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How to Sweeten Your Sermon with a Little C.R.E.A.M. (Part 3 Echo)

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A couple of posts ago I mentioned my plan to spend an hour or so in class talking about the importance of using an effective preaching style. We were emphasizing word-choice, the way preachers use words to move listeners in the power of the Spirit toward acts of worship.

It assumes we’ll spend some time thinking about the words we use while we preach. That might mean working on specific words and phrases or working on a full-blown, word-for-word orascript (a manuscript written for the ear).

You realize, of course, that your congregants who listen or watch any media are bombarded by carefully crafted messages. Watch, for instance, how advertisers frame their sales pitches. Watch what journalist do with words to report the news.

C.R.E.A.M. is an easy way to remember five ways to create phrases that parishioners will remember and resonate with. So far we’ve briefly discussed contrast and rhyme. This week we explore the use of echoes, echoes, echoes, echoes… (sorry).

In Galatians 4:4-5 you could say that Jesus Christ was delivered into this world of sin so we could be delivered from this world of sin. Working through the Gospel of Luke recently, I kept reminding our faith-family that Luke wrote to help us be sure our faith is well-placed and well-executed.

Or, in Luke 22:3 we read, “Then Satan entered into Judas…” You could say, “Satan possessed Judas because Judas didn’t possess Jesus.

Notice that, in these examples, content isn’t sacrificed on the altar of cuteness. The goal is to enhance the hear-ability of the content by carefully selected words.

So, before Sunday, look over your manuscript–I know you’re using one!–and see if there are places where echoes could help move your listeners to worship.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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How to Sweeten Your Sermon with a Little C.R.E.A.M. (Part 2 Rhyme)

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Whipped-Cream-Blue-bowl-Maureen-Abood

One of the ways I work with words during sermon development is by implementing C.R.E.A.M. The letters stand for contrast, rhyme, echo, alliteration, and metaphor.

These five approaches can be applied to the sermon in two ways.

First, you can sprinkle phrases built from these approaches in strategic places throughout a sermon. Work with the key words in your sermon.

Second, you can create a quotable quote surrounding your major theme. If you have that one point that you want to state and restate, that’s a good place to apply C.R.E.A.M.

In both cases and places, listeners’ ears will pick up on these well-crafted phrases and statements.

Last week we began with “C” for contrast. This week it’s the “R” for rhyme.

Before Sunday, see if there are any strategic words with which you can rhyme.

Just this week I responded to an email with: “Christians often experience bouts of doubts.” I could have said it differently, but I felt bouts of doubts sounded better than periods of doubts.

In Romans 8 Paul lists the entities that are groaning as they wait for final redemption. So, in a sermon I went with a synonym to create “a choir of sighers.”

I just watched a creative YouTube ad for Bertolini Sanctuary Seating entitled: Pastor Piper in Great Preaching…Gone Bad. The ad ended with: “The mind can only absorb what the seat can endure.”

While I don’t spend a lot of time on this kind of packaging, I do try to be aware of how the Spirit of God might use my words to help those who have ears to hear hear even better.

Preach well for God’s glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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How to Sweeten Your Sermon With A Little C.R.E.A.M. (Part 1 Contrast)

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Whipped-Cream-Blue-bowl-Maureen-Abood

Lord willing, this Wednesday and Thursday (April 15 and 16, 2015) I will enjoy the privilege of teaching PAS 513 Advanced Homiletics for Lancaster Bible College’s graduate school. Besides spending time making sure we preach with accuracy, I am planning to spend some time making sure we preach with an effective style. I’m especially interested in the aspects of a preacher’s style that deal with word-choice.

My plan is to introduce the students to Humes’ C.R.E.A.M. concept. Years ago I learned of this approach while reading Humes’ book, The Sir Winston Method. In that book Humes records the results of his research into the communication method of Sir Winston Churchill.

The Sir Winston Method: The Five Secrets of Speaking the Language of Leadership

C.R.E.A.M. is one way for preachers to work on their words. It’s a way for us to create quotable quotes or packaged persuasion. It’s about finding just the right way to say what God is saying in our preaching portions. It’s about using language in the power of the Spirit to drive home God’s message.

