Sermon Workshop: Power in the Punch Line - Leadership journal

He winces when he says it: "Some preachers preach past the point!" Andy Stanley's heritage is one of long sermons, but for his congregation at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, length doesn't equal depth—or impact.

Teach less material at greater depth. Less is more. Instead of leaving listeners with a list of five things to remember—which they won't—plant one powerful thought. Most communicators make the same mistake: they have too much stuff. They miss their moment.

When I listen I often think, If you had just spent 30 minutes talking about that one thing, it would have been a great sermon.

I listened to a man speaking on marriage. His second point was brilliant. I was ready to get in the car with my wife, go home, and try it. But he had two more points after that. By the time he ended, nobody remembered point two. It was irritating because he had something to say, but it got lost in all the other stuff he had to say.

Preachers prepare with this fear: Am I going to be able to fill the time? The audience never worries about that. But every preacher sits down and thinks, Here's this great idea, but I have to fill 35 minutes.

I say to the preachers I mentor, "You've got to get that fear out of your mind, because it will drive you to over-prepare. It will drive you to have four points when you should have just one."

I ask them, "What is your theme? Don't give me the thesis; give me a statement. If you can't, you don't have a punch line."

I look for it. As I study I ask myself, "So what? What's the point? What's the takeaway?"

I ask the guys I'm training, "What is your burden? What's the thing you've got to tell them? The train is leaving, it's the last thing—is there anything that elicits the emotion that says, 'You just have to know this?'"

When I build a sermon, I clear away everything, no matter how good it is, that adds or distracts from that one point. Then I crescendo to it. Preparation isn't about finding a way to divulge everything I know, but about asking myself, "What's the thing, Andy? Just say the one thing, and then stop your mouth from moving."

Holiday Sermons

Getting Sober for Christmas

by Mary Graves
Text: Luke 3:2-18
Big Idea: John the Baptist's sobering words caused hearers to turn to God. It's a good word now.

During Advent, we ask, "What should we do to get ready?" John cries, "Wake up!"
Advent moves us from self-preoccupation to humble, outward expectation. We can't skip to Jesus without John; we can't skip to Christmas without humility.
False shame condemns but healthy shame prepares us to receive Jesus. The genuineness of readiness is in soberness, of soberness in behaviors. Humility and generosity are the order of Christmas.

On Beyond Zebra

by Vic Pentz

Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Big Idea: We have no category for virgin birth or God-man, but we must accept this unique baby. Open with Dr. Seuss's On Beyond Zebra, about letters past "z" that spell special words. Likewise, Christians must believe what they can't see to spell "Immanuel."

The birth of Christ is without a category into which we sort life's experiences.
The miracle of miracles is that the baby inside Mary was God in human flesh.
If we do not accept this baby, we will miss Christmas, because it is on beyond zebra.

Download full transcripts at PreachingTodaySermons.com.