Ken and I routinely get questions, comments and other various feedback about our sermons, preaching styles and topic selections. That feedback is often all over the board, even for the same topic (what appeals to one person may not appeal much--or at all--to another). And while on the one hand preaching regularly makes it an undertaking easier than some imagine (the routine of it becomes somewhat natural) much of what goes into writing and delivering a sermon is quite difficult. And yes, subjective. I wanted to tackle a few of the questions and comments we often receive--and I hope you'll let us know (now or any time in the future) if we've missed any or you have other feedback to share.

HOW CAN YOU PREACH WITHOUT NOTES?

Well, it certainly doesn't mean I preach on the fly. Both Ken and I can and do preach, at different times, from notes, full manuscripts and yes, from memory. Though even when preaching from memory, you can bet there are notes up front. Just in case. Standing in front of a sanctuary full of people is a bad time to discover your mind has gone blank!

Personally, there are many times I would prefer to be a manuscript preacher. It allows for a tight use of language, and eliminates the risk of wandering...or forgetting...or stumbling. Many of history's greatest preachers were manuscript preachers. that doesn't mean they blandly read their sermons. A good manuscript preacher has the full manuscript in front of them but delivers it with an ease that reveals a great deal of practice with the text. Practice is key with any form of preaching. Unfortunately, I have found that I get flustered easily when I lose my place. And after lots of tries preaching from manuscripts and notes, for me, I found I can be most natural without worrying about following a manuscript. The style also seems to resonate with those listening, and so that combined also with the style just feeling natural and authenic to me (each preacher must preach in a way that is true to who they are) is what determines my style.

You will still find me using a manuscript or closely following notes at times when acute precision is key, or when there are too many details for me to feel confident trusting my memory. For example, I generally use notes for funeral sermons.

WHY CAN'T YOU SHORTEN YOUR SERMONS SO WE GET OUT SOONER?

Ah, yes. That good old question. Well, we can. And often do. Sometimes on one Sunday, service to service (like if there is a baptism at one service but not another). Some of it, for me, at least, has to do with style. I can generally give the same sermon a bit briefer when using a manuscript...so there's a trade-off. Also, each preacher has a certain idea of what they want to accomplish in a sermon...and often when we tackle big or deep topics, it really is difficult to do the passage and topic justice in too short of a time. Also, there is a sort of cultural difference between denominations and even congregations about sermon length. I would expect to preach a bit longer at a church with a relatively high level of education (like Calvary) than at one with a comparatively lower one because I would anticipate the need to go a bit deeper.

All that said, preachers like talking about God--helping people understand God, humanity and God's relationship to humanity--and the desire to help people better understand God may sometimes get the best of us. We do, I promise, make a concerted effort to control the length of our sermons. And what we deliver on any given Sunday is usually our best attempt at balancing time with what seems to us necessary to adequately address the passage and topic. And I can also guarantee you that there's actually probably a lot we have chosen to leave out!

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE TOPICS FOR YOUR SERMONS?

It seems to me there are three primary ways for pastors to decide what they're preaching on:

