This generation has its share of really good preachers. I’m not only referring to ministers who are just a joy to listen to, but to men and women of God whose Sunday sermons result in listeners whose lives are transformed by their sermons.
A good way you can improve your own preaching skills is by constructively critiquing the sermons you hear. What is the lasting impact of this sermon? Will people be any different as a result of listening to this speaker or that one?
Learn to analyze the sermons of others. What was his or her subject? What response was called for? Were you challenged to live in a way that left you confused or frustrated? Or, were you told how to make the necessary changes? Do you have a realistic understanding of how long the process of change should take?
Careful analysis of a sermon often reveals it was little more than a sermon idea surrounded by a series of inspiring stories, but not much else. Or, the speaker had a great sense of humor, but a poor sense of how to help people become more Christ-like.
It’s certainly no great achievement for a preacher to be boring. But neither is it commendable to have as a goal that people will leave church thinking the preacher was really terrific.
Transformational preaching is worth copying. Preaching that does little more than simply rehash old truths, or inform, or impress, or entertain, or inspire, of itself is usually not worth the people’s time.
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