Page 137 - Homiletics I Student Textbook

Study Section 19: How to be a Lousy Preacher

19.1 Connect

Few people strive for excellence. Most people live mediocre lives. They usually do what
they must do to barely get by. Pastors with this attitude in life probably will apply the same
attitude to their preaching and ministry. They will do minimal study and preparation for the
sermon. Then they will repeat the same delivery method weekly, using the one that takes
the least effort. As a result, they will become LOUSY pastors, and their congregation will
suffer. So, pay attention!

I have been in various churches most of my entire life. I have observed that many of the older people at
the church, those who perhaps founded the church, have a rudimentary knowledge of God’s Word.
Seems that they have been sitting in church for 20, 30, 40, or 50 years or more and have learned very
little about the Bible. How is this possible? It’s because no one pastor in their past has motivated them
to learn God’s Word. They listen to sermon after sermon, but it seems to go into one ear and out the
other. What is wrong?

Today you are going to learn how to become a lousy pastor. Does this seem strange to you? We really
don’t want you to become lousy pastor, but if you practice what we share in this lesson, you probably
will. Let’s get into it……

19.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to take what has been taught and apply it to creating a couple of
sermons based on assigned passages.

19.3 How to become a lousy pastor

I remember some of the pastors and teachers I have had to endure in past churches. Every
week they preached for 45-50 minutes and had very little content in their
sermons. It’s like they did not even study the Bible. There is was no visuals
to better understand their sermon. They just lectured on and on and I
really had a difficult time concentrating on their message. Sometimes their
points (normally three) did not even fit with one another. Some used
illustrations, but you could tell they looked them up in some sermon illustration
book. The pastors would think of themselves as a pretty important person in the
church. They would tell people what to do rather than show them what to do. I’ve
even heard of pastor’s cancelling church on the day the Super Bowl is held. That
really shows priorities in the pastor’s life. I would consider this type of preacher a
lousy preacher who failed congregation on a weekly basis.

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