COTTON CANDY PREACHING

This is an excellent article from Charles Stone. - Steve

Cotton Candy Preaching: Why Pastors Should Learn to Preach that Way

The phrase “cotton candy preaching” is a derogatory term that implies sermons lack depth. And of course no pastor wants to be considered a “cotton candy preacher.” On the other hand I’ve heard pastors say that Christians need “meat and potatoes” preaching which they define as sermons with depth. Such pastors often begin their sermons with, “Please turn in your Bibles to today’s text.” Once they read the Scripture, they’re off to the races to give a deep, theological sermon, a meat and potatoes kind.

But after spending 15-20 hours per week preparing a sermon, how do we really know if it connected with the listener? Is the test of a good sermon simply that we delivered a deep, theological, sound talk? Is it all about good content? Is it up to the listener to get it and figure out how it applies to his or her life? Or is this the true test of a great sermon: that we truly connect to the listener’s heart and mind so that the Holy Spirit changes attitudes and behaviors?
I think it’s the latter. That’s where cotton candy preaching comes in.

In my current masters program I’m completing on the neuroscience of leadership, also called neuroleadership, I’m learning how important the brain plays in persuading others to change. In my 32 years in ministry I’ve faced my share of critics. Some have said that my sermons were too heady and that they didn’t connect with the heart. I’ve been puzzled why I seemed to get those comments. Now I understand why.

The old sage Aristotle helped us when he described three domains that affect persuasion (and preaching).

1. Logos: persuasion through reasoning and logic.
2. Pathos: persuasion by appealing to emotions.
3. Ethos: persuasion through the force of character or personality of the speaker or writer.

People in your congregation are largely persuaded through these factors. Either reasoning or emotion moves them. I tend to be more of a thinker, so I’m persuaded more by thoughtful, reasoned sermons rather than ones that I might classify as cotton candy. I’ve tended to be more of a meat and potatoes preacher. But I’m in the minority because emotions persuade many more people than does logic. Think about TV commercials. Most commercials don’t list the benefits of their products. They tell a story or evoke emotion or move the heart. Dodge Ram’s God Made a Farmer  commercial in this year’s super bowl with Paul Harvey beautifully illustrates how emotion moves the heart. I tear up every time I watch the commercial, yet it does not lack depth.

I had received those criticisms I just mentioned because I had crafted my sermons to avoid being pegged a cotton candy preacher. But I now realize that for any meat and potatoes sermon to stick, we must incorporate some cotton candy techniques, those that we may think don’t contribute much to a message’s depth.

Consider these cotton candy preaching ideas the next time you prepare and deliver a sermon.

• Remember that because most of the people in your congregation came from hectic and difficult weeks, they aren’t in a mindset to listen to you. It’s your job to help them get ready, along with the other elements of the service.
• During the week live a life of integrity and authenticity. Love people and spend time with them so that your ethos works on your behalf. People must believe you are a credible person before they will believe you have a credible message.
• Start your message with pathos and then move to logos. Use emotion, within reason, because it grabs attention. Remember, nothing is learned that is not paid attention to.
• Use novelty. The brain loves novelty (Eide, 2006). Start, illustrate, and deliver your sermons creatively. Don’t become so predictable that people can guess what you’re going to do next.
• Use humor. Humor makes people feel good and when they feel good they learn more.
• Make sure you provide lots of application. Neuroscience tells us that self-referent information (that which we can apply to ourselves) is more easily learned and retained (Rogers, Kuiper, & Kirker, 1977). After all, we teach and preach so that God can take His Word to change people’s lives.
• Keep your messages simple. Less is often more.

What cotton candy ideas have worked in your preaching?

SERMON PLANNING

A simple bit of guidance from Artie Davis

If you don’t have your series and sermons planned out for 2013…you’re not alone! Many pastors and communicators wait until the last-minute to plan things out.

Let me share with you what we’re doing and I hope it can help you to not be a “crunch time” planner.