C.R.E.A.M. stands for:

Contrast

Rhyme

Echo

Alliteration

Metaphor

Let’s start with “C” and using contrast. The old preacher, Vance Havner once said, “Too many of our services start at 11 sharp and then end at 12 dull.”

An ad for the Radisson Plaza Hotel said, “Modern convenience. Historic charm.”

A county-western song contained the phrase, “the city put the country back in me.”

Yesterday during our current in-between-book-studies series, Well-Versed, I preached on Romans 8:28-30 which says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” My first thought block in the sermon was defining the kind of person who could claim that promise. It’s the person who loves God. It was easy to work the contrast between being a God-lover and a God-hater: “All things work together for bad for those that hate God.”

Before Sunday, see if you can create contrasts to communicate key concepts in your sermon.

Preach well for God’s reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. If you enjoy reading some history about an important figure in world history and gaining some insights into effective communication, you’ll enjoy Humes’ book. It’s certainly one of my top five non-Christian books on communication.

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One of Preaching’s Primary Goals: Preparing Parishioners for the Return of Christ

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NCAA Duke Wisconsin Final Four Basketball

For the record, my wife, Michele, does not approve of this post. She is a Carolina grad which automatically means she strongly dislikes Duke. But that’s not important right now.

What is important is thinking about what we’re accomplishing when we preach. These two coaches have spent the last couple of days preparing their teams for tonight’s championship game. They will have their teams ready. They always do. That’s part of the reason why they are in the position they’re in.

In some ways, that’s what we do every Sunday. We make sure our parishioners are ready for the return of our Lord. In his commentary on Luke’s Gospel, Marshall writes, “We cannot ‘live carelessly until the End…and then reform ourselves at the last minute.'”

Some preaching portions make this a no-brainer. In Luke 21:34 Jesus says, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life…” Regardless of your eschatology, it’s hard to miss the fact that Jesus is preparing us for His return (in an earlier post I mentioned being careful to allow the Bible to inform our theology and not only the other way around, especially in these kinds of Texts).

But, in general, think of every sermon as contributing to this goal. Every preaching portion contributes to the goal of preparing our parishioners for the return of our Lord. Great coaches are known for getting their teams prepared. They have a reputation for making key adjustments at halftime.

Faithful shepherds enter their teaching times with the similar goal of making sure their congregants are prepared. Our goal is to create people who will be able “to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

Before Sunday, see if you can identify how the purpose of your preaching portion connects with this purpose of creating a prepared people.

Preach well for God’s glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Two Things to Remember When Preaching on Money

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Photo of a Collection Plate

If you preach through books of the Old or New Testament, eventually you will preach about money and giving to God. For instance, in the Old Testament, there are approximately 1400 occurrences of the word, “offering,” in about 800 verses.

While preaching on Luke 21:1-4, the narrative of Jesus commenting on the poor widow who put “two small copper coins” in the offering box (v. 2), I learned two things that should make their way in any stewardship sermon.

First, take a moment to remind everyone why Christians give money to God. In the narrative, both “the rich” and “a poor widow” gave their offering to the Lord. Luke doesn’t tell us why. But, it is important when preaching about giving to tell everyone that giving an offering is a way of acknowledging God’s authority. It’s a way of showing that God is greater and I am infinitely lesser.

When faced with this perspective, it is virtually impossible for any professing Christian to refuse to give and still claim to worship God.

Second, when we got to the place in the narrative where Jesus said, “she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on,” I asked, “What must she have believed about God in order to give everything, even what she needed to live on?!” Again, the Scripture doesn’t say. What’s left unsaid is crucial for the faith-family. She was trusting completely in God to take care of her.

The poor widow’s example is an excellent opportunity for us all to evaluate how our giving habits reflect our faith in God to provide. Over the years I’ve heard many parishioners say, “I can’t afford to give more to God.” My reply has been, “You can’t afford not to.”

Before Sunday, if your sermon contains some aspect of giving to God, remind everyone why Christians give and show them how their giving reflects their faith.

