By Tejado Hanchell
Dr. Tejado W. Hanchell (TWH_PhD) is a 21st century “leadership liaison”
whose passion is to help connect people and organizations to their
purpose. He is a coach, consultant, and counselor and is a leading
strategist on leadership and succession planning for churches,
non-profit organizations and corporations.
Dr. Hanchell has over 15 years of leadership experience and brings a
wealth of wisdom to help enhance lives and increase productivity. He
currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Mount Calvary Holy Church of
Winston-Salem, NC (“The Church Committed to do MORE”) – the “Mother
Church” of the Mount Calvary Holy Church of America, Inc., where Dr.
Hanchell also serves as General Secretary and International Director of
Youth & Young Adult Ministry under the leadership of Archbishop
Alfred A. Owens, Jr.
We hear it all the time, “Pastor you really preached this morning. That
was a GREAT sermon!” But, was it really a great sermon? How can we
tell? Many times people make statements like this because the message
addressed an issue they were currently dealing with. That’s one of the
great blessings of the Word of God — it is living and it touches us
right where we live. However, that leaves a great deal of subjectivity
when it comes to analyzing the merits of the transmission of the
message. Quite honestly, it is entirely possible to have a great message
and a terrible sermon. The sermon is the vehicle the preacher uses to
transport the message God has given to him or her, and the preacher must
be careful not to allow the vehicle to get in the way of the message.
One of the opportunities the Lord has blessed me with is to serve as an adjunct professor at
Carolina Christian College,
where I teach courses in the field of homiletics. Homiletics is the art
and science of preaching. Preaching is an art form. God uses all of who
He created us to be in the preaching process. That’s why you will never
find two sermons that are exactly the same — because there are no two
people who are exactly the same. However, while preaching is an art, it
is also a science. In other words, there is (or at least should be) some
methodology to the preaching process.
It is extremely important for the preacher to engage in the process of
regularly evaluating his or her sermon … because the congregation
already is! For every person who says, “Great sermon, pastor” there are
five who walk by thinking that it was the worst thing they ever heard.
That should not discourage the preacher, but should inspire him or her
to continually strive to improve and develop his or her craft. Preaching
is a life-long call, and it involves a life-long process. Any preacher
who is not seeking to improve his or her ministry is doing the
congregation (and ultimately, the call) a disservice.
When it comes to evaluating the sermon, there are six key elements that form a rubric from the acrostic: PREACH.
Punctuality
One of the most important elements of a sermon is time. Great sermon
content can be easily overshadowed by poor time management. When it
comes to time management, err on the side of caution. Oftentimes, less
is more. Of all the thousands of sermons I’ve heard or have preached I
can count on one hand (with fingers to spare) the times I’ve heard
someone complain that the sermon was too short. As the old adage goes,
“The mind can only absorb what the behind can endure.” People in the
audience no longer want to suffer through hour-long sermons of preachers
proving how smart they are and how much they’ve studied. You don’t have
to preach the whole Bible in one sermon. The good thing about Sundays
is that they come every week. Save a little for the next one.
Relevance
As stated earlier, people are moved by the message when it speaks to
where they are. The goal of preaching is contemporizing timeless truths
and making them relevant to the audience of today. This does not in any
way involve changing the timeless truths, but it does involve packaging
them in such a way that the audience can understand. It is, in essence,
what Jesus did. Jesus used parables as a way of packaging the principles
of the Kingdom so His audience could grasp them and apply them to their
context. A perfectly constructed sermon that lacks relevance is merely a
lecture. Preaching must connect with the audience.
Exegesis
Exegesis simply means exploring and interpreting the text. Far too many
sermons have no biblical foundation. The Bible remains the road map for
every good sermon. If the preacher does not follow the map, the
audience is bound to get lost. Preachers must stay true to the biblical
text if their message is to maintain any substance. The role of the
preacher is not to preach his or her opinion, but to preach God’s
opinion, and God’s opinion is found in His Word. I’m very leery of
preachers who consistently ignore the Word or just read it as a
formality at the beginning of the sermon and spend the entire sermon
talking about everything but that scripture. Good preaching is biblical
preaching.
Appearance
You may be wondering what appearance has to do with a good sermon. The
reality is that people see you before the hear you, and your appearance
can either help or hinder the sermon. You never want your suit to get
more attention than your sermon. Don’t be too flashy, and certainly
don’t be too shabby. Your appearance must be appropriate for your
audience. Also, for God’s sake, please use an iron. It’s hard for your
audience to hear you talk about “a church without spot or wrinkle” when
your clothes are full of them! Watch your appearance … because the
congregation is.
Clarity
The greatest sermon has no effect if people don’t understand it.
Sermons must be CLEAR in order for people to HEAR. Some preachers treat
sermons like doctoral theses, but sermons are designed to reach the
“least of these.” Like my pastor, Bishop Alfred Owens, always taught me,
“We must always remember that we are feeding sheep … not giraffes.” The
goal is not to be high and lofty in our preaching, but to preach with
clarity and simplicity so the sheep can graze on the Word.
HEAT!
Preaching must be done with passion! This is not a matter of style, but
it is a matter of conviction. The preacher must preach like he or she
believes the message…or no one else will. When we preach with conviction
… the message is convicting. The purpose of preaching is to produce a
change. When we bring the heat, we are stirring the congregation toward
positive change. Listless preaching leads to lifeless congregations.
Preach with passion, and God’s power will manifest!
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