1. Random, self-determined. This is when a pastor decide each week on what to preach on. With no outside guidance. At best, this allows for a timely topic. At worst, it means that the pastor (and congregation) is prey to the whims of the preacher, and moreso, often hears regularly on the same topic or two or three that is most precious to the preacher. Some maintain that this best allows the Holy Spirit to work. Personally, I disagree, since it seems to me the Holy Spirit, being one of the three persons of the Trinity, is perfectly capable of planning ahead most of the time.
2. Lectionary. A few decades ago, leaders from a variety of denominations worked together to set a three year cycle of readings (for each Sunday, Old Testament, Psalm, Gospel and New Testament--Epistles, Acts, Revelation). The idea being that these are tied to the church calendar and that the lectionary both provides for people to hear the vast majority of the Bible (sorry, Leviticus) over the course of three years--AND it provides a guideline to pastors so they must work through the entirety of scirpture. This still gives a good deal of flexbility to pastors, as most choose to preach on only one of the four texts each Sunday (or at most to use the others to inform their reading of the one). This also allows for great consistency in planning, since all involved in worship (music directors, worship assistants, etc.) know what to expect at nearly any point in the future. The vast majority of pastors use the lectionary. Especially during the major seasons of the church (Advent, Lent, etc.) The period of the church calendar that runs from after Pentecost until the end of November is known as ordinary time, and many pastors use this time to come "off lectionary" and do different topics. While it may seem like a more recent phenomenon to do a "sermon series," most pastors have been doing this for a very long time, but not advertising it (or advertising it as such). For example, since the lectionary usually following a book for a while, a pastor will normally do the gospel readings for a month or two, etc. Rarely does a pastor jump around from book to book.
3. Sermon Series. As I mentioned above, most pastors have nearly always been doing this--at least those who preach in the same pulpit week after week. Sermon series allow the congregation to follow the flow of a book or a topic, since scripture is offer to us in that way--to jump around usually reflects an attempt at eisegesis (telling the text what it should say) rather than exegesis (learning from the text what it says). Sermon series deepen the ability to plan ahead that is offered by the lectionary, and at Calvary, while we do a sermon series during the major seasons of the church (namely Advent and Lent) these series pretty much always are actually made to follow the lectionary. At other times (the seasons of Epiphany and Ordinary time particuarly) we generally do a combination of series which follow the lectionary and ones that follow other topics. We try, over the course of the year, to hit different types of topics--since our congregation is made up of people looking for a variety of things. Some topics are more basic, others more deep. Some are more topical, others definitely more tightly tied to the lectionary's scripture. Usually the series are born from questions we receive from those who worship with us (like the questions series we did a few summers ago), sometimes by topics that are in the forefront of culture at the time (like our current Visions series--which uses the lectionary some Sundays, even), and sometimes we rely on classic topics (like our Apostles Creed series, which was also, though, because of questions we'd been receiving). It is our belief that people learn best through following common threads, and we feel that since this type of learning is evident in scripture and Jesus' teachings, it also reflects the most effective way to preach. It allows for greater creativity in preaching and worship, and often also allows us to pair activities outside of worship (studies, events) with the sermons so that the repetition helps people learn even more. We struggle to prayerfully discern what our sermon topics will be, and to carefully determine the appropriate length of a series. Often, the length is largely determined by the calendar (as in, "How do we cover the time from Epiphany to Lent?").

We are regluarly asked why we do not recognize a particular "special" Sunday by orienting our entire service to it. There are a variety of reasons. One, which I mentioned above, is our belief that people learn best from some sort of flow from week to week. Jumping all over the Bible from topic to topic would also give people the idea, it seems to me, that the Bible is thus disjointed. That is just one reason, though. We view the Bible and the church calendar to be the single most important guide for choosing worship themes and sermon topics. There must be a balance between following the cultural holidays and following the church calendar. And in fact, often these two are in competition. This year, for example, Pentecost falls on Memorial Day weekend. Pentecost, as the birthday of the church, is arguably one of the top three most important days in the church calendar (some might even rank it above Christmas in scriptural importance). While there are many opportunities for celebrating Memorial Day--and we certainly will recognize this important national holiday--church ought to be the place where we celebrate the church's holidays first.

At other times, we are asked to devote an entire service to a particular topic. Sometimes we are unable to do so because of planning (we are currently planning topics out at least six months). Sometimes we are able to adjust, and sometimes an event happens that forces us to do so. And we do. But while any one person might ask for us to devote an entire service to one topic, they may not realize how frequently we get asked to do that. If we devoted a service to each topic we're asked to, we'd spend the entire year doing that. We choose to be more structured in our topics, so we try to recognize those items we can, when we can't devote full attention to a topic in worship, to find another venue to do it, and just generally try to be thoughtful in how we map out the year. It's not an easy thing to do, and undoubtably leaves some disappointed in our choices.

One of the key things I want to mention here too, though, is that we cannot adjust our planning if we don't hear about concerns. We try very hard to include those topics, suggestions, concerns and focuses that people want. It's vital that worship and sermons are relevant for folks. But the only way we can do that is if you share your feedback with us.

Let me give you an example of how that works. During our 2011 stewardship focus using Adam Hamilton's book Enough, several people asked why we weren't focusing on non-financial ways of giving. That is indeed an important part of giving, and while we got immense positive feedback about the Enough series, we recognize it isn't generally helpful to do the same thing year after year for something like that. It is not, however, as easy as some might think to do everything at once, and do it well. That's why in school students are taught one subject at a time--though since we have only 20 minutes or so a week, we can't do five topics a day! In 2012, our stewardship focus will, then, indeed include a large focus on use of gifts in serving through Calvary. We have already begun working on the elements that will supplement the sermons and study--so we're already a year out!

I really enjoy preaching at Calvary. I'm blessed that so many of you regularly share both encouragement and feddback. It's awesome when you share how one of our sermons has postively impacted how you live your life or understand God. And it's really cool to see the many ways your feedback and involvement enhance our sermons and worship. I look forward to seeing that continuing to develop as we are in ministry together.

This post only touches upon a few of the questions you might have--but I hope it's helpful. And I hope you will continue to share questions, comments and suggestions with Ken and I as we navigate the variety of issues that are involved in choose topics, planning themes and delivering sermons. Your feedback makes a big difference in helping us offer relevant, growth-inspiring and disciple-building messages and worship!