This may be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs but it may be worth mentioning some things that I have learned about Christmas Day preaching, if you are doing that this week.
1. Don't be too long. This is a good general rule but is probably even more apt on Christmas Day. The whole service shouldn't be more than an hour and the sermon probably shouldn't be over 25 minutes.
2. Preach on something "Christmassy". That's what they are thinking about so strike there. A sermon on the unforgivable sin or husbands and wives will certainly have an impact but it probably won't help you in the end.
3. Choose a text and stick to it. This is by far the easiest way to preach a short sermon and to get something in that will stay. Eg Matthew 1:21, 2:10; Luke 2:7, 2:10, 2:19, 2:30; John 3:16; 2 Cor 8:9; Titus 3:4, etc.
4. Usually the text will naturaly fall into three parts. As a general rule three is the best number of points to have in a textual sermon but we must not be slavish about this.
5. Aim at getting something in that they will be able to keep in their heads at least throughout the day.
6. Don't be afraid of reminding them of things they already know and that you have only just preached on - we all forget so quickly.
7. The silly tie or the tinsel could probably distract from your message and is best resisted but we won't fall out over this I trust.
PS Happy Christmas!
1 comment:
Who says we have to preach in Christmas Day?
Speaking personally, having preached four 'carol services' in four years (with another 'seasonal' service on the same day) it would do my head in.
In some places it seems to be a good evangelistic opportunity - and absolutely warranted as we may worship the Lord at any time - but where we are in Cheltenham nobody would turn up. Not even our members!!!
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