Beyond Infosermons
By Martin Thielen
January 1, 1994
On March 28, 1992, my journal entry reads, "My seminary notes, along with ten years of sermon tapes, are sitting in the dumpster at Glengary Elementary School."
At the time, the decision seemed radical. All night I considered driving back to the dumpster and retrieving my deposit, but I never did.
What prompted such unusual behavior? Was I renouncing my ministry, my preaching, my seminary education? Not at all. I had struggled with the decision for several weeks. An imminent move from Nashville, Tennessee, to a pastorate in Honolulu, Hawaii, which pressured me to get rid of excess baggage, had brought me face to face with how in recent years my preaching had changed.
In my early years of ministry, my preaching was strong on principles, ideas, information. I encouraged listeners to take notes. But as the years passed, I concluded that effective preaching is not ultimately about points, outlines, and information as much as about helping people make contact with God.
Today I don't care if people take notes during my sermons. Like my seminary notes, they won't be looked at again. While outlines and information are important, they're secondary. The experience of meeting God is primary.
THE POWER OF STORIES
I've been preaching for twenty years. I served as a youth speaker during high school, an associate pastor during college, a student pastor during seminary, and a senior pastor after seminary. For four years I served as editor of Proclaim, the Southern Baptist journal for biblical preaching. Now I'm back in the pastorate. And I'm convinced one of the best ways to impact people is to follow Jesus' example in preaching.
Jesus' primary style of preaching was storytelling. When Jesus wanted to teach people about the love and grace of God, ...
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