Through preaching, our worshiping communities come to be engaged by the Bible so that we can be comforted, challenged, inspired, become more knowledgeable, and learning to live the Good News that is show to us through Jesus Christ.

Many are afraid of preaching. They are worried that they will preach poorly, or that they will not know what to preach on. This guide will help beginners be able to deliver a simple and effective sermon. It is not suggested for regular preaching since variety in preaching is necessary in order to maintain the focus of the congregation.

Some might think that it is solely the clergy who should preach, but this is not so. Certainly clergy are called to take on the extra preparation and responsibility necessary for regular preaching, but most lay leaders are capable of delivering a good sermon. We need to trust that God will help us and we need to be able to take the risk to try preaching.

A Simple and Effective method

There were really only three steps to preaching.

1. Teaching: Explaining information in the text that novice Christians will not know.

2. Struggling: Wondering aloud about the strange parts of the text.

3. Applying: How does the text comfort us and/or challenge us to change in light of God's reign in Jesus Christ?

This may sound simple enough, but their are a few other small steps that will help the beginner preach a good sermon.

1. Start one week before. Give the time necessary to reflect upon the scripture text.

2. Choosing the scripture reading. The revised common lectionary (the most common list of readings used by most churches in the world) provides at least four texts to preach on. Choose the one which seems easiest for you to see the Good News.

3. Prayer. Ask for God's help and guidance before preparing for the sermon. Look for God's guidance throughout the week, at work, and at rest, listen for God's voice in the daily tasks of living.

4. Read and listen. Read through the texts then choose one to preach on. It need not necessarily be the Gospel reading. Pick the one that speaks the Good News the strongest to you. Once the text has been picked read it over a number of times. Read it out loud and listen to the text. Even if it is familiar, let the words speak anew to you.

5. Questioning the Text: Using a note pad read through the text and write down any questions you have about the text. This will help the text speak to you. Some of the questions you will know the answer to but this exercise will bring up questions that you can investigate.

Here's an example using Mark 1:40-45

Who was this leper? What is a leper? Why was he begging Jesus? Why would he think that Jesus could choose to make him clean? What does it mean to be made clean? Why did Jesus have pity on him? Why did Jesus have to touch him? Why did he choose to make him clean? Why did the leprosy leave him immediately? Where was this happening anyway? Why would Jesus warn him sternly not to tell anyone? Was Jesus angry? Why was the leper sent away? Why was he not suppose to tell anyone? Why go to the priest? What is an offering for cleansing that Moses Commanded? Why did the leper tell everyone what had happened, especially when told not to by the person who healed him? Why would this news mean Jesus had to stay in the country? Why were the people coming to him?

6. Research. Look in a "Bible Dictionary" and in a "Commentary" to help get the answers to these questions. These books are available for purchase at a Christian Bookstore or you can borrow them from your clergy or your Church library. Make sure that the books you use are not "fundamentalist" or "conservative evangelical" commentary (unless of course you are a fundamentalist or conservative evangelical! :) ).

7. Concerns of the text? What is the text concerned about? What do you think the main concerns of the text are? Look at your questions and try to determine what the most important questions are and how they might speak to the main concerns about the text. This may seem subjective, but use your best judgement.

Using Mark 1:40-45 again as an example;

A leper wanted to be made clean so he begged Jesus to help him.
Jesus was able to heal him.
Jesus wanted him to go to the priest and to give an "offering for cleansing".
Jesus didn't want the leper to tell of the healing.
The leper told about Jesus healing him.
Jesus was not able to be in the towns anymore but the people came to him instead.

8. Pulling it together. At this point you should have enough material to accomplishStep #1 and Step #2 of the sermon.

9. How does the text comfort us and/or challenge us to change? The preacher must risk bringing the text to the people! We must ask how God might want us as a Christian community to change in light of the text.

Return to your initial list of questions and concerns. Ask "Where is this concern or question being expressed today?" Use your imagination and switch some of the words around. Use a notepad for this exercise.

From this one concern from the Mark 1:40-45 example lets try to apply it

Concern: A Leper wanted to be made clean so he begged Jesus to help him.

Imaginative Switches

Applications: A sick person wanted to get better to he asked Jesus to help him.
Outcasts can only turn to Jesus to get the help they need.
The church wanted to get better so it asked God to help it.
Our society is sick and needs Jesus to help it get well.

Where is this concern or question being expressed Today?

Applications: People get sick and ask God for help.
Aids victims seem like today's lepers, they are seeking help too.
The church gets sick and calls out for Jesus to cleanse it.
Our society needs to hear the Good News of Jesus to make it clean.

Try to list as many of these applications as possible. Do not worry at this point if they are the best applications. You will pare down the list to the best one, two or three applications. In North American we will be tempted to focus on individual concerns, so I would encourage you to focus on a church community application. Even if a church focus is taken, we North Americans tend to be so individualistic in our world view that many will hear things individualistically anyway.

This final task of applying the Good News requires some risk, but if one remembers two important points the preaching will be faithful.

1. Look for the Good News. Find the applications that speak a word of Good News. If the message is one of Bad News or negativity then more work needs to be done. Good preaching will always have a strong theme of Good News, even if the sermon is one that is "challenging".

2. Trust in God's saving grace. Preaching requires risking preaching the Good News. This can be a scary task since we worry about being wrong, but we need to risk preaching the Good News even if we occasionally miss the mark. Remember that we are saved by grace through faith and this extends into the pulpit. If we miss the mark in our sermon, God will not strike us dead or put a black mark by our name in the book of life. The church of Christ has suffered many poor or wrong sermons, therefore keep fear of failure in perspective. It is better to risk and fail, than to run away; have courage!

Final Steps

1. Writing. Split the sermon into the three blocks. Write out in clear English what the text says. The write in another block write how the text challenges and comforts. For the third block have sub-blocks for each of the applications that are going to be addressed. Choose no more than one to three applications. If one of the applications is of particular importance then focus just on it. Don't preaching three sermons in one!

NOTE: Avoid sermon illustrations! Let the text be the focus not the sermon illustrations. Even experienced preachers fall into this trap and there are no end of illustrations on the internet. A simple sermon is better than a canned story! Some stories are good, but as a beginner, just explain the text!

2. Length. Beginner sermons should be about 5-8 minutes long. Time yourself by reading it alound.

3. Practice. Read through the sermon a number of times out loud. If something sounds confusing to you then change it. Read the sermon to a friendly critic and get their impression of whether it is clear. Try to practice enough so that you do not just reading it. You need to be able to look at the people at times during the sermon.

Preaching the sermon!

1. Pray. Ask for God's help so you can give the best sermon you can give at this time.

2. Breathe. It is OK to be nervous. If you weren't nervous you would not be taking preaching seriously. Remembering to breathe slowly will help with the nervousness. Before preaching if one is nervous, breathe through your nose and out through your mouth slowly.

3. Speak slow and with a good pace. If you speak too quickly people will not hear what you are saying. Speak slowly! Speak slowly! Remember the old folks who have trouble hearing and people for whom English is their second language.

4. Feedback. There is always something we can do better for next time. Have a friendly critic give you feedback on what went well and what needs improvement. With time you will become more skilled and confident in your preaching. Once you become proficient with this method that is the time to abandon it and seek other methods of preaching. Practice makes better preaching.

Conclusion

Although this guide can not answer all your questions and therefore you will likely have some questions still on your mind. There are many good books to assist you in growing to preach more faithfully. Trust that in time, and with God's help, you will grow as a preacher. And remember: Love and Courage!

This guide produced by Jim Love.