The Connection Between Shallow Sermons and Too Much Content

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I saw this caption on what is supposed to be a funny t-shirt. I said, “supposed to be,” because it’s describing the practice of a surgeon. Yikes!

But according to Carrell’s analysis in, Preaching That Matters,

“the reluctance to eliminate content seems to be the primary preparation obstacle for most who preach wide sermons” (p. 109).

Evidently many of us struggle with cutting anything out of our sermon preparation notes. And it hurts us and our hearers.

Carrell records the different ways preachers rationale keeping everything in and delivering it all on Sundays:

“It’s such good material!”

“The more material the better!”

“The more material, the better chances there will be something for everyone!”

The problem: the more material, the greater the risk you will lose your listeners. Listeners simply get worn out trying to keep up with all that good stuff.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of sitting down with one of our Elders who was going to preach on a Sunday morning. We met to go over his sermon notes. We talked about the best way to accomplish his goals for the sermon–the preaching portion’s goal for the worshiper. Apart from rearranging a few key segments, we spent most of our time deciding on what to leave out. We did that because cutting some things out would allow him to stay focused on what the preaching portion intended to do to the church.

Before Sunday, begin to look for some of the good, biblical information that may keep true transformation from taking place. And God will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Categories: big idea, communication, logical flow, purpose, sermon development, time management
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Your thoughts?

2 thoughts on “The Connection Between Shallow Sermons and Too Much Content”

  1. I realized that most of the time it is very difficult to a preacher to cut out some parts of the sermon he or she spent a long time to prepare. In my case I think I am right and confident about what I already wrote. But on the other hand, someone else can see some unwanted sentences or words that need to be taken out to help listeners to be more focused on the sermon. Example of “the more material, the greater the risk you will loose your listeners” (Randal).
    In my opinion, sermon preparation needs more humility, and the ability to hear and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

    Reply

    • Thanks for replying, Leroy. Glad we can study preaching together. I completely agree that we need huge doses of the fruit of the Spirit and His overall guidance. The danger is that for me it’s difficult to know where the Spirit stops leading and my flesh takes over during the preparation and delivery of sermons!

      Reply