Tools and Skills of a Preacher (Part 2: Dynamics and Tips)
Ecclesiastes 12:11: “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.”
- Preaching Dynamics
- The Use of the Pulpit
As Ezra had a “pulpit of wood” which was “made for the purpose” of reading and preaching the word of God (Nehemiah 8:4), and as Solomon made a brazen scaffold for corporately praying and (perhaps also) preaching (II Chronicles 6:13), so do we have the holy desk of the pulpit to preach from. As with any piece of furniture, we must use it appropriately.
- Grip the sides of the pulpit face as a default stance.
- Do not lean on the pulpit, but support your own weight on your feet.
- Do not be afraid to handle the pulpit (holding, touching, hitting), but do not do so annoyingly or unnecessarily.
- As you feel so inclined, go out from behind the pulpit from time to time, either to its side or to the front of it.
- The Gestures of the Body
We should be moderate in our gesticulations so as not to be disorderly or distracting; however, we ought not to be so tame that we never use any other parts of our body (beside our mouth) to teach the Bible. God told Ezekiel to “smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot” (Ezekiel 6:11), and to “smite thine hands together” (Ezekiel 21:14). Nehemiah shook his lap, saying “so God shake out every man…” (Nehemiah 5:13).
- Hands: Demonstrate and exemplify at least some things with your hands.
- Eyes: Make occasional eye contact with some members throughout the congregation, specifically those which encourage you. Preach by default, however, with your eyes facing the group as a whole, looking at no one in particular.
- Head: As you preach, engage the whole congregation by head movement, turning your head the span of the entire auditorium. Do not spend too much time looking down at the pulpit, nor staring off blankly into unoccupied space.
- Mouth: Do not drink anything while preaching, and avoid allowing saliva to collect in your mouth.
- The Voice of the Preacher
The most important thing a preacher has is his voice. Not only would it be wise for them to stay well hydrated so that they do not so easily lose their voice, but also to take heed to regulate the way in which they use their voice.
- Do not be hushed, or inaudible, but be loud enough so that everyone in the audience can hear you.
- Do not speak in monotone––either loudly or quietly. You should have a spectrum of voice usage, where you modulate between high and low at moments appropriate to the content being expounded.
- Do not speak at a bad speed, being too slow or too fast. The average understandable words per minute rate for speakers is around 150WPM. For preachers, speaking below 120WPM is too slow (and frustrating), and going regularly above 200WPM is too fast (and confusing).
- The Mechanics of the Sermon
The beginning, transitions, and ending of a sermon matter, and will facilitate its ready reception. Every word spoken behind God’s desk, like those spoken in his earth, will be brought into judgment (see Matthew 12:36; see also James 3:1).
- In most cases, state your message title at the very beginning, not leaving the assembly to wonder. There are many ways to do this (e.g., “The title of my message is…”, or “Today I’ll be speaking about…”, or “I’ve entitled this sermon…”), so try to be varied in how you do so.
- Direct the congregation to turn in the Bible to selected chapter(s) throughout the sermon (“Open your Bible to X,” “Turn to/back to/over to Y”, “Go to Z,”). Ensure that you (i) give the congregation time to turn, (ii) speak while the congregation is turning, and (iii) instruct the congregation to turn to a book (if small) or chapter (not, immediately, to a chapter and verse).
- Do not unnecessarily apologize for errors, but, depending on the error you make, either ignore it, quickly correct and move on from it, or make it to seem intended.
- Do not read your sermon (except for short sentences, if needed); preaching is not acting, and as such should be from the heart, and in the moment, not following a script you wrote earlier. Even when you do find it necessary to read pre-crafted sentences from your sermon outline, do so with emphasis and dynamism. Ideally, you should be developing less and less of a reliance on sermon notes with more and more years of preaching experience.
- The Object Lessons of the Teacher
Great preachers in the Bible were frequently commanded to utilize object lessons in their preaching. Jesus, the king of preachers, showed a coin to a crowd (Luke 20:24), and picked up a little child in his arms (Mark 9:36). Ezekiel cut his hair (Ezekiel 5:1-4), built a toy Jerusalem replica (Ezekiel 4:1-3), and ate defiled bread lying on his side for a while (Ezekiel 4:4-17). Jeremiah wore and walked with a linen girdle (Jeremiah 13:1-12), carried a yoke (Jeremiah 27), and smashed a clay bottle (Jeremiah 19). For a time, Isaiah walked about naked and barefoot (Isaiah 20). At your inspiration and discretion, employ helpful object lessons when you preach. Remember, preaching a sermon is not acting out a play, so although the object lessons should be simple and memorable, they ought not to be the mainstay of your messages.
- Preaching Tips
Preaching Tip #1) Preach “One Great Truth” Per Sermon
Every message should have a main point––a singular truth that is being communicated. You should be neither discursive nor overly complicated, but treat each sermon as a vehicle to reach a certain destination. Prepare a sermon, prove it, and preach it, all by asking, “What is the one great truth that I am trying to teach with this message?” In the words of Jack Hyles,
“…the preacher may never forget the sermon whereas most of the people will soon forget it. Therefore, I believe that the fondest hope that a preacher can have concerning retention of his sermons is to attempt to leave one great truth a sermon in the minds of his people. The average person will not remember much of what the preacher has said. Most people will not remember his outline. The preacher has done well who leaves one great truth in the minds of his people as they leave the service for their dwelling places.” (Jack Hyles, Teaching on Preaching).