1) Preach through the Bible every year

- We read through the Bible as a church every year (We use Mariners Church condensed reading plan)
- It gives you the opportunity to tell the entire God-Story every year
- The first two quarters (Jan-Jun) go through the Old Testament
- The last two quarters (Jul-Dec) go through the New Testament

2) Use a spreadsheet to date all the Sundays

- Plan in advance for Sunday’s off
- Understand the importance of special days, i.e.,  MLK, Mothers day, etc.

3) Plan for series to run 4-6 weeks

- Start a new series the Sunday after Easter
- Start another new series the Sunday after Labor Day

4)  Answer these questions about each sermon

- What is the main Scripture
- What story will captivate and tie to the Scripture
- What is the main idea to be conveyed
- What is the “One Point” that will be memorable
These have been a tremendous help to us in planning our sermons series, especially preaching through the Bible every year. It has helped our church to stay on the “same page” every year.

IF YOU CAN KEEP FROM PREACHING, DO IT

HB Charles, Jr, shared this insightful post on his blog:

One day, I had a conversation with a friend who was seeking to discern whether the Lord was calling him to pastoral or pulpit ministry. As he discussed it with me, he noted that he had mentioned this matter to me several times before without comment from me. He was right. I hadn’t responded. And I sensed that he was waiting on a response this time. So I prayed an emergency prayer to God about what to say.

And what came to my mind is what my father said to me some twenty years ago about whether I should continue in the ministry: “If you can keep from preaching, do it.”

I was about fifteen years old. And my father had given me the opportunity to preach his 11 AM service. I remember two things about that sermon. It was the hardest I had ever worked on a sermon.

It was also the first time I received direct criticism about my preaching. First from my dad. As he made his pastoral remarks, he reminded the congregation of our afternoon fellowship with a sister church. He informed them (and me) that I would be preaching the afternoon service. He then promised that I would not preach that long in the afternoon service. This was his only comment about my sermon. Ouch. Right after service, one of my dad’s associates was first to greet me. He told me how “long-winded” I had become (a polite term used for those who speak too long, I guess). Double-ouch. Then, as I sat in my dad’s study after service, my sister ran in to kiss my cheek. She said she would see me in the next service, and apologized for rushing out, but she was in a hurry because I had preached so long. Triple-ouch. And strike three.

In comparison to the criticisms I have received about my preaching in later years, this was nothing. Absolutely nothing. But these remarks knocked me off my feet that day. And though I was able to preach that afternoon service, I was swallowed up in a black hole of discouragement the next several days. I couldn’t eat or sleep. And I would stay up at night, reading, praying, and crying.

One of those nights, my father came into the front room and heard me crying. He demanded to know what was wrong. I told him about what happened and how I felt about it. And I concluded that I didn’t know if I wanted to preach any more. When I finished my rant, my father said he understood and that he would not sit up with me all night. “The only advice I’ll give you is this,” he said as he got up to head back to bed. “If you can keep from preaching, do it.”

Huh?

He continued, “If preaching is something that you can get into and out of when you want to, it’s a sign that the Lord did not really call you. So if you can choose whether you are going to preach or not, I recommend that you don’t preach.”

That was all he said. He then turned and disappeared into the darkness of the hallway as he went back to his room.

I was angry at how seemingly unconcerned my father was. I was also surprised at how his advice (or non-advice) was exactly what I needed to hear. By the Lord’s gracious help, I was able to pull myself together. And I continued to preach. And I am still preaching more than twenty years later, to the glory of God.

By the look on my friend’s face, I am not sure he found my father’s advice to be very helpful. But it definitely helped me. Again.

As I wrestle with frustrations over my need to grow as a preacher, and as I face the various, inevitable challenges of my pastoral assignment, I need to be reminded that my calling is not my choice. I keep preaching because I do not have a choice. And I pray that I will never have a choice in the matter.

May the Lord gracious choose to continue to use me to herald the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” - 1 Corinthians 9:16 (ESV)

PREPARING YOUR PEOPLE THIS ADVENT

Blake Coffee has a great post for pastors preparing for Advent and meaningful ministry preparing their people to meet Jesus. - STEVE

The Long Journey Preparing for Jesus

29 11 2012

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way”—
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’” Mark 1:1-3

Welcome to the Advent Season, everyone!  I am certain this season is as special at your church as it is at mine.  Now begins the challenge of leading our people’s hearts to turn toward Christ as opposed to getting so entangled with the secular culture of Christmas that they lose sight of Jesus.  I know you are thinking about that.  You are considering how you can best lead so as to help your people “prepare the way for the Lord”.  In that regard, you, my church leader friend, are John the Baptizer.  Your calling this season is to help your people prepare for Jesus.

