"The Sermon"
Tom Faggart

Sermons are for: teaching,  convicting, converting, inspiration and edifying the community of faith.

The pastor is the doctor of the soul for his/her people.  We deal with the ills and hopes of  "spiritual lives".  Healing is found in  the Biblical answer.

Finding the pain of humanity is easy.  First of all, preachers experience it ...  All of society suffers from it.  The main parts of the Bible deal with it. In fact there are lists in the Bible of the reasons for our ills. 

1. The Ten Commandments exist as one of the oldest such lists.
2.  Paul's writings in Romans 1, and most of his letters; plus
3.  the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-6.

In order, to help people we name the pain, and apply the Biblical answer to it.

"Too much time and effort is spent in exhorting the wrong of sin. Everyone is already over saturated with this news!  What is needed is help in finding answers and courage to deal with our inner conflicts.  We need help in dealing with  the endless pain in our lives when we fail.  We need help in forgiving ourselves.  How do I forgive when evil has been committed against me?.  Is there another chance and a new life?"   More importantly, how do I live that I will not get in this predicament again.

 Plain statements of sound advice seldom impress people.

When statements of advice are given the normal human tendency is to argue with them, and evaluate the right of the individual to give the advice. Most people label the advice as just another opinion and pass it off.   At other times an intriguing statement will send the hearer's mind on a trip away from what the preacher is saying.

Spend the beginning of the sermon in engaging the minds of your people.

  We want to engage the emotional side of the brain.   A good story ... well told ...will capture the sub-conscious mind of the hearer. A good poem on the subject will not only get the people's attention it has the same effect as hypnotism ...because it goes to the side of the brain which controls emotions and feelings.  

I found a good poem coupled with a good story is an unbeatable combination. 

Together they can identify the hidden problem, allow the individual to feel the the pain, allow them to explore its possible solution, and make a decision in the privacy of their own mind on how they are going to deal with it.

Name the issue ... illustrate it with a story identifying the issue with possible answer.

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THE  STORY:   How the story is heard ... what is heard ..., and the response to it is purely personal.  In this process the Spirit has an excellent chance to work its way.

The good story teller is often amazed at how stories are interpreted in the minds of hearers. Sometimes I heard a member say, "I sure did enjoy the story you told about so and so subject in church Sunday." I didn't want to admit I couldn't remember having told a story on such a subject. So I asked ... tell me about the story. "You know", and then they tell me the story from a view point I did not realize existed.

For me that is the Spirit applying the story. It has become a personal story. It has effected a change in the person without them realizing it. It may be a very small insight.  Over a period of time many small steps make for a new person.

A good story teller lives out the story in his/her mind as it is told. The best way to learn how to tell a story is to read good ones for personal enjoyment. 

Analyze the stories that you like.  How do they start?  Check the sentence structure.  What carries the story to the end?  What gives the story its kick?  Notice parts that touch the senses: touch, sight, sound, and aroma.  Notice the verbs.

 In order to get into your stories on Sunday morning spend some time analyzing them during the week.  What is the story saying?  Make a list of the verbs in the story. Are they strong enough to convey the feelings and theme of the message?   If not, change them and memorize stronger ones. Get away to a private place and practice telling your story. What  response did you have?  What did it do?  If, you have no response your hearer will likely experience the same thing.  If the story doesn't move you to some emotion ... don't use it.  It will not move the congregation. When you finish the story leave it.

Have your lead in sentence for the next point ready ... read it.  Take a breath.  Move on.

 Sometimes an uncomfortable pause after the story is a good way to end it. Then read your  lead in sentence to the next point.  

One of my most powerful sermons is on "Forgiveness".  In it I usually give a short explanation of forgiveness, and then tell the story. Then I quit. The story is on the "story page". I have a sermon on the "Pearl of great price" which is mostly an imagined story I made up surrounding the statement in the scripture. More lives have been changed by that sermon than any other I preach. I've read it many, many times and can not understand why. It is a favorite of my family who heard me preach it many times over the years and if they have a choice they ask to hear it again.  Even adults can hear a good story over and over without being frustrated if we allow them to live the story in their own minds.  Humans "piggy back" on the experiences of others in stories.  Through them we experience hope, joy, forgiveness, and new insights.  Jesus used them all the time and even refused to explain them to his congregation.  Most scholars believe he told the same stories over and over and over.

If you have to explain the reason the story is used in the sermon ... it is the wrong story for this particular sermon.

A good sermon probably has one good point ... made ... illustrated ... applied and closed.

Over the years I did my best to begin and quit on the hour. Sometimes on a busy Sunday I would have only 10 minutes left when I got up to preach. I discovered I could preach my 22 minute sermon in those 10 minutes if I stated my points clearly, and told my stories with out wandering around. The impact was usually the same.