I have found so much of value in Dr. Lori Carrell’s new book Preaching That Matters. So I’ll be quoting from it a few more weeks. Hopefully my advance copy will arrive by then and I’ll be able to tell you how to get your copy.

Though the speaking component of the call to preach is a conspicuous responsibility, the embedded call to listen to listeners is rarely mentioned but is just as necessary. The Great American Sermon Survey indicated that a vast majority of listeners (78%) have never talked with a pastor about a sermon. That lack of authentic dialogue about the sermon is part of a communication pattern characteristic of most congregation systems.

One pastor nearing the end of doctoral studies in theology admitted, “I’ve never been taught how to create a feedback loop or how to exegete my congregation.” Such neglect of “audience analysis” is unthinkable in most other persuasive speaking contexts.

As advertising professionals prepare to compete for an account by pitching an ad campaign idea, extensive data is collected about the target audience and the expectations of the decision makers. Prior to political speeches or debates in various regions, polls provide information to political advisers, so candidates can tailor their message to each audience. Educators conduct learning assessments at the outset of a course or unit to determine pre-existing knowledge and deficits, so they can set appropriate learning goals. Even students in freshman public speaking classes must determine if their classmates are mostly for or against their propositions before they choose a purpose, select evidence, or structure their argument.

And yet, many pastors prepare sermons based on assumptions about listeners, such as estimated percentages of seekers, generalizations regarding “low biblical literacy,” or even unconscious presumptions that listeners’ spiritual journeys are similar to their own. In some small church contexts, extroverted preachers may form an extensive network of parishioner relationships, providing a somewhat automatic audience analysis. However, such a situation is not typical.

Most preachers do not seek ongoing opportunities to develop and deepen awareness of listeners’ diverse vantage points as part of their sermon preparation. Such a process demands more than a compilation of congregational demographics; dialogue and the preacher’s intensive listening are required. In a recent e-mail, one pastor divulged:

 When I first heard about this Sojourner idea, I thought, “There is no way I am adding another meeting to my schedule,” but this dialogue has become the most invigorating hour of my week. Now, I don’t know how I ever preached without it.

The kind of disciplined listening made possible in a pre-sermon listener dialogue can enable preachers to authentically connect prayerfully derived sermon goals to what is already meaningful in listeners’ spiritual lives.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Appreciating What Suffering Teaches – Part 6: Be There for Others (continued…)

The play, A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt, shows how one historical figure got caught in the conflict between this world and the world to come. The main character is Sir Thomas More, who was probably the most brilliant scholar of his day. He entertained in his home such prominent people as Erasmus, Colet, and Holbein. More corresponded with the greatest minds in all of Europe. Though he had an intellect like the Apostle Paul’s, More was also a family man, wonderfully humorous and greatly admired, a skilled lawyer who had been knighted by his English government.

The play revolves around More’s refusal to take the Oath of Supremacy in 1534, in which Parliament acknowledged Henry VIII as the only Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England. The oath was especially distasteful to More, a Catholic, because it was in reaction to the Pope’s unwillingness to grant Henry a divorce. The king had wished to be released from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he could take Anne Boleyn for his wife.

In the play we see Henry desperately seeking More’s influential endorsement. More attempts not to commit himself either way. He feels caught between pleasing his God or pleasing his king. Brilliantly he tries to outmaneuver Henry and refrain from taking the oath. Sir Thomas More wants to be a survivor, but it’s not going to be easy. The drama captures well the chess-like game played between the monarch and his subject.

Toward the end of the production there’s a gripping scene. More has been in prison for a number of months. His cell is damp and uncomfortable. One day he’s surprised by a visit from some of his family. His wife, daughter Margaret, and son-in-law are allowed to see him on the condition that they attempt to convince him to take the Oath of Supremacy. Thomas More quickly discovers what’s going on and says to his daughter, “You want me to swear to the Act of Succession?”

Margaret responds, “‘God more regards the thoughts of the heart than the words of the mouth.’ Or so you’ve always told me.”

“Yes,” More answers.

“Then say the words of the oath and in your heart think otherwise.”

But, her father counters, “What is an oath then but words we say to God.”

Margaret’s somewhat frustrated reply is, “That’s very neat.”

More attempts to reason, “Do you mean it isn’t true?”

“No,” she says, “it’s true.”

“Then it’s a poor argument to call it ‘neat’ Meg,” he gently chides her. Then trying somehow to put into words all he’s feeling, More says, “When a man takes an oath, Meg, he’s holding his own self in his own hands. Like water. [He cups his hands] And if he opens his fingers then—he needn’t hope to find himself again. Some men aren’t capable of this, but I’d be loathe to think your father one of them.”

At that point Margaret knows he can’t do what she’s asking, even if by doing so he could return home to those he loves—and save his own life. His relationship with the eternal God is more important to him.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy