In sermon feedback, I pose this issue: “Were you, the listeners, able to follow this sermon easily?” I ask the group to describe their experience of listening to the sermon: What happened in your mind and heart as the sermon unfolded? Follow-up questions are often. If you were able to follow the sermon easily, what helped you? If not, what got in the way, and what might the preacher do differently if preaching the sermon again?
The preacher’s process of preparation generates questions, exegetical material, ideas, stories, quotes from theologians, and other material. The preacher arranges how these things unfold in the sermon. One of my colleagues identifies each of the chunks of material for the sermon on three-by-five-inch note cards, and arranges and rearranges them on a blank desktop until a promising flow emerges.
Two advantages of using a preexisting sermon form are efficiency and clarity of purpose. The preacher does not become frustrated or waste time trying to figure out how to say what he or she wants to say. However, stock genres can be wooden. They may not fit the person the preacher is, or the people to whom he or she preaches, or the purpose of his or her sermon. An advantage of developing one’s own approach is that he or she can shape the sermon to accommodate the congregation and occasion. Another advantage is that it allows for creativity. A potential limitation is that the preacher can become frustrated, and bum up a lot of time, when the creative process is blocked. Also, some preachers have difficulty arranging material in a way that allows the congregation to follow it easily.