13 Pieces of Unconventional Preaching Advice
When the British Cycling Team had success at the Olympics, the members put a huge emphasis on marginal gains. A more aerodynamic suit that gains 0.1 second. A diet that might gain another millisecond. Soon these marginal gains added up to make the team one of the most successful in Olympic history.
What I want to share in this article is the preaching version of marginal gains. I’m assuming you’ve preached a few times and know how to explain a passage and point to Jesus. If you can do that, there are some small things you can do that will make an impact on your preaching. On their own they aren’t huge, but together they can make a difference.
Here they are, my thirteen pieces of unconventional preaching advice:
1. Preach like non-Christians are there even when they aren’t.
I read this advice from Keller early on in ministry. Preachers look at their congregation and say, “There are no non-Christians here, so why preach evangelistically?”
However, if you keep preaching to Christians, you unintentionally tell them, “Don’t bring friends. They won’t hear the gospel.”
This can cause confusion! On one occasion a woman asked me why I acted like people in the room had never read the Bible before. Another woman said of her non-Christian husband, “This is exactly what he needed to hear. I’m going to tell him to come next week.” That’s why it’s worth persevering even when this approach confuses some.
2. If you’re learning to preach, always preach a new passage; don’t reuse.
When I was new to preaching, I was invited to speak in several other churches. I started by taking one sermon around to each of them. My poor wife listened to Colossians 1 far too many times.
However, an experienced preacher advised me at this stage to stop reusing sermons. I needed practice on the whole process from start to finish. I needed to understand the passage, connect it to my hearers, write it, edit it, and then deliver it. A young preacher benefits from repeating that whole process.
If you’re more experienced, feel free to reuse, but while learning your craft, preach new sermons.
3. Imagine a fire alarm goes off by the end of your intro. Would people come to you in the parking lot and say, “I’ve got to know . . . what were you going to say?”
Even after years of preaching, I struggle most with the introduction. However, I believe it’s so important that it’s worth the listen.
I learned the power of this by accident. I started a sermon on 1 Corinthians 15 by saying, “I want you to imagine you are going to visit a friend in a nursing home. She hasn’t got long left. And she asks you, ‘What hope do I have after death?’ That’s what this passage is about.”
Little did I know, there was a woman in the congregation planning to visit a friend that afternoon. At the end of the service, she promised to go and tell her friend exactly what I said. That doesn’t happen every week, but you should show hearers why they should listen to you.
4. Search your sermon for the word “we” and change it to “you.”
This doesn’t work every time. But “you” can make the sermon more direct. Consider these examples:
“We need to do evangelism.” vs. “You need to do evangelism.”
“Do we know Jesus as savior?” vs. “Do you know Jesus as savior?”
“Do we believe the Father loves us?” vs. “Do you believe the Father loves you?”
A sermon shouldn’t be a conversation with a room en masse. It is a one-on-one conversation with each person in the room. Especially when applying the passage, this change makes all the difference.
5. If you try to preach to everyone, you end up preaching to no one. If you try to preach to someone, you end up preaching to everyone.
For example, consider the difference between these two applications: First, imagine saying, “Do you struggle with anxiety? This passage tells you to cast all your cares on Jesus.”
Now consider if you preach this way instead. “Do you struggle with anxiety? Perhaps you see your teenage son growing further away from Jesus, and you worry what the future holds. This passage teaches you to cast that anxiety on God. Whenever you worry, instead say, ‘Lord, I don’t know what my son is doing. Please watch over him. Please bring him to you.’”
That second application is much more powerful because you’ve preached to a specific person. That’s not just good for anxious parents. Seeing you apply this to a particular situation encourages people to apply it to their anxieties about health, career, or marriage. Apply to specific hearers—a more general statement will bounce off them.
6. Delete 10%.
Are you long-winded? Write out your sermon manuscript, and check the word count. Now delete 10% of the words. It will be much tighter.
7. Until you’re good at preaching, preach five minutes shorter than the regular preacher at that church.
Let’s be honest: unless a visiting speaker is famous, most hearers wish it was the regular speaker. They are used to his style. You will not be as good at holding attention as he is. Keep it brief, and you may find they appreciate you for it.
8. You assume too much. Talk to kids and non-Christians to find out what you assume.
You may have heard of “the curse of knowledge.” This is when you know a subject so well you forget what it’s like not to know.
Preachers often make the mistake of assuming everyone in the room has their level of Bible knowledge. If your only critiques are from experienced Christians, this can often exacerbate the problem as they have a similar curse of knowledge. You end up preaching sermons to theological experts, not unbelievers and young Christians.
The two best sermon critics I have are my 8-year-old daughter and a friend investigating Christianity. They are more than happy to ask difficult questions. By listening to them, I learn what information I’m assuming. Talk to kids and non-Christians to see what mistakes you are making.
9. Have a Bible on the stand.
I don’t care if you’ve got the verses in your manuscript; look them up in a big obvious Bible. It shows people where your authority comes from. You are not just a life coach with some good advice. You are teaching God’s Word. Make that clear.
10. Don’t think you have to say everything in one sermon.
When you’ve spent a long time studying a passage, the temptation is to include everything you’ve found out. Every Greek word, every quote from a famous preacher, every theological debate.
However, too many tangents can muddy your preaching. Know what your passage is primarily about and teach that. Trust the other things will be taught when God wants those taught.
11. Points are a good thing, actually.
Sermon headings or points are going out of fashion, but I’ve been told by non-Christians that they prefer it. They aren’t used to listening to sermons, so these hooks let them follow the logic. At the very least, if you say you have three points and you’re on point 2, they know when you will end soon!
12. Exegetical sermons should be your bread and butter. But learn how to do topical and textual preaching.
Let me briefly define each one. An exegetical sermon goes passage by passage through a book of the Bible. This should be the majority of sermons as it roots what the preacher says in a text.
A topical sermon tries to summarize the whole Bible’s teaching on a topic. The danger is that these are just the preacher’s pet topics. However, sometimes they are necessary. For example, no one passage of scripture would give a wise response to transgenderism or abortion. Yet it is vital for members of the congregation to know how to respond to these issues.
A textual sermon unpacks a verse as a one-off. For example, a Christmas sermon might take Isaiah 9:6 and have the following points: 1) Jesus is Wonderful Counselor, 2) Jesus is Mighty God, 3) Jesus is Everlasting Father, and 4) Jesus is Prince of Peace.
Because the text is small, you can bring in other Scriptures to fill-out the idea. I’ve found this works well for special occasions like evangelistic messages, Christmas, Easter, or baptisms.
13. Pray. (Really.)
Everyone says you must pray—but really pray. Pray before you begin that you will bless the congregation; pray when you’re stuck; pray the message into your own soul; pray through the manuscript that each part will do its role; and even pray internally as you are up there, and you see a non-Christian listening intently. You may not realize it, but this is what all good preachers do.
Conclusion
As we close, let me give you three concluding thoughts. First, remember most of these rules aren’t biblical. So handle with care and recognize it may be different in your setting.
Second, don’t be discouraged by your failings as a preacher. You can preach a terrible sermon, and God can still use it. So don’t despair. Try to get better, but don’t be discouraged.
And finally, remember the golden rule of preaching: show them Christ. You can be the worst preacher in the world, but if you show the congregation Jesus, you’ll make an eternal difference.
Tim Wilson is pastor at Wheelock Heath Baptist Church in Cheshire, England. He and his wife, Natalie, have three children. He earned an MA in Church Leadership from Union School of Theology. He is on the steering group of The Rural Project a partnership to further the gospel in the rural areas of Britain. He writes regularly on Substack, and you can follow him on Twitter.