The Single Best Practice to Elevate Your Preaching this Year
This One Thing Will Instantly Make You a Better Communicator
Get to it.
That’s it.
Get to it.
Author and speaker, Jon Acuff advises speakers to begin their presentations with a “hook.” Rather than introducing yourself or even thanking the audience for the opportunity, begin with a statement that engages and invites the audience to listen.
“Getting to it” is good advice if you’re a public speaker, podcaster, or teacher, but my hope here is to help pastors, the Bible preachers, to improve our preaching skills in 2023 with this one simple practice:
Get to it.
Preaching is a unique form of communication for a number of reasons. For example, pastors stand in front of many of the same people every Sunday and preach the Bible. The familiarity between the preacher and the congregant is beautiful and powerful. But it can also create a slothful predictability.
Pastors can rely on their personal connection, their sincere love and warmth, or even their tenured faithfulness, and fail to do the work necessary to give the congregation a good reason to listen again.
So, why is “getting to it” so important in the practice of biblical preaching? Here are four answers to that question:
Getting to it forces good preparation.
In our basic hermeneutics course, we were taught to identify the main idea of the text. That takes some work, but the entire sermon is built around one main idea. All the other points, illustrations, and applications flow from it.
The first words, the introduction, are also built around this main idea of the text. When we’ve done the hard work to know where the sermon is going and what we are trying to communicate, we can pack our first words with purpose. Because we’ve done the work, we can begin with clarity. It’s not abrasive, but it is intentional.
On the other hand, a wandering introduction exposes a wondering preacher who may not have the clarity needed to deliver a compelling sermon. So, stutter-starts are not communication problem but a very solvable preparation problem.
A wandering introduction exposes a wondering preacher who may not have the clarity needed to deliver a compelling sermon.
Getting to it captures the attention of the listeners.
The congregation loves the pastor and they likely respect him as well, but the listeners aren’t always ready to listen. Between their phone notifications, stressors with the spouse and kids, and that cool light that keeps flickering on stage, a lot of people live with some level of A.D.D.—especially on Sunday mornings.
Meandering into the sermon with thoughtless cliches, charming antidotes, or irrelevant humor is not the best way prepare people to hear the soul-satisfying, heart-mending, life-changing message of the Gospel.
If words of welcome are needed, do that earlier in the service. If you need a pastoral moment, weave that into the sermon. But make the first 90 seconds count. Put your listeners on notice that what they are about to hear will change their lives.
Make the first 90 seconds count.
This is not, however, the time for antics.
A missionary came to speak to our church one time, and he spent his first three minutes eating a banana. He patiently peeled it and ate it one grueling bite at a time. Afterwards, he said something like, “If you don’t remember anything I said, you will remember that.” And that was true. I still remember him eating a banana, and I have no idea what he said after that.
Antics grab attention. They may make us laugh. They can be memorable, but they do not communicate.
Instead, use your first 90 seconds to tell your listeners why they should listen to anything that follows. Illustrate the weight of it all. Create tension that creates curiosity. Tell them where they are going and why they should take the trip with you.
Getting to it builds trust.
If it’s anything at all, preaching the Bible is a stewardship of trust. The Bible is God’s Word, and the task of explaining it, illustrating it, and applying it is soul care in the highest degree. People walk in to a sanctuary or watch online because they acknowledge some level of need to hear a fresh word from God.
People walk in to a sanctuary or watch online because they acknowledge some level of need to hear a fresh word from God.
Everyone knows the preacher is not God, but there is a proper assumption that the preacher walks with God, has studied the biblical text, and has something to say that reflects the heart and mind of God.
This “listener expectation” gives the preacher a huge advantage. We’re not at Zanies. This isn’t a sitcom. This isn’t even a TED Talk. Comedians and self-improvement gurus serve a wonderful purpose, but the people who sit in a church expect something weighty, something spiritual, and something significant from the preacher.
Use good humor, use story, use a compelling statement or question, but whatever you do, use your first words to honor the trust given to you in this moment. Let your first words confirm that the listener made a good decision to come. Let your first words demonstrate that you understand the gravity of the moment and the work God wants to do as you open His Word.
Use good humor, use story, use a compelling statement or question, but whatever you do, use your first words to honor the trust given to you in this moment.
When you communicate that you know what you’re doing there, your listeners will be glad to be there too.
Getting to it honors people’s time.
The next time you listen to a podcast, a presentation, or a sermon, check your watch and see how long it takes the speaker to get to the content.
I clicked on a weather update a few days ago to see how severe weather was affecting our community, and the video introduction took f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Many podcasters take six to eight minutes before getting to the actual reason I chose to listen.
Time is limited. We cannot get it back. And when our introduction rambles, we are stealing valuable time from our listeners.
And the moments we waste at the beginning are often moments we are grasping for at the end. What do I mean by that?
Very simply, an underprepared introduction creates a time crunch at the end that dilutes the power of the conclusion. And everyone feels it. The preacher is trying to finish, but he’s out of time. He’s trying to close with a compelling ask, but people are shifting in their seats, the ushers and musicians are getting into place, and the moment is gone.
Whatever we may want to think, most preachers can only hold the attention of the congregation for so long. There are logistical limitations, but there are also human ones. Most preachers are not good enough to preach quality content for 45-50 minutes. And most people are not prepared to listen for that long either.
The moments we waste at the beginning are often moments we are grasping for at the end.
It takes more preparation to be concise, and being concise is also more effective. And when our introduction is well prepared and well delivered, we give ourselves the time needed to develop the sermon and make a stronger appeal at the conclusion.
Our first words buy the time needed for our final ones.
Last Word
Preaching weekly to the same people is an amazing privilege, but it can also be a grueling rhythm. The pastor juggles a lot of responsibilities. So, if you can improve just one aspect of your preaching this year, “getting to it” will go a long way.
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Bible Reading Plan recommendation from Rob Turner, Teaching Pastor at The Fellowship in Mt. Juliet, TN: Ligonier Bible Reading Plan Options
Support FCA of Wilson County at Run the Cedars with Team Everyone’s Wilson on April 8, 2023. Sign up here and use the password EVERYONE to join the Everyone’s Wilson Team. Click Here to join me!
Book Recommendation: The Thrill of Orthodoxy by Trevin Wax. Get it Here.
Article: 7 Things the Smartest Leaders Always Make Time For by Carey Nieuwhof
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