One Central Idea
Focus the message to share the message.
With this approach, every message should have one central idea, application, insight, or principle that serves as the glue to hold the other parts together
~Communicating for a Change, Andy Stanley & Lane Jones
I’ve heard a lot of sermons in the last 30-some years. I’ve preached a lot of sermons in the last 15 years. Some have been good; some… less so.
You’ve probably heard a lot of sermons, or lectures, or presentations in your days on this earth as well. Some have been good; some… less so.
Some people are naturally gifted speakers. They have an engaging personality, or they are great storytellers, or they had some particularly powerful insights.
Some people work really hard at it. They research. They practice. And then they practice some more. And then some more.
The best ones are both: naturally gifted, but also great workers.
But here’s some good news for those who think they aren’t very good: that’s exactly what can make you better.
As I have tried to improve in my preaching through the years, I obviously focus on the text itself. I work hard to study and understand it every day. But I also look to those who already do a great job and try to learn from them.
A great book on preaching, or public speaking in general if you aren’t one who preaches, is Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. I actually made the mistake of reading this several years ago as I was preparing to record a sermon for my ordination interviews.
I say it was a mistake because it completely wrecked me. I had my way of doing things, and it completely opened my eyes to a new approach. The idea here is that you want to communicate one thing in your message. And, let me tell you, that’s harder to do than it sounds.
When I’m studying a passage of Scripture, there are typically a handful of themes that jump out. The real discipline in preaching comes in trying to narrow it down to one. What happens when you don’t? Well, you end up going all over the place, saying a whole lot of words, and not really communicating anything.
If you’re somebody who regularly gives presentations, speaks to groups or preaches, consider this approach. Boil the message you need to share down to one or two short sentences. Keep the main thing the main thing. Structure your message around that one thing. People are more apt to remember one key idea as opposed to half a dozen.
There will always be more to say. Just say what needs to be said for today, and leave it at that.
