Effective Preaching

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 22, 1914

Effective Preaching

ONE of the readers in our Ministerial Reading Course sends in the following digest of helpful things he has gathered from the first book in the course, on preparation for effective preaching:—

"It is imperative that the minister have a message, and that he be constantly studying for improvement. He is to deliver the straight word of God uncorrupted, without addition or subtraction, so that it may seem to the hearer that 'divine import and almighty urgency is behind it all.' He must speak for his God.

"In studying his Bible, he must study for his own personal benefit. Then from the texts that are most helpful and appeal strongest to him personally, make his selection for sermon texts. If in doubt upon the meaning of any text, he should not attempt to use it, but preach what is clear and certain. He should be and live that which is set forth in his sermons. Smart men can preach smart sermons, but only good men can preach sermons that will help anybody.

"The preacher is to keep close to youth, never to consider himself old, but keep on studying and becoming better qualified for service all his life. He should make the best preparation possible. The fact that a minister is sixty or seventy years of age should not count to lay him by; he may be ready for new fields and successful service even then. No dead line should be recognized in vocations calling chiefly for intellectual activity rather than physical. Ruts must be avoided. Vital preaching depends more upon the will, the purpose, and the sincerity of a man's character than upon his mental attainments.

"Sermons need not be sensational to tell for good, and the thought is echoed that 'the truths which have had the greatest influence upon mankind have made people neither laugh nor cry.'

"The preacher should not allude in public to his own trials. He should make no excuses for his poor preparation, but go right to work.

"As Christ had no words of condemnation for any but hypocrites, so his minister should not. He should be hopeful and cheerful, having no care for unfavorable criticism of his work.

"When he has proceeded to a point where his sermon ceases to interest, he should close. The sermon to be useful at all must have a present-day value, and he must make the profound simple, seeking primarily to instruct, despairing of no one. Diligence should be exercised in finding what he may praise in others rather than censure, as censure has been said to require simply a small brain and a wagging tongue. Saying smart things is not the object of his efforts, but to say the saving thing.

"The sermon should be systematically prepared with a suitable but brief introduction, a truth-laden discussion, leading if possible to a climax of power as it proceeds, and closing with the strongest blow of all and in the height of interest. The object should be to save souls, not to attract the hearers to man, but to point them to Christ in that way that they may gain salvation and life eternal.

"Speaking without notes is strongly urged. The preparation should be such as to enable the minister to speak in this way, as many things tend to make this method much more effective than to read a sermon. The power of the eye is largely lost in reading.

"In seeking to avoid sensational methods, one thing is to be remembered as worse than that, namely, stagnation. Freshness is to be sought; illustrations from nature and the common walks of life may be employed.

"In every way the preacher should seek all legitimate ends to make his efforts powerful for saving souls, pointing them to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

Words of appreciation of the Reading Course for ministers and other gospel workers, and reports of having completed books in the course, are pouring in from all parts of the world. Many are now reading the third and last book of the course for 1914, The Monuments and the Old Testament. Notes and citations to accompany this book appear in the magazine Christian Education from month to month. A new course for 1915 is being planned. Our present registration of about seven hundred ought to be doubled for next year, and it can be if each reader will make a little personal effort to interest at least one other to take the course. To give the work some degree of definiteness, a reading course certificate will be issued to each reader who completes the three books for 1914, and sends in a brief estimate of their value to him.

Address General Conference Department of Education on all matters pertaining to this course.