The rock on which faith is built isn’t intellectual agreement with religious ideas but the heartfelt response to God’s love and creative power that we feel from the centre of our being. I approach service preparation with this in mind, being conscious that a preacher’s role isn’t just to provide food for the mind but also to create opportunities through which God can provide food for the soul, to offer openings through which people can come into personal contact with Christ. I’m mindful too of the range of life and faith experiences, varying hopes and fears, and differing spiritual needs within any congregation. I try to provide variety within the service elements to reflect this and I attempt to give opportunities for people to respond individually in the way most appropriate for them at their differing points on their spiritual journeys.
My starting point in preparing a service is usually the lectionary but it might equally be a message that comes to me suddenly in the quiet of the early morning or when I am relaxing, and which might be triggered by seeing an object or a picture in a new light or from something I’ve heard, seen or read. With prayer, this settles into the outline of a sermon, which is underpinned by scripture.
PROLOGUE
I then explore what I call ‘Young at Heart Time’, which ideally is a prologue to the sermon. This allows me to use a variety of resources to involve any youngsters and the wider congregation, to open a dialogue and to enable contributions. A sermon on the kingdom values Jesus taught can be preceded by ‘Topsy-Turvy Mathematics’, where 10p after discussion becomes worth more than £10 (Mark 12:41-44), giving one sweet is more generous than giving five, and a five-hour marathon a greater achievement than one completed in half the time. An interactive practical demonstration of how a pruned twig, rescued from the bonfire, can be made into a cutting that grows into a new healthy bush provides an introduction for a sermon on Jesus reaching out to outsiders.