Preach well for God’s glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

 

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Add Another Facet of Saving Faith

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Throughout the Gospels and, also other Old and New Testament narrative sections, look for phrases that add to your congregants’ understanding of saving faith. These phrases provide an opportunity to explore what saving faith is and what it does. Like a cut diamond, saving faith and genuine Christianity contain many facets.

For instance, in Luke 20:27-40 Sadducees approach Jesus to ask Him about what life is like “in the resurrection” (a concept they don’t believe in). In the middle of Jesus’ answer, He states, “but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead…” (v. 35).

That phrase is one way to describe a genuine Believer or follower of Christ. This is what genuine saving faith creates: a person who is “considered worthy to attain to that age…” Saving faith takes people “of this age” (v. 34) and transforms them into those “considered worthy to attain to that age…”

It is tempting to spend the majority of sermon time on Jesus’ cryptic description of life in the resurrection. It demands much attention because any exposition has to come to grips with the revelation Jesus provides in vv. 35-36. Jesus corrects the Sadducees’ understanding. He wants them to know that “the dead are raised” (v. 37) and that God is “not the God of the dead, but of the living…” (v. 38).

Leave room, though, to answer the question Jesus doesn’t answer: How does a person become “considered worthy to attain to…the resurrection from the dead…”? That question inevitably delves into what saving faith is and does.

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion contains any phrases that explain a facet of genuine faith and Christianity. Over time, the cumulative effect of this kind of exegesis will help limit the number of surprises at the Judgment.

Preach well so God receives glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Keeping Your Sermon Balanced

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One difficult task we face each week is making sure our sermon does not get out of balance. That happens when we spend more time on an idea in the preaching portion than the preaching portion demands.

For instance, in Luke 20:19-26 we read Jesus’ response to a question posed by insincere religious leaders. Their question was, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”

After asking to see a coin and showing them Caesar’s inscription, Jesus gives His famous instruction: “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Okay, which part of Jesus’ instruction do you think gets the most emphasis in a sermon? Which part of Jesus’ instruction do you think your congregants give the most attention to? Right, the give to Caesar part.

However, you know which one Jesus was emphasizing, especially in light of who He was talking to. The insincere religious leaders were not giving God what was God’s. I want to make sure our faith-family is giving to God the things that belong to Him. I want to make sure my sermon isn’t out of balance by focusing too much, for too long, on the Caesar part.

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion has places that tempt you to lose your balance, to spend too much space/time on a minor matter. Be sure you spend sufficient time on the more important concepts.

There are exceptions. It’s possible that your congregants may need more help with the minor matter because of their spiritual condition (think about a politically conservative congregation struggling to give proper honor to elected officials of another party). It’s also possible that the time of year or the current circumstances might call for an out of balanced approach (think about Jesus’ teaching during a major election, for instance).

Preach well for God’s glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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What’s Missing When Your Listeners Hear You Say, “Savior”

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In Luke 19:38 as Jesus makes His triumphal approach (I realized that the term, triumphal entry, was a bit premature because even in the next paragraph, He still hadn’t entered the city), the crowd yells, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

In my experience, congregants do not automatically think ultimate authority when they think about Jesus. That’s partly because they are more familiar with the term, Savior. “Savior,” however, does not carry ultimate authority into their ears. It needs to.

While preaching through the Gospel of Luke, I was amazed at how often the authority of Jesus was highlighted. There is a large section in Luke 19:11–20:18, for instance, that centers on Jesus’ authority and reactions to His authority. At the beginning of chapter 20 comes the challenge, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.”

I’m pretty sure we’ve got more than a handful of parishioners who don’t acknowledge the ultimate authority of King Jesus. They know He’s their Savior, but they don’t connect being saved with being obedient. That’s why they aren’t transformed into the image of Christ; that’s why the Church looks much like society in many respects.

So, before Sunday, see if the language in your sermon helps your listeners understand the ultimate authority of their Savior.

You might have to repeatedly add the concept of authority to any statements made about their Savior. Some, as you know, prefer the extended, “Lord and Savior,” or “the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s not a bad start. But I think that even “Lord” no longer carries ultimate authority like it did in the first century church.

