Page 114 - Homiletics I Student Textbook

6. Be creative; avoid ruts; think outside the box.

We humans tend to get into ruts in our lives. When we get comfortable doing something, we quite
often keep doing the same thing, because it is always safe. We socialize with the same people. Life
pretty much becomes very repetitive and mundane.

Don’t get in a rut!

Preachers who have taught for some time tend to do the same
thing. They will use the same plan, the same methods, the same
presentation repeatedly. If they like to lecture their congregation,
that’s pretty much what you can expect each week. If they like to
ask questions, well, every week more questions. Repeating the
same methods tends to make your presentation boring, lifeless
and predictable.

Remember college classes? Students could pretty much expect
what is going to happen during any class period. Every week the
congregation comes to church and ditto, they see the same format
and same methods used every week. This is a plague that preachers must resist.

One day I was walking by out pastor’s office and he was working on the next Sunday’s sermon. It was
Christmas time, so he was going to preach a sermon on Joseph and Mary, with emphasis on how Joseph
handled the announcement that Mary was with child. He had his notes ready to pretty much do what
he did every week: preach (lecture) a 40 minutes sermon. I asked him if he ever thought about doing
something different. He asked, “What do you mean?” I said, “Well, instead of telling us about Joseph,
why don’t you BE JOSEPH.”

He thought about that and went off to work further on his sermon.

On Sunday, after the initial songs and announcements, the pastor came out dressed like Joseph,
complete with a beard and head-covering. The congregation began to stir and reacted to his costume.
He introduced himself as Joseph of Nazareth, and spent the next few minutes telling people what is was
like to be one of the principle characters in the nativity narration. The congregation was spell-bound.
They laughed and some even cried as he told how he felt about discovering his bride to be pregnant. It
was an amazing experience that I remember vividly to this day, over 45 years later.

Great preachers will use a lot of methods and build variety into to their sermons. Their congregation
will never know what is going to happen next. Some methods can detract from a lesson. But great
preachers will use each method to bring the truth of Scripture to bear on the hearts of their people.

Later in this study, we will learn multiple methods of presentations that a great teacher will utilize to
make their lessons fresh and enjoyable.

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