Issue 40 AI and the churchBlog | Bite-sized preaching
Bite-sized preaching
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 13.09.24
A new regular columnist for Preach magazine, Bob Hartman is a best-selling author and speaker. He has been preaching to congregations of all sizes and ages for many years, particularly at big events such as Spring Harvest. His insights into all-age preaching are built on that strong foundation. In his first article, he explores how to deliver a sermon in bite-sized pieces.
There’s a new bakery in the town next to where I live. And I have just consumed one of their superb espresso buns. I could have just shoved it all into my mouth in one go, I suppose, but my mouth is not big enough. And, more to the point, I would not have been able to savour each delicious bite. I think the same thing is true when it comes to preaching in an all-age service. Bite-sized bits are always best. And, frankly, that’s not just true for the children. The opportunity to ruminate on a passage of Scripture is something that benefits us all.
That is, of course, assuming that said Scripture has been well read or retold; I will deal with that on these pages more fully in the future, but suffice it to say that a clear, intelligent, creative, passionate reading of Scripture is the necessary prerequisite to teasing out its meaning for all ages. Short, sweet and simple is always best (I’m thinking of those buns again!) So you need to use language that everyone has a chance of understanding. Which brings me back to those bite-sized bits. I have long been an advocate of using Scripture in all-age services, not as an item to be considered along the way, but as the framework for the entire service. This means the service begins where the story begins – with the beginning of the passage – and concludes where the passage ends. And we then explore the passage (which is, effectively, ’the preach’) bite by bite along the way.
How to start
For the first bite, you read the first part of the passage, or you read/ perform the first part of a good Bible retelling. Maybe you introduce it with the information your crowd will need to know to understand it. Don’t make a meal of this.
