Sermon Central
-
The Sermon Ships Every Sunday
By Steven Furtick on Feb 12, 2012
"God has never depended on your perfect preaching to save lives any more than He has your perfect obedience to save yourself."
There’s a well-known quote in the marketing and business world from Steve Jobs about the importance of getting your ideas out the door.
Real artists ship.
Jobs isn’t just speaking of people who paint, draw, sculpt, or make music. It’s anyone who has the responsibility for creating anything. Products. Services. Reports. Even sermons.
Real artists don’t delay their creation’s release in an attempt to make it perfect. They put in the work and get it as close as they can, and then release it. The most significant ideas in the world are the ones that have been shipped. Not the ones that are perfect. And that’s because no idea is ever perfect.
This is a difficult but necessary truth for anyone who creates. But pastors probably need to embrace it the most. We more than anyone have the tendency to obsess over every facet of the creative work we ship every Sunday and think it needs to be perfect to be effective. I know this better than anyone. There have been countless times when I’ve finished a sermon and wished I could have worked on it more. Brought it closer to perfection.
But at some point you have to put your ideas out there.
Every sermon you have or will ever preach could be improved. Every illustration could be a little tighter. And you could always have a deeper understanding and grasp of the passage you’re preaching.
But you have to understand that when it comes time to ship your sermon what matters is not the perfection of your main point. Or your illustrations. Or your introduction or conclusion.
It’s the perfection of God’s promise that His Word will never return void.
I’m not saying you don’t need to put in hard work ahead of time. Real artists work. And then ship. But there does come a point when you have to realize that God has never depended on your perfect preaching to save lives any more than He has your perfect obedience to save yourself. And He never will.
The Word is perfect. The Gospel is perfect. Your plan and ability to present it are not.
But we have faith that God can more than make up the difference. The same God who used a stuttering shepherd as His mouthpiece before the most powerful man in the world can use us as well. The same God who took twelve ordinary men with no background in public speaking and used them to begin a movement that changed the world can use us, too.
Pastors, Sunday is just a few days away. Take some more time and prepare.
Master the text. Strengthen your presentation. Pray for anointing.
Your sermon isn’t going to be perfect. But God doesn’t need it to be to use it.
So when Sunday comes, don’t hesitate. Ship your sermon.
Related Preaching Articles
-
Dave Stone’s 8 Principles To Great Preaching
By Brandon Kelley on Sep 6, 2017
Dave Stone’s 8 Principles to Great Preaching
-
Do This And Improve Your Preaching This Sunday
By Peter Walters on Aug 2, 2017
We have a new family in our church with no church background at all. When I prepare to preach I think of them and go the extra mile to make my message as understandable and relatable as possible.
-
Using An Ipad Pro For Ministry
By Joe Hoagland on Aug 2, 2017
See, a Chromebook or even a laptop or desktop only helps you with the content creation side of ministry: preparing sermons, writing lessons, writing blog posts etc. Whereas an iPad Pro can do both sides: content creation as well as presentation.
-
The 10 Commandments Of An Effective Sermon Introduction
By Brandon Kelley on Jul 31, 2017
If you haven’t grasped this yet, your sermon introduction is vitally important. But what does it look like to knock the introduction out of the park? What are some things to avoid? What are some things to ensure are a part of it? Let’s dive into the 10 commandments of an effective sermon introduction!
-
3 Essentials For Pastoral Preaching
By Rich Villodas on Jul 25, 2017
I think I’m starting to learn to preach not as a preacher but to preach as a pastor. There’s a world of difference between the two.
-
3 Reasons Good Preaching Is As Important As Ever
By Joe Hoagland on Jul 25, 2017
People love to tell you that preaching is irrelevant in this day and age. But contrary to this kind of thinking, good preaching does remain important. In fact, preaching remains as important as it has ever been.
-
Preaching God’s Word Is Timeless (Find The Timeless Truth)
By Joe Hoagland on Jul 24, 2017
The Bible is wholly relevant to the modern person’s life sometimes it just takes some work for us to figure that out. The idea of making a “timeless truth” central to your sermon is important in communicating God’s Word in a postmodern age.
-
Pulpit Humour: Five Pointers
By Peter Mead on Jun 29, 2017
5 Tips on how to avoid landmines when using humor in the pulpit.