So, as you strategize about this Advent Season in your own church, and how you will help your people prepare for Jesus, will you just consider the following:

• How will you help the single mom who is holding down three jobs and just trying to survive from one day to the next prepare her heart for Jesus?
• What is your strategy to help the child whose parent is deployed or in prison or just disappeared to prepare his/her heart for Jesus this season?
• What can you do this week to help that nursing home resident who gave your church so many good years of ministry to prepare for Jesus this season?
• What is your plan to pour into your second tier of church leaders over the next couple of weeks, so that they and their families are prepared for Jesus?
• How will your church minister to those who have lost loved ones in the past year and who now face their first Christmas season without them?
• What about the missionary family who unexpectedly found themselves back here for the Christmas season instead of out on the field with the people they have grown to love?  How will you help them prepare their hearts for Jesus?
• And lastly, while you are busy trying to be all things to all people in your congregation, what exactly are you planning for your own family this season, so that they will have hearts turned toward Jesus instead of resenting your ministry pulling you away from them?

John the Baptizer, it seems, was just a little bit crazy…a little bit different from normal folks.  And now we know why.  Helping make the way straight for Jesus in the hearts of one’s people is, well, a lot of hard work!  Shoulder to the wheel, my church leader friend…shoulder to the wheel!

© Blake Coffee

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FIVE THINGS PASTORS HATE TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR PREACHING

John Ortberg shares this list of five in the most recent issue of Leadership Journal:

1. “Your preaching has improved.” Sometimes when I hear this one it is strengthened by enthusiasm; your preaching has really improved. I think this comment is generally intended as a compliment, but it’s hard to say. Certainly it carries the message that your previous sermons left plenty of room for improvement.

2. “I’m so glad you said ‘X’.” But in fact you didn’t say “X”; you were trying to say the opposite of “X.” It makes you wonder what sermon they were listening to.

3. “I heard Andy Stanley/Tim Keller/Jon Piper/Rob Bell give a similar talk one time.” Only it turns out that their talk was actually much better than the one you gave, and the enthusiastic listener wants to give you a play-by-play account with commentary on why it was better.

4. “I’m just not being fed.” This is an all-purpose comment, offered more generally than in response to one particular message. But it does make me wonder, if preaching is a form of feeding, why is there no tipping afterwards?

5. “The Lord told me to tell you …” ”… that you look tired,” “… that you hurt my feelings,” “… that this church needs more messages about stewardship/missions/culture wars/the Colbert Report,” “… that you chose the wrong clothes.”

Read more here…

THE AUDACITY OF PREACHING

I am currently teaching a course called NEW TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS as an adjunct instructor for Winebrenner Theological Seminary.  The course is provided as part what is known as the Pastoral Training Institute.  Essentially, the bulk of my students , who are currently involved in secular professions, are pursuing the goal of becoming local church pastors. 

Each time I teach this course, I begin with these words to those who would presume to be pastors and teachers, who will occupy pulpits and classrooms to connect people with the Bible and its revelatory truth for humankind.  In many ways, there is a certain audacity to preaching that must be grounded in obedient humility. These are the four things I tell them:

You are the Servant of this Book … it is God’s Holy Word

Remember what else is called the Word.  Jesus Christ.   Karl Barth called the Bible the Word of God Written to distinguish it from Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh.  With that in mind, remember ---

It is not your tool. You are its servant … This is a sacred book, to be held in highest esteem.

“Do your best to present yourself as one approved, a workman who does not need to ve ashamed and correctly handles the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2.15

It is truth and points men and women to the Truth—Jesus Christ-the Truth Who sets us free. (Henry Blackaby “Truth is a person.”)

Never underestimate its impact and its power.

“… so is my word that goes out of my mouth: It will not return to me empty. but will I accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:11

THE CALL