Why is So Much Preaching So Poor? (Part 3 of 3)

(Conclusion)

Technical

There are many technical aspects to preaching but here are three of the most common technical failures that make preaching poor:

A failure to have a clear structure. My impression is that student preachers often assume that the structure of the sermon they preach is as clear to the congregation as it is to them. It rarely is. Experience preachers can make the structure clear simply through clarity of thought, logical progression and well-turned sentences. Until one reaches that level, I advise students to make their structure clear at the start. 'The three points I want you to see in this passage are...' may be a rather mechanical way to start the main section of the sermon, but it does at least make it clear where the preacher intends to go.

A failure to know or understand the congregation. This manifest itself in many ways. Usually for students and newly minted preachers, it manifests itself in cramming into the sermon as much arcane theological language (known as 'technical terminology' in the classroom and 'total gibberish' in the pulpit) as possible. The game is not to impress the congregation with your knowledge. It is to point people to Christ as clearly and concisely as possible.

A failure to know what to leave out. Perhaps, after lack of clear structure, this is the most common fault among student preachers. You have read all that you could on a passage; now you want to tell the congregation everything you have learned. You cannot do this. Do not make the congregation drink from a fire hose. Think carefully about what the most important things for this congregation at this moment in time are (which requires, of course, knowing the congregation to some extent) and focus on those. All that other fascinating material? Well, use it in another sermon on the same passage.

From an article published November 2013 at: http://www.reformation21.org/articles/why-is-so-much-preaching-so-poor.php by Carl R. Trueman - Paul Woolley Professor of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary. His latest book is The Creedal Imperative (Crossway, 2012).