Utumishi Blog

Preachers groups are a great thing. A couple of months ago I was very grateful to be included in one where a dozen of us took turns to give a 5 or 10 minute outline of a sermon on a short passage we’d prepared from Hebrews 11.  A few reflections and some of the pearls of wisdom that were thrown around…

• It’s hard work! I really struggled with Hebrews 11:1-3. What exactly is the flow of thought? Why does it say it like that? How does it fit into the letter as a whole? I spent a good number of hours on it but my sharing at the preacher’s group was a bit rubbish. I went away determined to work more on it and did in fact spend several more hours. It was humbling to feel well out of my depth, floundering in the riches of God’s Word.  Good to be reminded that diamonds are not mined without sweat and the Spirit of Christ.
• It’s great as a preacher to hear good preaching. I always come away from these groups feeling I’ve learnt much from others about the section we’ve all been looking at. This time: (a) helpful summary of the challenges for the first readers of Hebrews – Shame, Sin and Suffering, (b) I saw more clearly how the faith of Hebrews 11 is faith in God’s Word, (c) loved the surprise of Hebrews 11:5//Genesis 5 – faithful Enoch is rewarded with a much shorter lifespan than his forefathers and children – being with God is a much greater blessing than long life.
• A plea for simplicity. My effort was far too complicated and convoluted – which showed I hadn’t really got there. It’s hard work and Spirit-inspiration than gives that seemingly effortless simplicity that you get in, for example, Stott’s commentaries.
• Clarity replaces the need for oratory. Clarity is to communication what simplicity is to thinking . If you can think it simple and communicate it clearly then you don’t need flowery language or shouting or emotive stories. With clarity no-one is left in any doubt what God’s Word is saying and the power is the cutting-to-the-heart power of the Spirit himself.
• Work hard on headings.  Having a two, three or four points each with short summary headings – it’s not the law – but it is really handy for the preacher and the listener. They don’t have to all start with the same letter but it helps if they are punchy, memorable, ‘take away’.  To get headings which are both memorable AND faithful to what the passage is saying takes a lot of sweat.  In other words the sweat doesn’t stop once you’ve got a handle on what the passage is saying, it continues until you’ve worked out how to get it across.
• Work hard on the inner logic.  As well as having a flow of logic through your three or four points, you need to work hard at having a clear flow within each point. So I shouldn’t just think ‘This is my next point and I’m going to ramble on for a few minutes on that topic’ – I need to have a clear idea how I’m going to show that point from the passage, how I’m going to explain and illustrate it if necessary, how I’m going to apply it and what order I’m going to say those things in.
• Get all the tanks pointing at the same target. This is an old metaphor for getting all your points to contribute to the Big Idea of the passage.
• It’s just great to get back to the Bible. I was reminded by the most senior pastor in the group how easy it is to gradually slip from studying God’s word to talking about studying God’s word; from Bible study groups to discussion groups; from expositions to topical seminars. It’s great to be taken back to the coalface, to the words of eternal life.

If you’re preaching regularly but you’re not in a preachers’ group why not join one or start one? If you’re in East Africa get in touch with us at iServe Africa (Contact Us tab) and we’ll put you in touch with Mercy Ireri the Langham preaching groups co-ordinator in our region who can connect you with a group in your area or give advice on how to get started.