Sermon Tips From Someone Who Is Not a Preacher

Why should a preacher take the advice from someone who is not a preacher? The same reason why companies pay big bucks for consumers to give them feedback on their highly researched product. The same reason why politicians make major changes to their campaign based on opinion polls. Here are some thoughts:

Don’t give me all the answers, give me questions – I have more answers than I know what to do with. Give me some questions. Questions last longer because I have to engage my mind.

Don’t give me information, give me stories – "We must fight the temptation to skip directly to the 'tips' and leave out the story says Chip and Dan Heath in their book “Made to Stick.” Jesus either taught through a story or a quick challenge. The beauty of a story is that it meets people wherever they are in their spiritual journey. “'Thou shalt not' is soon forgotten, but 'Once upon a time' lasts forever.” -Philip Pullman

Don’t give me a perfect sermon, make mistakes and lose your place – After hearing perfectly executed voice-over powerpoint presentations that a computer could give, it’s refreshing to hear an authentic message with spontaneity, errors, oops, interruptions, laughs, etc. A close friend of mine, Matt Brouwer, told me that he would mess up on purpose when he was leading worship just to get people out of the Sunday service monotony. Try it sometime.

Don’t tell me what, until you’ve told me why – People are created with the need to know the why. What’s the question that kids ask their parents the most? Answer: “Why?”

Don’t get so caught up in your notes that you leave out emotion and passion - "The goal of making messages 'emotional' is to make people care. Feelings inspire people to act." -Chip and Dan Heath

Don’t make it easy, but make it simple – Life and Christianity cannot often be described as easy. Life happens. However, that doesn’t mean that a sermon should be complex. Keep your message simple and challenging. Jesus said, “Sell all you have and give it to the poor.” That’s a simple message, but not easy.

The book recommendation and some of these thoughts came from Tony Morgan's blog, check his blog posts on the subject. Click here and here.