November 4, 2024

Compelling preaching reaches people. (Say that five times fast!)

Sunday after Sunday, that's the goal, isn't it?

But reaching people can be a challenge.

One person shows up to church ready to accept whatever the preacher says without question, while the person sitting beside him is deeply skeptical of all authority.

A few of the people you might see on Sunday have lived "church-adjacent" lives for decades, and aren't particularly interested in having anything about their lives changed. They expect to leave church more certain than ever that they are right about nearly everything.

Others are desperate for God to make ALL THINGS new--themselves included.

And, of course, there are those folks who listen with a critical ear, lining up your sermon with what they already know about the Bible (which, in some cases is more than you know, dear preacher!). Right now, those people are making lists of questions to talk with you about later this week.

Meanwhile, a few pews over, there's someone who's just biding their time until lunch at Granny's house.¹

Whether "whosoever will" is a fourth-generation member of your congregation sitting in their family's pew or a curious newcomer watching the service from home, no two of them identical (not even if they are twins!).

This diversity is present in every congregation, no matter its size. That's why GOAL #2 of the Louisa Woosley Preaching Initiative is to help preachers Effectively Engage Diverse Audiences.

The Holy Spirit plays an essential role in the sort of preaching that reaches people. Without the Spirit's work, we'd just be standing behind the pulpit giving a lecture (and maybe telling a few corny jokes).

But there is work for us to do, too, dear preachers. As shepherds of these flocks, as women and men called by God to preach the Good News, we need to be invested in (and attentive to) the lives of the people we want to reach.

The Apostle Paul makes a compelling argument for doing this work in his first letter to the Corinthian church. For me, reading this familiar passage in the not-so-familiar The Message version drives home the point in a powerful way:

"Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever.

I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view.

I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!"

1 Corinthians 9:19-23, The Message

Powerful words.

Challenging words.

Convicting words.

Right now, I'm taking an online class called "Real Faith in an AI World." This week's assignment was to use AI to help with a real-world ministry task, so I asked ChatGPT to create some questions for preachers to help us reflect on this passage.

Here are a few of my favorites:

I'll be living with that Scripture passage and these ChatGPT questions all week, letting them critique my own practice as a preacher and my habits as a follower of Christ.

For the sake of those "diverse audiences" God has called each of us to serve, I hope you will, too.

--Jen

¹ I am indebted to Fred Craddock's Preaching (specifically, chapter 5: "Interpretation: The Listeners") for many of the insights shared in the opening of this email. If you haven't read it (or haven't read it in awhile), it's worth another read.

This short-ish (7 minute) video by Practical Church makes a case for why knowing who your audience is influences how you preach.

What's one thing you can do this week to help you better understand the people you serve?

Six Days Til Sunday registration opens Tuesday, November 5, at noon Eastern.

That's tomorrow y'all!

I'll send the registration link in an email to all of you. The link will be posted on our web page on Wednesday, November 6 at 8:00 am Eastern.

The event is limited to 50 participants, and is open to all CP candidates, licentiates, and ministers. It will be especially meaningful to those of us who preach regularly (or feel called to).

My Great Grandparents'  "Finger New Testament" (1880)

"Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh." [Ecclesiastes 12:12]

Congratulations, Rev. Dr. Barry Anderson (Robert Donnell Presbytery)! You won our last "pastor appreciation" drawing: a $100 gift card to Christianbook.com. Now that you've retired from the seminary, you should have time to catch up on some good reading!

The Louisa Woosley Preaching Initiative is a grant-funded program of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Our goal is to equip ministers and candidates for ministry to preach compelling sermons to today's diverse and often divided world. 

For more information about the initiative and our programs, visit our website.