Preaching Tip #2) Depend Upon the Holy Spirit
While preaching, Micah said “truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD” (Micah 3:8). The Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead who most intimately works with preachers, as he did aforetime (e.g., II Peter 1:21; II Samuel 23:2). Our total reliance upon God (Proverbs 16:1) will manifest in both our sermon’s content (preparations) and its delivery (answer of the tongue). The Lord gives us a “mouth and wisdom” (Luke 21:15), by his Spirit. The Spirit’s power in our preaching is expressed in the giving of:
- Utterance: The Spirit of God gives the lips of man utterance (Acts 2:4), or the ability to vocally express one’s thoughts (see I Corinthians 1:5-6).
- Remembrance: The Holy Spirit will happily bring to one’s remembrance (John 14:26) the words of Christ as they preach, causing them to quote scriptures and also recall important scriptural truths or stories to illuminate the hearers and bear upon what they are teaching.
- Boldness: God’s Spirit empowers his people with the confidence and fearlessness to preach the word of God (Acts 4:29, 31).
- Relevance: It is also the task of the Spirit of the Lord to assist us in the application of the word of God, who may open our minds to the means of doing so (see Hebrews 3:7-8).
Preaching Tip #3) Preach What You Know, Not What You Don’t
“The things which are revealed belong unto us” (Deuteronomy 29:29), and therefore we should not teach what we do not understand ourselves, or assert certainly what we are personally uncertain of. Such behavior is to exercise oneself in things too high for them (Psalm 131:1). For all intensive preaching purposes, if a verse is unknown, skip over it; if a concept is unfamiliar, don’t cover it (until it is familiar); if a question is still questionable, don’t try to answer it. The blind cannot lead the blind (Luke 6:39).
Preaching Tip #4) Dig a Well of Wisdom
As “a man shall be commended according to his wisdom” (Proverbs 12:8), so you should constantly be reading, memorizing, and meditating upon the Bible to deepen your “well” of Biblical wisdom that can be drawn from as you prepare (preparative) and as you preach (spontaneous). We must habitually “lay up knowledge” (Proverbs 10:14; 16:21, 23; see also 12:23; 15:14; 18:15), even when we cannot see an immediate use for it.
Moreover, be provoked to investigation and inquiry by questions and confusions you have concerning the Bible (“study to answer”: Proverbs 15:28). Be not as most, who will merely shrug their shoulders to Biblical matters of controversy. Instead, be like Solomon, who applied his heart “to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things” (Ecclesiastes 7:25). Take it upon yourself to turn over every stone of scripture, so to speak, for it is “the honour of kings” “to search out a matter” (Proverbs 25:2). The best preachers of the Bible are the ones who have a massive reservoir of wisdom from the scripture in their heart to “draw” from.
Proverbs 18:4: “The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.” (See also Proverbs 16:22; 20:5).
Preaching Tip #5) Have Faith in God’s Word
One who believes and therefore speaks (II Corinthians 4:12) will be a markedly different preacher from one who speaks without believing. As surely as the one planting knows and believes in the capacity of what they plant, in the same way here, the sower who “soweth the word” (Mark 4:14) ought to be convinced of the efficaciousness of the word of God whi,ch “effectually worketh” in the believer (I Thessalonians 2:13)––that it will not, no, shall not, return void (Isaiah 55:11). Those preachers with great faith in God’s word will (i) include much scripture in their sermons, (ii) make scripture the beginning, end, and whole subject of their sermons, and (iii) prove all things that they say by the scripture (I Thessalonians 5:21).
Preaching Tip #6) Be Yourself
God has made each preacher unique (Isaiah 49:1-2), and has formed them for his purposes (e.g., Galatians 1:15-16; Jeremiah 1:5). Ezekiel should not try to preach as Isaiah, nor should Jeremiah attempt to be like Micah. John is better to be John, and not Peter, and Peter is better for not being Thomas, whose wisdom it would be not to imitate Judas. While we may occasionally gain the quirks of others, each preacher should have their own personality. For the impressionable young preacher to avoid “emulations” (Galatians 5:20), they ought to minimalize their mimicking of one person, but, if need be, only to maximize their mimicking of many persons. Jesus did not make clones of himself, but disciples.
Preaching Tip #7) Preach with All of Your Heart
Because the preacher occupies the single most significant role on earth, this should motivate them to preach wholeheartedly. If we should do all things “heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23), then, of course, preaching for Christ is no exception:
- Preach as if this message is the most important thing for people to know. If everything you say is of the utmost importance to you, then it will also be important to the congregation.
- Preach as if you are preaching to millions. Usually with larger crowds the speaker rightly perceives a larger result with whatever they say, and so preaches better.
- Preach as if you are preaching your last sermon. Upon departure people become very thoughtful of what they say, and by supposing this was his final message the preacher would deliver it very well.
Preaching Tip #8) Prepare Early
Begin work on your sermon that you will teach long before it is to be preached, at least 1 week beforehand. This will give you time for meditation on the subject and scripture (including memorizing verses), deliberation over the truths of the scripture (including verifying thoughts and interpretations), and for instillation of morale and excitement about the topic (including learning applications and singing relevant songs).
Preaching Tip #9) Love Reproof and Rebuke
We are exhorted to “hearken” to counsel (Proverbs 12:15). Correction and reproof keep us in the way of truth (Proverbs 15:10, 12; 6:23; 10:17). Constructive criticism makes us wise and better, and it is only the person that despises themselves that despises reproof (Proverbs 15:31-32).
Preaching Tip #10) Do Not Seek for Commendation
After preaching, the preacher should not go fishing for compliments, or unnecessarily asking how he did, “for not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth” (II Corinthians 10:18). When the preacher is complimented, they should receive the kindness humbly (e.g., by saying “Well it is very important,” or, “I’m glad it helped you,” “Thank you,” or, if sincere, “praise the Lord”).
Galatians 1:10: “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”