25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you – John 14:25-26 NIV
The other day I was in a pastors’ meeting and the topic of preaching came up. Imagine that, the topic of preaching being discussed at a pastors’ meeting!
Anyway, the jest of the topic involved this: “Preach simple sermons using only one thought or point. When the people go away, they will remember only one thing that you said.”
Of course, we all laugh, because that is pretty much true. Now there are exceptions to this. Some will remember more than one thing and others will not remember anything. But generally speaking, most take with them one thing. So sermons shouldn’t be too long and not have too many teaching points. Keep it simple.
The long part I agree with. Thirty to thirty-five minutes is plenty of time to say what needs to be said. Some can go longer for two reasons: First, they have over the years trained their congregation for it, and Second, they are good at communicating the Word. But for most of us, 30-35 minutes is gracious of the listeners to give us.
The part that I disagree with is the “keep it simple” by limiting the message to one point. One pastor said, “Yeah, all I do is preach one point now days – just one!”
Let’s see, did Jesus practice that theory when He launched into the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7)? How about the Olivet Discourse regarding the end times (Matthew 24-25)?
On a more personal level, if this is all people can handle, then why are we encouraged to read so many chapters from the bible during the week in our devotions (about 30-35 to be exact)? Often times we are reading several chapters a day. If it is true, that we only take with us a small amount of bible understanding after being exposed to the Word, then what we should do is read an average of one chapter of the bible a day – no more.
But massive amounts of bible reading is good for us even though we may not remember all that we read. Just knowing that spiritual seeds are being planted into our minds and that a spiritual cleansing of renewal is occurring by being expose to the Word is worth all that extra reading (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 5:26).
But here is the real deal. It is true that normally, the average person will walk out of the typical Sunday service remembering only one thing. But this is where the Holy Spirit comes in to help and to assist. Jesus said, that the Holy Spirit will accomplish two things for those who believe in Jesus: First, He will teach you what we need to know, and Second, He will remind us what we were taught.
At the meeting we all laughed because as preachers and pastors, we put in a lot of hard labor in preparing messages, only to conclude that people will not remember it all except for one point. Help! But that’s human nature and what do we expect, right? God understands this so He said, I am going to send you a Helper who will assist you in your teaching of My Words, so that when the time is right, and when it is most needed, the Holy Spirit will bring to people’s remembrance ALL that I have taught them. This is comforting.
Here’s the thing to remember. I do not adjust my messages to fit the condition of the people. Instead, I give to the people meaty messages designed to help them to reach for the stars and chomp on some juicy morsels of truth. I also give them lots of it. That is, lots to think about. Because at end of the message, although they will walk away taking with then only one thought, I know the Holy Spirit will be with each person reminding them of what they were exposed to when they need it the most. If I only expose my people to one point in my message, then that’s all the Spirit of God is able to remind them of. But if I expose my people to several points in my message, then the Spirit of God has several points to choose from as reminders.
I also understand that when I conclude my message on Sunday with a prayer and invitation, that is not the end of my message, but only the beginning. The rest of the message will be preached by the Spirit of God in the form of more “teaching lessons” and “reminders.” In actuality, my sermon is only the introduction of the Holy Spirit’s on-going message. When I stop and sit down, the message continues to be preached by the Helper whose function is to teach and remind.
So do I get discouraged over the fact that only one point is remembered by the people who leave the service? No. If teaching my people the Word was all up to me, I would be miserable and so would they. But it’s not up to me. God the Holy Spirit during the sermon is illuminating people’s minds to understand the Word as it is being taught; He is also softening and bringing conviction to hearts that must repent; He is bringing comfort to souls who need it; He is also providing greater insight into understand Jesus and the Father’ love and will for our lives. This is just what takes place during the message. Then after the message is over with – although I am done, the Holy Spirit continues His teaching and reminding ministry.
I got the greatest Helper in the world! I don’t need to adjust my message to only having one point. If anything, I need to pour it on and preach as if there will be no tomorrow. God’s Spirit will decide what kind of truths the listeners will need to be reminded of during the course of their lives.
I want to fill people’s hard drives with lots of biblical file folders so that the Spirit of God will have many folders to choose from to bring back to remembrance the things the average person in my church has been taught and exposed to.
Remember this: Just because a person may only take one thing with them at the end of a message does not mean all the other things were lost. Believe me, it’s all there filed away waiting to be “clicked on” and opened up by the Spirit of God.
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