posted by Joel Southerland

How do you deal with interruptions?

The phone call.  The drop-in.  The IM interruption.

Now, I’m not talking about the real interruption — like the emergency that must be dealt with.  That’s not an interruption, that is ministry.

The interruption is something that interrupts your work flow that could be put off until later.

So, how do you deal with it?

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A big challenge for the preacher is to quickly connect with the congregation early in the sermon.

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In this episode we discuss an important principle of time management for busy pastors.  How many “inputs” do you have?  Are you controlling them or are they controlling you?  Smith and Southerland give three keys ways to manage what tends to overwhelm us and sap so much of our time.

Mentioned in the Show:

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What about YOU?

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Posted by Joel Southerland
We’ve been preaching that you need a predictable melody in your sermons in parts 1 and 2. 

But there are also times you really need to break it.

I’m a child of the 80’s - when Ronald Reagan and Rock ‘N Roll were king!  I have repented since, but I grew up listening to Aerosmith, Def Leppard, and other bands with cool fonts.

I remember once that a new station was launching in our area and to kick off the debut, it was going to play one song all day, 24 hours straight.  What song in the early 1980’s would they possibly choose to play all day and all night?  Of course, “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.  I thought, Wow! Twenty-four hours of a great song!

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Posted by Scott Newton Smith

The showdown.  The “early service.”  You know… the get-it-over-with crowd.  They sat there, droopy eyed and lifeless.  They had barely survived the song service.  The music guy, bless his heart, had done the best he could.  Just before I went up, he glanced at me as if to say, We’re fallin’ back, Cap’n, troops are demoralized.  We gav’er all we had.

I took the pulpit with a twitch in my eye and a bit wider stance than usual. Anticipation was rising in me.  Moisture began to form on the back of my neck.  (Click “play” now below for effect and keep reading.)

They looked at me — or through me — I couldn’t tell.  I had been here before… and had been beaten before.  But not this time.  I was ready.  When I drew, it would all be over.  They’d be hooked.  I’d be sure of it.

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Posted by Scott Newton Smith

So, how do you achieve melody in your preaching?

1. “Take it To The Bank” Sermon Structure

Predictable consistency is fundamental in achieving melody.  When you understand the way the mind catches ideas, (for instance, that illustration naturally follows explanation and application naturally follows those), the pattern becomes “baked into” the structure of each message.

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Posted by Joel Southerland

Does your preaching have a “melody”?  It should.

If you will listen closely, you will notice that good preachers have a melody to their preaching.

What do I mean by melody?  Good preaching has a rhythm to it, like a good song.  A random collection of musical notes does not make a good song, and a random collection of words, points, illustrations, and appeals does not make a good sermon.

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posted by Joel Southerland

…Just kidding! In the area of politics and the pulpit there has not been a more controversial year on record. One group recently challenged the 1954 IRS ruling and defied the “gag” order on pulpits by the IRS and openly endorsed a candidate. You can read their story here: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/29/pub-pastors-participate-pulpit-freedom-sunday/ .

Is that what we should be doing? In my personal opinion - No.

However, I am all for pastors preaching the subjects that often get deemed “political.” There are truths of Scripture that are essential to the Christian faith that we should stand for unequivocally (and loudly) - the biblical model of family, racial equality, human rights, sanctity of life, etc.  Leading up to election time, those should all get mentioned or preached. In our church, we normally supply Christian voter guides for our members so they know where each candidate stands on these issues.

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Is expository preaching the only way to go?  What about topical preaching and textual preaching?  In this episode, we share pretty strong opinions on this but we feel we have Scriptural backing on the issue.

We also spend some time clarifying what expository preaching really is.

Expository preaching as defined by some greats that are mentioned in this episode: Read the rest of this entry »