NEW PREACHERS — The new pastor, after preaching his first sermon at his first church, was greeted at the front door by the Deacon Chairman. Wanting to encourage and affirm the new minister, the Deacon commented, “Preacher, that was a mighty fine sermon you preached. Yes, Sir! It is good to have you in our pulpit!”

Mustering up all the humility he could, the young preacher replied, “Aw, it was all of God.”

To which the Deacon immediately and straightforwardly answered, “Son, it wasn’t THAT good!”

PREACHERS WITH A FEW SERMONS UNDER THEIR BELTS — The new pastor, with over 30 years in the ministry, had just finished preaching his first sermon at his new church. As the congregation was leaving many members where showering him with praise, admiration, and encouraging words concerning his message.

One man though, as he shook the preacher’s hand, looked the preacher straight in the face, and unmoved by all the excitement, simply and flatly commented, “Preacher, that was a warm sermon.” And then, without saying another word, turned and exited the doors.

“Warm sermon?” the new pastor though to himself. “Warm?” “What in the world did he mean by ‘warm?’”

Having, in all the years that he had been preaching, his sermons described by the use of every adjective imaginable, good and bad, he’d never had one called, “warm.”

This bothered him. He tossed and turned in his bed that night. He couldn’t get it off his mind–”warm?” “Warm?” “What did the guy mean by ‘warm?!’” He couldn’t sleep thinking about it. He tossed and turned some more.

Finally, about 2:30 am, he got out of his bed. Immediately he went to his study, got out his dictionary, sat at his desk, and looked up the word “warm.” It said, “Not too hot.”

One of the saddest things to see in church is where somebody is ministering in any position in the church, where it is obvious they don’t have a gifting for it, and no-one was loving enough to tell them that.

The main failing I’ve noticed with people starting out is very simple: a lack of structure. The other failing: trying to imitate others, and not looking for your own “voice”, or way of doing things, as a preacher.

another thing we need to hear is that we must remember that the ministry of preaching is a ministry of grace and the Holy Spirit…”not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit…” God graciously chooses to use us by His gift of the Holy Spirit to minister his grace to others and He WILL use us if we depend on Him, focus on exalting Christ, and focus our sermons on the intent of the text as well as the deep human needs that the truths of the text speak to.

If the gospel is there in some way, even poorly preached, the Holy Spirit can use those words for His purposes.

And then try again. Having the gospel be the center, and not the law.

The law kills, the gospel makes alive in Christ.

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I would say that a bad sermon is one where Jesus doesn’t even show up. But instead Moses does.

I was thankful to be a part of a church in Louisville while I was going to seminary which allowed me to stand behind the pulpit and have a few disasters before I was kicked out of the nest and expected to fly. I was also thankful for one of the local nursing homes which allowed me to come and preach sometimes as often as four Sundays a month while I was going to seminary. This gave me plenty of opportunities to get into the rhythm of preparing and delivering sermons long before I ever stood behind “my” pulpit.

To any seminary student out there who complains that they don’t get enough opportunities to preach, I will heretofore extend to you a challenge: offer yourself up to nursing homes! They are always looking for ministers to give their residents some love, and it is very good practical experience. You won’t get paid. You won’t get showered with a lot of praise. 85% of your audience will be asleep by the time you read your text, and oftentimes those who are awake will cause some kind of distraction (mostly the nursing home staff). However, you WILL find out if you are really called into the preaching ministry, because there is no chance of fortune, fame, peer approval, good grades, or anything like that. I would go so far as to say that if you can’t take joy in preaching in a setting like a nursing home, then you are preaching for the wrong reasons, and you will not be able to stay in the pulpit through the pressures of pastoral ministry.

Going into that preaching date and throughout my first few sermon points, I thoroughly believed that I was going to be a spiritual gift to the congregation. I thought they were fortunate to have me bless them with my presence and giftings. But I began to stumble over my words and my mind drew blanks about what to say. Nobody got saved. Nobody wept.

Afterward, the kind old folks in that church just encouraged me and told me how glad they were to have me preach for them. I think some lady gave me a loaf of bread she had baked. They were kind enough to also video tape my message, and when I watched myself for the first time, I realized how bad my delivery really was and how very little of substance I actually had to say. I also went on for too long without actually making a point. I couldn’t understand why the congregation was so nice to me after the service. At that point, I started to doubt whether I was really cut out for the ministry.

Looking back over 10 years later, I realize what a great learning opportunity that was for me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. That congregation wasn’t lucky to have me there. It turns out that I was the one who blessed to be in their presence and to receive their listening mercies and encouragement. Now, that realization is constantly on my mind every time I get up to preach behind the pulpit.