This aspect of preparation should never be rushed. It’s necessary for me to live with a passage, to carry it around with me, and to marinate my soul with its nourishing and thirst-quenching waters. I simply can’t do this in a couple of hours.
I have to write this: If you’re developing original content late on a Saturday evening, you have no business preaching it on Sunday.
Personally, I can’t have a fresh encounter with a passage of Scripture and preach the following Sunday; it doesn’t give me enough time. I need three or four weeks to allow the truths to marinate in my own heart and become more deeply and practically understood. On the week of the sermon, I preach it aloud to myself many times. In doing so, both my understanding of the passage and the creative ways I communicate are deepened and developed.
I’m not suggesting that this calendar of preparation is the only way. What I am suggesting is that each week, many Bible-believing pastors haven’t carved out enough time to study the Bible and the truths it has for the people they’re called to shepherd.
3. The Delivery of Preaching
Preaching is not just about preparation. You need to deliver it in a way that’s nutritious and digestible.
Think of your weekly sermon as a Thanksgiving dinner. Preparation is all about gathering a diverse list of ingredients; if you don’t take time to hunt for and collect the best ingredients, your meal won’t taste as good as it can. But, when you put the Thanksgiving dinner on the table for your family, you don’t put ingredients in front of them.
A hunk of butter, a mouthful of flour and a spoon of cornmeal is not very appetizing or digestible. But cornbread is a wonderful thing. So it is with preaching. You must exegetically unpack the truths of the Bible (ingredients), but do so in a manner that is practical, helpful and speaks to the struggles of your people.
Have you taken the time to pray for and study the people who will be listening to you? If you meditate on their struggle and how the Scriptures speak directly to their life, your preaching will become a meal instead of an assortment of ingredients.
4. The Uniqueness of Preaching
I said at the beginning how many sermons I’ve listened to were nothing more than regurgitated exegetical commentaries, recasted sermons of popular preachers or reshaped notes from seminary classes.
You are not John Piper. You are not Tim Keller. You are not Matt Chandler. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to their sermons if they’ve preached on the same passage before; on the contrary, I would encourage you to build that into your preparation. But God has given you a unique message to share with your unique congregation that speaks to their unique struggles.
Don’t doubt God’s calling; he’s placed you as the pastor of your church. Don’t doubt God’s gifting; he’s given you all you need to do what you’ve been called to do. And don’t doubt God’s timing; the message you will preach on Sunday has unique applications to your congregation. But you need to take the time to prepare and deliver.
5. The Awe of Preaching
Here’s the bottom line: Our mediocre preaching reveals the true condition of our hearts.
As pastors, we can’t point the finger at the unexpected things that show up on the schedule of every pastor. We can’t blame the demands of family. No, we have to humbly confess that our preaching is mediocre because we have lost our awe of God.
