The Other Side of the Pulpit

1. The Other Side of the Pulpit Listeners Experiences of Helpful Preaching

2. Rationale • The New Homiletic • Allen: “taking a turn to the listener” • Dominant influence in the development of preaching has remained theoretical and theological

3. Existing Research • Mary Alice Mulligan and Ronald J. Allen, Make the Word Come Alive: Lessons from Laity (Chalice: St. Louis, 2006). • In-depth individual and group interviews with 263 lay persons and 32 preachers in 28 Midwestern U.S. congregations

4. Ronald J Allen and Mary Alice Mulligan, "Listening to Listeners: Five Years Later," Homiletic 34, no. 2 (2009): 4. • The sermon should deal in a foundational way with who God is and asks. • Preachers should live in a manner consistent with the church’s theological convictions. • Preachers should speak from their own experience. • The sermon should center in the Bible and make the biblical material come alive for the listener. • The message needs to relate in a practical way to the lives of the listening communities.

5. Ronald J Allen and Mary Alice Mulligan, "Listening to Listeners: Five Years Later," Homiletic 34, no. 2 (2009): 4. • The sermon should be short (although the meaning of short varies from congregation to congregation). • Preachers need to be clear and easy to understand. • Sermons to help them make theological and ethical sense of the range of life’s issues. • Listeners do not want the preacher to dumb down the sermon; rather, they want to wrestle meaningfully with important issues. • Preachers ought to be specific in helping congregations draw out the implications of the Bible • Preachers need to be lively when they embody the sermon

6. Existing Research • Lori Carrell, “Sermons Most Likely to Succeed,” Rev May/June (2007): 71-73. • 52 Protestant pastors 5,000-plus listeners

7. Lori Carrell, "Sermons Most Likely to Succeed," Rev May/June (2007): 71-73. • Ask for Change: Sermons are built around a clearly stated change based goal that emanates from Scripture. • Organized for Listening: Organization of ideas is key to the memory process. • Well Delivered: Sermons are delivered in a way that authentically communicates relationship and emotion. • Integrate Listeners’ Perspectives: Content is connected to the listeners. (The listeners describe this as “relevancy.”)

8. Australian Context? • Hussey, Ian. "The Other Side of the Pulpit: Listener’s Experiences of Helpful Preaching." Homiletic 39, no. 2 (2014). http://www.homiletic.net/index.php/homiletic/issue/view/199.

9. Methodology • Case study of superior preaching • NCLS survey includes the following question: How often do you experience the following during church services at this congregation?: 23. Preaching very helpful to my life? (Always / Usually / Sometimes /Rarely or never)

10. Methodology • Selection was based on: • Congregations being above the 90th percentile on the “preaching very helpful” question • More than 47% of people indicated “Always” • The rating on the preaching being higher than the rating on the other similar “How often do you experience the following during church services” questions. • At least 50 forms returned.

11. Methodology • The composition of these “top 50” churches was: • Anglican (Episcopalian) 18 • C3 (Christian City Church) 9 • Baptist 5 • Australian Christian Churches (Assembly of God) 3 • Uniting 3 • CRC Churches International 2 • Independent 2 • Lutheran 2 • Presbyterian 2 • Apostolic 1 • Christian Outreach Centers 1 • Churches of Christ1 • Vineyard Fellowship Australia 1

12. Methodology • 15 churches responded • 6 were selected • At each church: • Observed the worship services. • Conducted one or two focus groups • “What adjectives would you use to describe the preaching at this church?” • Interviewed the major preacher • Survey

13. Methodology • Survey: • 19 factors suggested by: • Previous research • Input from “experts” • Contemporary theories • What, for you personally, is the most helpful part of the preaching at this church? (Please circle one): • The content of the sermons • The character of the preacher • The power of the sermons

14. Methodology (Reflection) • The survey tended to identify divergences • The focus groups tended to identify commonalities

15. Clayton Fopp • Trinity Mount Barker, Adelaide, South Australia.

16. Clayton Fopp • What was most helpful: • The sermons give me a deeper understanding of the Bible (75% of respondents) • The sermons relate in a practical way to our lives (50%) • The sermons help make theological and ethical sense of the range of life‘s issues (45%) • The sermons are well structured (36%)

17. Clayton Fopp • The preacher generally starts with a Bible passage and then explains and applies the meaning • Focuses on only one passage from the Bible • Spends more time explaining the Bible than applying • Comes across as an expert in the Bible • The most helpful part of the preaching is the content of the sermon (92%)

18. David Mears • Minchinbury Anglican Church, Sydney, New South Wales

19. David Mears • Most helpful : • The sermons relate in a practical way to our lives (75%) • The sermons give me a deeper understanding of the Bible (73%) • The sermons help make theological and ethical sense of the range of life’s issues (40%) • The sermons wrestle meaningfully with difficult issues (40%)

20. Dave Mears • Generally starts with a Bible passage and then explains and applies the meaning • Focuses on one passage from the Bible • Spends more time explaining than applying the Bible • Comes across as an expert in the Bible • The most helpful part is the content of the sermons (63%) and the power of the sermons (33%).

