listener as in the actions of the speaker.

Presupposition #5 – Content should trump presentation style. Content is most important. Without it, the presentation style is meaningless.

Presupposition #6 – Presentation style should deliver content, not overshadow or obscure it.

Now, here are some ideas for how not to be boring. We will share more in our podcast on Wednesday, Episode 32 – Why You Should Explore Creative Communication Methods In Your 200church, and in our post on Friday. This is “Communication Week” at 200churches!

Idea #1 – As the preacher, we MUST be close to God ourselves. Be close to Him through prayer, intimacy with Scripture, and personal heart devotion to our Father, our Savior, and our indwelling Holy Spirit. There is no shortcut to OUR intimacy with God – the source of power in preaching! Yeah, I know this one is not a "silver bullet" that is easy to do - but it's the truth and there is no substitute for it.

Idea #2 – Be close to our people. Our love for them, and our knowledge of them, will be both our motivation and our direction in our preaching. We are not preaching or teaching a crowd every week, but our friends, the people we love.



While I prepare my messages, I am thinking about the lady who just lost her husband, the student struggling with alcohol and parties, the man addicted to pornography, and the parents whose teenage son shot himself in the head in their family room... and died. Our relationship with our people certainly influences our messages.

Idea #3 – Variety! We can change how we deliver the message. Stand, sit, speak, point, loudly, softly, onstage, off stage, video, handout, object lesson, story, list, challenge, action step, lectern, table, whiteboard, pulpit, no pulpit, images, art, music, interview, team preach, personal story, etc. etc. We must use creativity and variety. It is good for our people to wonder what might come next.

Idea #4 – Let’s be ourselves, not someone else. You have likely heard it before – God doesn't want another Billy Graham or Francis Chan – he wants YOU. God created us to speak to our people, love our people, and teach our people. We can trust him that he has given us the personal, intellectual, and creative resources we need to get the message across. Let’s just be ourselves.

Well, that’s a good start! Wednesday’s podcast will expand on this, get you thinking, and hopefully inspire you to seek that “next level” in your ability to communicate God’s wonderful word.

What was the most creative thing you ever successfully pulled off in a sermon?

Comments are closed.
    Picture
    Welcome to the 200churches blog! We have hundreds of posts covering every issue imaginable. So pull up a chair, pour a cup of coffee, and stay awhile.
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

200churches.com | all rights reserved

contact  |  podcast  |  about 

Photos used under Creative Commons from Just a Prairie Boy, aaron_anderer, Robbie Grubbs, Rubbermaid Products, Carolyn Coles, Russ Neumeier, iz4aks, marfis75, laura271GSD1, The Car Spy, Rob Ellis', TheJRB, Andrew_D_Hurley, jseliger2, Renaud Camus, Ken Wilcox., tiarescott, www.audio-luci-store.it, StockMonkeys.com, DuReMi, woodleywonderworks, NiePhotography, LiamDC, Zemlinki!, sidewalk flying, steve p2008, stevendepolo, c&rdunn, Rosaura Ochoa, bradleypjohnson, Phil Roeder, Carlos Graterol, photokok, Mark Spearman, Lisa L Wiedmeier, USACE Europe District, JefferyTurner, mlcastle, allyrose18, wallygrom, Jan Tik, woodleywonderworks, acme, nickirp, Cast a Line, Biggunben, striatic, aussiegall, whatleydude, BromfordGroup, Phillie Casablanca, francescopozzi, jai Mansson's photography.