This is Part 3 of the integration of emotional health and preaching. Again, these points emerged out of multiple conversations between Rich Villodas and I around preaching in our context at New Life Fellowship Church. The following is the last of three parts:
18. Connect the message to the larger vision of the church.
19. Tell compelling stories around your main point, using strong visuals when appropriate.
20. Manage the tension of good sermon preparation and spontaneity (remaining open to the Holy Spirit during the preaching moment).
21. Look for opportunities for creative delivery means to deliver your sermon whenever possible (e.g. Alone Together, Daily Office, Testimonies, “silent sermon”, panels.)
22. Be aware certain sermons are “Culture Shifting Sermons.” They go beyond the norm, shifting the church culture in a significant way. They require implementation, shifts in priorities, discussions as a leadership. They have a prophetic edge to them and release something spiritually into the community.
23. Embrace and communicate the theological tensions/paradoxes that exist. Preaching is not as black and white as we often think. There is lots of gray and complexity in Scripture.
24. Remember the birthing/midwife process of preaching – death, burial, resurrection. Pain and suffering in the process is normal.
25. Be interdenominational, inter-generational, interracial, intercultural, being sensitivie to bridge social classes in your preaching.