21. Joshua Cocks • Beaudesert Baptist Church, Queensland.

22. Josh Cocks • Most helpful in the preaching: • The sermons give me a deeper understanding of the Bible (44%) • The life of the preacher corresponds to what they preach (40%) • The sermons relate in a practical way to our lives (40%) • The preacher is passionate about his/her message (40%)

23. Josh Cocks • Generally starts with a Bible passage and then explains and applies the meaning • Spends more time applying the Bible than explaining • Comes across as a fellow learner of the Bible • Content of the sermons (38%), power of the sermons (36%) character of the preacher (27%)

24. Matthew Thiele • Immanuel Lutheran Church, Buderim, Queensland

25. Matt Thiele • Most helpful in the preaching : • The sermons relate in a practical way to our lives (56%) • The preacher is passionate about his message (44%) • The preacher speaks from his own experience (38%) • The sermons give me a deeper understanding of the Bible (33%)

26. Matt Thiele • Generally starts with a topic and then brings a Biblical perspective to it • Refers to a variety of passages from the Bible • Spends more time applying the Bible than explaining • Comes across as a fellow learner of the Bible • Content of the sermons (46%), power of the sermons (37%)

27. John Iuliano • North Shore Christian Center, Sydney, New South Wales

28. John Iuliano • Most helpful in the preaching: • The sermons relate in a practical way to our lives (79%) • The preacher is passionate about his/her message (51%) • The preacher moves in the Holy Spirit’s power (42%) • The life of the preacher corresponds to what they preach (32%)

29. John Iuliano • Generally starts with a topic and then brings a biblical perspective to it • Refers to a variety of passages from the Bible • Spends more time applying the Bible than explaining • Comes across as an expert in the Bible • Power of the sermons (45%), content of the sermons (43%)

30. Craig Anderson • Plenty Valley Church, Melbourne, Victoria

31. Craig Anderson • Most helpful in the preaching: • The sermons relate in a practical way to our lives (66%) • The preacher is passionate about his/her message (53%) • The preacher speaks from his/her own experience (38%) • The preacher moves in the Holy Spirit’s power (31%)

32. Craig Anderson • Generally starts with a topic and then brings a Biblical perspective to it • Refers to a variety of passages from the Bible • Equal experience as expert and fellow traveler • Equal experience applying the Bible and explaining it • Power of the sermons (56%) content (34%)

33. Commonalties • “The sermons relate in a practical way to our lives.” • Exposition and application • Application primary not afterthought • Biblical • Regardless of tradition • Humour • Self-depreciating

34. Commonalties • Boldness • Not afraid to “tackle the tough issues.” • Not “dumbed-down” • 30-35 minutes • 10-12 hours of preparation • Structure • Simple but not simplistic

35. Commonalties • Passionate • About the Bible and/or God • Multimedia, Induction and Interaction

36. Contrasts Content Focus Preacher Focus • “Deeper understanding” • Explanation • Full manuscript • Expositional • “Powerful” • Application • Outline • Topical Clayton Fopp Dave Mears Josh Cocks Matt Thiele John Iuliano Craig Mathews

37. Conclusions • Know your context: • “Does authority come from the careful exposition of the Bible text or from the Holy Spirit working through the preacher as she/he preaches the text?” • Does inspiration occur primarily in the study or the pulpit? • Shape your context

38. Sermon Structures

39. Structures • Deductive - Skinner • Scenes – Sweetman • 5-Point - Stanley

40. Deductive Structure • Thesis (Gospel Truth) • Interrogative • How, why, when, where, who, which, what? • Choose one that the passage best answers. • Each point answers the question

41. Deductive Structure • Psalm 23 • Gospel Truth: You can count on God. • Interrogative: When can you count on God? • Points: • In tiring times (1-3a) • In testing times (3b) • In frightening times (4) • For all time (5-6)

42. Deductive Structure • Each point comes from the passage and is an answer to the interrogative. • The points are succinct, timeless and parallel. • The points are mutually exclusive. • Put Bible verses at the end of each point.

43. Deductive Structure Introduction Point 1 Point 3 Point 3 Conclusion Explanation Illustration Application

44. Structuring a Sermon in Scenes

45. Scenes • A sermon is composed of a number of 3-6 minute “scenes.” • Each scene forms a complete unit. It stands by itself. The scene theme can be summarised in a sentence. • Each scene can have a different form, content and context. • The sermon develops and progresses both through the scenes and within each scene. • The first scene forms the introduction to the story and the final scene forms the conclusion.

46. Scenes • The scenes are usually joined by invisible, logical developments that make sense to the listener. • Any scene may contain the resolution of the story, but often for the sake of maintaining tension it will be one of the final scenes. • The sermon keeps moving on. • The sermon is encapsulated in a summary of the themes of the scenes.

47. Crafting scenes • Scenes can have any content but everything links with the summary of the scene – revolves around the central idea • Summary of the scene • Rough sentence • Connected with previous scene • Write verses at the end of the sentences (where applicable) • The outline forms a logical story • No specific introduction or conclusion

48. Scenes sermon on 1 Sam. 17 S1 Like Israel, we all know what it's like to go through hard times 17:1-11 S2 You see God uses tough times to take our spiritual temperature S3 When God took Saul's spiritual temperature he came out bankrupt 17:11, 25, 38-39 S4 But little David turned out to be the true spiritual champion 17:26-30, 32-37, 48-51 S5 Because he faced the pressure and trusted God to win the victory 17:41-47 S6 When God takes your spiritual temperature you too can be a champion

49. Scenes sermon on 1 Sam. 17 1 Sam. 17 S1 As David found, the enemies in our life can be defeated S2 By refusing to be afraid (17:11,26) S3 By remembering past victories (17:34-37) S4 And by trusting in God (17:34-37) S5 Come on, let's decapitate those enemies

50. Communicating for a Change The Preaching Method of Andy Stanley