Preaching Matters

Preaching really does matter.  I was recently reminded of this important truth by a tweet from one of our most recent General Superintendents in the Church of the Nazarene, Dr. David Busic.  He retweeted a quote from Will Willimon that said, “Only the risen Christ explains why preaching does work.”

Outside of the resurrection preaching doesn’t make sense.  But in light of the resurrection we have this awesome privilege to watch God work through what would otherwise seem foolish!  To think that you and I would have anything to say that would transform lives for eternity.  It even sounds ridiculous, but that is the wonder and the majesty of what God has invited us into.

If God has invited you and me to be a part of this thing called “preaching”, wouldn’t it be a reasonable thing that we would seek to do it well?  In Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson’s book titled Comeback Churches, they point to biblical preaching as a key contributor to the turnaround in the churches they studied.  They write, “Turning a church around requires good preaching.”  

I don’t know any preachers who don’t want their preaching to be “good.”  So, how do we go about working to ensure that we provide the best opportunity for our preaching to be as effective as possible?  Here are some suggestions:

1. Spend more time preparing.  Thom Rainer’s research has shown that pastors of churches that were highly effective in evangelism “spent five times more time in sermon preparation compared to the pastors in the non evangelistic churches.”
2. Listen to other effective communicators.  Technology has made it possible for us to feast on a buffet of effective communicators.  Nearly every church today posts audio or video of their messages online.  Seek out preachers who do it well and listen to their messages regularly.  This will not only spark creative ideas, but you will pick up on things that make them effective.
3. Listen to yourself!  This is a painful exercise at times, but you really need to listen to your own preaching from time to time.  I do this 2-3 times a month and I always pick up on things that I want to improve.  I have a way of slipping into old habits and listening to myself reminds me that I still have a lot of work to do.
4. Ask your peers to listen to you.  Now this is even more uncomfortable than listening to yourself, but is a much needed practice.  Find a trusted colleague and ask them to evaluate one of your messages.  Doing this periodically will help you to identify some blind spots that might be hindering your effectiveness.

Preaching really does matter and as the old saying goes, “If it’s worth doing then it’s worth doing right.” 

Recommended Resources

Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can Too by Ed Stetzer & Mike Dodson










Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley & Lane Jones