I have written before about soliciting feedback from members of your congregation early on in the sermon-preparation process. The reason for doing this is that these are the individuals best qualified to tell you whether what you are preparing to preach has value to them.
What I’m referring to are not “What shall I preach about?” sessions. Instead, they are times when you can share the subject of your sermon, the response you are intending to ask for, and some, anyway, of the how-to suggestions you will make regarding implementation.
Anyway, over time you will find the input of certain individuals to be quite valuable. Take note of such people. They become part of your unofficial “go-to team” that in the future you can contact when you feel you need sermon help from someone.
“What are the characteristics of such people?” you might ask. My response is that these will differ with each pastor. What you are looking for is someone with whom you just kind of click. What they say and how they think is especially helpful to you.
They are the opposite of those folk who have a tendency to drive you nuts, who always go down idea pathways that are the opposite of where you want to head.
Knowing who, in your congregation, these most-helpful people are will empower you to make the right contact the next time you sense you need input from someone special because you are struggling with a sermon.
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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.
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