15 September 2024

The Sunday sermon should be marked by three things. Firstly, a thorough preparation – reading the Word, consulting the commentaries, reflecting on the text in the light of the contemporary situation ensures that the preacher has something to say not only about the God who was experienced two thousand years ago but also the God who is experienced here and now!

Secondly, a contemporary relevance. The best way to achieve this is to accompany a preaching ministry with a pastoral ministry. The two are inter-related. Afterall, it’s only when we get to know each other that we begin to hear the questions that people are actually asking.

Thirdly, an ending. This is the most important thing about any sermon. It must always come to an end. Of course, it will not end easily unless it has an arresting beginning and a clear development. But whatever else, it must always end!

‘The parson exceeds not an hour in preaching, because all ages have thought that a competency.’ writes the Revd. George Herbert. ‘And he that profits not in that time will lesse afterwards, the same affection which made him not profit before making him then weary; and so he grows from not relishing to loathing.’ God forbid! I cannot say anymore. Like the good George Herbert, I am have to the end!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  18 August 2024 I am concerned  that when smaller charges are subsumed into larger units, ministry is reduced to  ‘needs must’ and this will prejudice the smaller rural units. They require ministers to have more time to stand and stare, to build up relationships which may or may not lead anywhere  and to work with all ages and all community agencies. The value of this work may be lost without a specialist dedicated to the task. Here are six  areas of specialist training: 1. breaking down the division between secular and sacred – in the rural charge this is much more diffuse and more in keeping with the true nature of the Gospel where God is at work in all places and all people 2. integrating  young and old – in the rural charge people are not so self-conscious of these age differences and work together in community events and initiatives 3. embracing  the pace of the natural world and nature’s discrete  modus operandi – results are not immediate nor immediately recognisable, G
Read more
  15 August 2024 David Fergusson, Regius   Professor of   Divinity at Cambridge University, and Kirk minister has just produced a series of essays on theology, philosophy and the Church. One is entitled, ‘Mapping the Church – Current Challenges of History and Mission’. In it, he tackles the issue of mission in the Church. He begins by acknowledging that mission is a constituent part of the Church’s work not least in handing on the faith to those who are coming after us. But he points out   that the ‘Five Marks of Mission’ which have been embedded into our current thinking are not comprehensive. ‘The church has many functions,’ he writes, ‘the glorifying of God in its worship, the education and nurture of its people, the pastoral care of the sick and the dying, and the bearing witness to the gospel in the life of the world.’ Mission is one of several aspects of being the Body of Christ. He recognises that there is a mistaken view in some quarters that by focusing our attention a
Read more
  10 July 2024 The Revd. Will Pearson-Gee was an Army Chaplain rising to the rank of   major in 1999. He is now the rector of Buckingham where he said that some of the services for which he is responsible were ‘overflowing with widows’. So Kaya Burgess has reported. He has been so concerned about the lack of men in church that he raised it at the Church of England Synod in York. ‘What resources has the church developed to help people think about and practise evangelism among men?’   Two facts justify his concern. Firstly, 59% of worshippers in the Church of England are women. In some kirk congregations, this would be an under-estimate. Secondly, the British Social Attitudes Survey found in 2019 that at every age men were less likely than women to say they had a religion, went to church or believed in God. In his address to the Synod, Will Pearson-Gee argued that men who became Christians were more likely to bring their whole family with them. He also argued that the language of
Read more