Then, whenever your preaching portion contains imperatives (explicit or implicit), spend a moment emphasizing the identity and authority of King Jesus.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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How Evangelistic Encounters in the Gospels Speak to Christians

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It is important to remember that the evangelistic encounters we preachers encounter in the Gospels are designed to speak to Christians, not non-Christians (at least not primarily to non-Christians).

So, for instance, in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus meets Zacchaeus. In this narrative Zacchaeus becomes a Christian. Jesus announces in verse 9, “Today salvation has come to this house…”

It would be very easy to preach this narrative as an evangelistic sermon. You might reason that since it shows Zack getting saved, it should function well as a sermon geared toward seeing non-Christian listeners come to faith too.

I suggest two alternatives:

(1) Stick with the overall purpose of the Gospel and focus on the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 19:1-10 does tell us about who Jesus is and what He came to do: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (v. 10). These narratives are a time to remind Christians what Jesus has done for them. In the process of doing so, any non-Christians overhearing worship have an opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond with saving faith.

(2) Focus attention on what the narrative says about what saving faith is. Zack’s reaction to Jesus helps us see that saving faith includes repentance. In a day when easy-believism continues to show itself in our congregations, we do our Lord and His people a great service by fleshing out what it means to believe. In verse 8 Zack says, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Was that necessary? Could Zack have been saved without this radical change? Now, we all have an opportunity to assess whether our faith is working like Zack’s.

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion contains any information about becoming a Christian. Then, look for similar ways to show how that information speaks to Christians about their Savior and their relationship to Him.

Preach well for His glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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“Meaning of verse uncertain”: What To Do When Biblical Data Is Difficult

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Puzzled male shrugging wearing lab coat

The title of this post comes from footnote “a” in the Jewish Study Bible for Genesis 4:7. The note simply states, “Meaning of verse uncertain.” I have no idea why the authors decided that note was necessary.

However, if you have practiced preaching through books of the Bible or even large sections of books of the Bible, then you have hit verses or phrases within verses that were difficult to interpret.

In his excellent little book, Reading The Bible Wisely, Briggs writes, “Alongside this doctrine [of the “clarity of Scripture”] I would like to set the difficulty of Scripture, which is not, to my knowledge an equally well-known theological position, but which can certainly be maintained alongside a view of ‘clarity'” (p. 54).

So, for instance, the JSB’s translation of Genesis 4:7 reads, “Surely, if you do right, there is uplift. But if you do not do right sin crouches at the door…” (uncertain verses in italics).

What’s a preacher to do when coming face to face with uncertain meaning?

  1. Place less focus on the lexical meaning of individual words (in this case, “uplift”). Scan the range of meaning provided by scholars, but don’t agonize too long there.
  2. Place more focus on the larger context. You already know how important context is to meaning. It’s especially important when dealing with difficult biblical data. Simply read the story of Cain and Abel and you’ll discover that Cain has the opportunity to be like his younger brother if he does right. Cain could gain God’s attention like Abel did, but Cain must do the right thing. “Uplift” has to have something to do with Cain’s status before God. Briggs writes, “Scripture is clear, let us say, on the macro level. On the micro level it is persistently difficult to pin down” (p. 66).
  3. Place most emphasis on what the passage is designed to do to the Church. Emphasize how Believers respond to this preaching portion as an act of worship.
  4. Be clear about the Gospel so Believers can believe before they obey.
  5. Finally, don’t be afraid of partial interpretations. Virtually every Sunday I come away knowing I could have done more research and come to better conclusions (about some minutia). I am content with partial interpretations (without being satisfied with shoddy work!).

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion has a place where the footnote above would fit. If so, I hope these suggestions might help you preach with Spirit-given confidence in your partial interpretations.

Preach well for the sake of God’s glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. If you haven’t read Briggs (Reading the Bible Wisely: An Introduction to Taking Scripture Seriously. Revised Edition.), you’ll enjoy the 100-page paperback. It’s rare that a small book delivers such large insight.