Preaching Have you ever wanted to sit down with one of those preachers? Have you ever dreamed of just 15 minutes of their undivided attention to listen to their heart? In October I had the opportunity to fulfill part of that dream when I interviewed some excellent preachers at the Great Lakes District Conference of the EFCA. What follows is my interview with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Pastor of Moody Church. In upcoming issues we will sit down with Colin Smith, Dr. Gary McIntosh and Dr. Larry Osborne. I hope you enjoy a few minutes of their undivided attention; just as I did. So grab a refill on the Starbucks, kick up your feet and join me with Dr. Lutzer in the foyer of Naperville EFC as we pick up a few gems of wisdom to keep our preaching well tuned for the long haul Remember, you have to be simple. Too many guys have too many ideas. You don’t know where they are going. This is why I like the key word concept, it gives coherence. When I taught homiletics at Trinity I would tell the students that the most important thing to preaching, after being spirit filled, is the packaging. Think of a sermon as a piece of cloth, you begin with an intro, you lead them to where you want them to go, then you tie the ribbon at the end by referring to the introduction so it is a coherent piece of cloth. The key word keeps it sewn together, like one piece of fabric. With those closing thoughts, Erwin and I parted company. How well did my last sermon hang together? Let’s just say I needed more focus. Every one of us longs to preach sermons that purr like content cats enjoying the afternoon sun. The keyword concept unlocked sermonic unity for Erwin, maybe it will unlock it for you?
Sensitivity in the pulpit is another important piece of advice. Luke 4:22 tells us that our Jesus, our master teacher, was known as a gracious preacher,… a preacher sensitive to the people. “And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.” Luke 4:22 A long term pastorate takes a gracious preacher; a preacher sensitive to the struggles of real people in the real world. As I finished the last sips of my coffee cup I jotted down a few things to remember. I hope you also found gems of wisdom to help with your next sermon.
is like an old four-barrel carburetor; it needs constant tinkering to be kept in tune. Some preachers, like master mechanics, have the knack for preaching finely tuned sermons in spite of a changing audience.
