A few weeks ago I asked if anyone would be willing to read my notes for the session I'm doing at the Exponential Conference (and thanks to those who did). One thing I noticed in some of the e-mail exchanges I had with people who volunteered to read it was a bit of surprise that I would have people read my stuff.
So let me use this opportunity to tell you: I have someone read all my stuff. And I strongly encourage you to have someone read all your stuff.
Forefront is now 10 years old, which means we've had about 520 Sundays. I preach about 75% of the time, so I've preached probably 420 times here. And I have had someone read my sermon, in advance, I'd say 400 of those times.
What does that say about me? That I'm nervous? That I have low self-esteem? That I'm soft? Well ... I think it says I'm wise. I realize that I'm going to have hundreds of people giving me about a half hour of their time on Sunday, and that I have one chance to connect with those people and point them to God and teach them about life in Jesus, and all of that is HUGE. And so if there is any way to make what I'm going to say better, I want to do it! There are many times when the person who reads my sermon says, "This part is just a little confusing," or "This is good, but what if you added this story..." or "I loved it, but what if you moved this story and made it the conclusion?" That kind of help is priceless!
A couple quick thoughts on this: (1) I guess it requires writing a manuscript. Personally, I write the whole thing out, have someone read it, make it better, read it a bunch of times, then make a little outline of the key ideas, and then throw out the manuscript and go up to preach with just the little outline paperclipped onto my bible. (2) It requires that you have someone who is willing to read your sermons. You can use people on your staff, ministry friends, your spouse, you could rotate some people in your church ...
So ... my encouragement to you: Have someone read all your stuff. Next week I'm doing a new series on a specific "type" of preaching.... Until then, go jello wrestle with someone.
- featured on newchurches.com
Friday, March 14, 2008
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5 comments:
okay, the jello wrestling thing's kind of freaking me out a little bit...
c'mon, you know you want to.
As a preacher...I can honestly say that this is great advice. My wife has caught some really bad stuff in some of my sermons.
I changed as a communicator (for the better) when I started having others read my stuff. 1 caveat, though, is they have to be honest - it does no one any good if they say "It's great" so as to not hurt your feelings. So, you have to give 'em carte blanche.
True that mac daddy, true that.
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