3 Ways Your Backstory Informs Your Preaching (whether you're aware of it or not)
Maybe you want it revealed. Maybe you don't.
Regardless, it's on display in every sermon.
What am I talking about? Your backstory.
Your backstory is the story you tell in your sermons without "telling" it. It seeps into your sermons whether or not you say the word, "I."
Your backstory is the unique mixture of your theology, childhood, DNA, education, church experience, personality, political persuasion, and so much more. It affects how you approach the Sunday's scriptures, influences your conclusions about them, and shapes your style and the purpose for which you preach.
To preach the message you intend to preach, consider these three aspects of your backstory to help you use your backstory in service to your preaching.
Four Preaching Lessons from Hurricane Harvey
Whether we're in the middle of our own crisis and feel overwhelmed about what to do next, or we want to do something, anything!, to help someone else who is, here are four responses we can offer in our sermons at the intersection of the Gospel and experience.
Preaching in the Storm
As Hurricane Harvey approaches, we consider how to preach when facing a natural disaster. What is the role of a preacher? How do we comfort and encourage when life and livelihood are threatened?
When to Change Your Sermon in Light of Current Events
It is simply a fact of the preaching life that, at times, we will be required to set aside our prepared sermons and speak to the events which surround us, testifying to how we see God in and through them.
How do we decide when to continue with our sermon as prepped versus adjusting our sermon at the last minute?
The Powerful Prep Tool Every Preacher Has But Rarely Uses (Guest Post)
We tend to consider the physical aspects of preaching only in the context of delivery:
- raising or lowering the voice to emphasize phrases
- using gestures to enhance a point
- breathing in sync with the flow of sentences
But when is the last time you used your body and voice in sermon prep?
Or before you climbed into the pulpit?
Have you ever?
How (If?) to Preach the Headlines of the Day: Guiding Wisdom for Preachers
Should you preach on current events? And if so, how?
Discover guiding wisdom from preachers you respect on how to navigate the news headlines pummeling our social discourse.
5 Steps to Improving Your Preaching Life
We're 7 Sundays from Labor Day weekend. How do you feel about heading into the next program year?
Are you excited and confident in your routines and processes? Or are you dreading the increase in activity, the weekly scramble to get it all done, the seemingly endless demands on your time and energy?
If you're dissatisfied with the way your sermon preparation and preaching went last year, the slower pace of summer is a great time for reflection and change.
A small investment of time over these next few weeks could transform your preaching life for the rest of the year. How do you make the most of the slower days of summer to make lasting change?
"WOW!": How to Enter the Fall with Renewed Energy for Preaching
BsP is receiving more and more feedback that our ecourse is truly transforming the sermon prep process for preachers. Craft an Effective Sermon by Friday helps preachers not only preach better sermons but enjoy the prep, revitalizing their own spirituality in the process.
Beyond Good Intentions: Schedule God
This isn't another guilt trip or admonition to prioritize God. Our problem is not in our intentions. Of course, we want to spend time with God.
The problem is in the execution, which often comes down to our planning—or failure to plan.
With competing demands, many of which are worthy and important, prioritizing this time of solitude with the invisible God can feel abstract and therefore less important.
We're tempted to think it doesn't really matter. But it does.
So how do we make this time happen?
The Myth of How to Save A Shrinking Church
“The Mainline Church is dying. Therefore, Preachers, you must do ______ to fix the problem.”
These stories suggest that “it” is simply waiting for each of us to imitate or discover. If only we find “it,” the congregation will revive. It’s up to us to keep looking for “it,” and if the church doors close in the meantime, we are responsible for not finding “it” in time.
Of course, pray a lot and rely on the Holy Spirit.
But in truth, most messages imply it’s really up to us.
Wow. That’s a lot of responsibility. But is it truly ours? What, exactly, is our responsibility here?