Help For Sermon Readers

Rev. Albert  Esselbrugge. Trowel & Sword. April 1995

Preamble: Consider the following scenario: “Who’s preaching today?” “Elder (or perhaps Mr.) so-and-so. It’s a reading service.” “Not again – I think I’ll stay home today. I get nothing out of these services, and he is really boring.” Sound familiar? Perhaps that has been you some time in the past. If we are completely honest we would have to admit that we have all been there at one time or another. Albert Esselbrugge has recognised this reality and in this article sets out, not to point a finger of blame at anyone, but rather to suggest ways to overcome this weakness, both in our thinking, and in the approach a sermon reader could take to overcome the negative attitude many of us have when faced with a reading service.

Help For Sermon Readers.

In our churches, when an ordained minister of the Word Is not available, our sessions appoint a man from the congregation to lead the Worship Service. During the service he will read a sermon from an approved source, usually from the publication, ‘Word of Salvation’. We have come to call such a service, somewhat unfortunately, a ‘reading service’. The most common reaction to such a service is a distinct lack of enthusiasm and excitement from members.

Believing that much of the negative ideas and feelings about the ‘reading service’ can be overcome with careful preparation, the following practical suggestions are presented. My prayer to our Lord is that He may make the ‘reading service’ a more uplifting and fruitful experience for both the worship leader and the congregation.

Our thoughts go out in particular here to the sermon reader. We assume that as a people who come together to worship the Saviour, we will always seek to make our hearts ready for a time of prayer and praise with the people of the Lord, regardless of who the worship leader is. It is also assumed that those who lead us in worship, the preacher, song leader, those who play the musical instruments and any others are brought to the Lord in our prayers before we gather together. Sessions will, of course, have been careful to appoint a worship leader who shows himself to be a true Christian, has a clear voice, presentable manner and appearance, and is someone who will not cause offence.

The Task

Let us be clear that the task of a sermon reader is no less important than that of any preacher of God’s Word. It is a serious business to stand before a congregation and handle God’s Word for the edification of your hearers. You are dealing with souls that need to be brought to humble dependence on the grace of God. As hearers of the Word. we must also become doers, and the task of the preacher is to do all he can, with the frail human gifts God has given him, to bring that about. Sermon reader, you are a preacher. Recognising that your task is difficult because the word you preach has not grown in your own heart as it has for the author, and because of the great responsibility that rests on all preachers in addressing the souls of their hearers, you must always approach the work with a deep sense of humility. The question may legitimately be asked by preachers, ‘Who am I, sinner that I am, to go before these people with God’s Word and say to them “Thus says the Lord”. It is a humbling and fearful thing, and yet we are to go because we go in Christ’s name.

Preparations

The real work of preaching begins in the selection and preparation of a sermon, and it is in the selection process that it is possible to be ’embarrassed’ by the riches, and not know which of the many will be selected.

Here are a number of practical suggestion to help:

1. Seek the guidance and wisdom of the Lord in prayer, both for your entering into the preparation and the delivery of God’s exhortation to His people.

2.  Allow plenty of time to browse and review the available material well before the worship service

3.  After a time of browsing, do not immediately make a selection, but give yourself at least a day to meditate on the needs of the congregation and the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this time seek the Lord in prayer and ask for His guidance.

4. Confident of the Lord’s guidance, make your selection. Do not seek the advice or guidance of anyone other than the Lord in this final selection. This is something between you and the Spirit of God. We have enough to overcome in our own prejudices and failings, without having to consider those of other people who, though well meaning, ought not to be allowed to interfere in what is a high calling.

5. Once a selection has been made carefully read the sermon, seeking in this first full reading to understand the structure and flow, taking note of transitional sentences that lead from one point to another. This ought to be completed at least two days before you enter the pulpit, and may require that the sermon is read several times, until you begin to feel that you are entering into it. As you do this, you will become more flexible in making those minor adaptations of tense or personal pronouns which give it better sense in the pulpit. We do not mean to say that the reader is given rights to adapt and modify the sermon. The sermon should be presented substantially as its author submitted it, but a sentence here or there may need to be modified or added. This is allowable when done sparingly and carefully. It is now the time to prepare the order of worship, select appropriate hymns, and to inform those who need this information – the musicians, those who prepare hymn boards and any others. If you have never understood the basic outline of the order of Reformed worship, and why we do things as we do in our churches, review the report to Synod on worship in the Acts of Synod 1985 (III – 93).

6. It this sermon is to be presented in a morning service, then on Saturday evening set time aside (approximately an hour is a good guide) to spend time in prayer asking that God will bless your voice, your manner and that the Spirit of God will open both your heart and the hearts of those who listen to you. Of course, if you will be preaching in the evening service, this final preparation will need to be on Sunday afternoon, allowing an hour or two between preparation and presentation. We need to spend this time in preparing ourselves for this great work. Be sure to ask the Lord for cleansing from your own sin, so that there will be nothing to impede the presentation of the gospel, and ask the Lord not to hold your weaknesses or failings against the congregation. Taking the sermon now, read it through, highlighting various portions so that your eye will fall back more easily to the point where you were before you looked up at the congregation. Look for emphases and the emotion-filled sentences. Ideally read the sermon aloud to yourself, giving expression to the feeling and impact of the various parts. Do not however, overdo this. The risk is that it will become a drama presentation. Lay the sermon aside after no more than an hour and do not look at it again until you open it in the pulpit.

7. This is also a good time to go over the order of worship again, noting how each part fits together, and how you plan to introduce each part. Some find that writing everything they plan to say a necessity to overcome the fear of forgetting or saying the wrong thing due to nerves. Even if you do not take what you have written into the pulpit, it is good preparation, especially for public prayers.

Presentation

In the pulpit try to be yourself as much as possible. Speak clearly and articulate your words. Remember that nerves cause most of us to speak more quickly than usual, especially when reading. Try to be conscious of this and speak a little more deliberately, carefully observing full stops and commas. Our purpose is to convey a message of Vital importance, not to get in and gel out as quickly as we can. Eye contact with the congregation is also good, and will reduce the woodenness that is often associated with the reader who keeps his head down.

Conclusion

For my personal encouragement I remember the following items which I gleaned from a great preacher. They are suitable encouragement to every Christian, especially to the preacher.

 – at all times remember that Almighty God is the Head of ALL.  Be jealous for His glory.
– God’s promises are true and He is faithful.
– Keep the faith!
– Reverence His Word.
– Always remember what sin deserves.
– Always be thankful in Christ, and rejoice in the Lord.
– Hate all that is casual and flippant in holy things. Be serious, not solemn; grave but never cold. Have a holy joy and a serious happiness.
– Be bold in opposing error.

Finally, when as students we were sent out from the College to preach, we were regularly reminded that whether there were professors, lawyers or other ministers in the congregation we are all in equal need of the gospel. May the grace of God be our comfort and strength as we seek to glorify His Name in preaching.

Albert Esselbrugge

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