Is the structure, the presentation, and the form of the sermon important? Many believe that only the content is important. If the content is alright, then the rest does not really matter.

That is another misconception. Form and content cannot be separated. Further, the structure and presentation of the sermon is of great importance for the listener. When the sermon has been carefully put together, its message will be so much easier to understand. A sermon should address the congregation, and therefore its form must enable it to speak to the congregation.

A sermon poorly and carelessly put together will form a barrier for the listener. We all know of sermons which make listening difficult. When the importance of the presentation is ignored, the sermon may become boring. It is not a light thing when the truth is made into a boring event!

Therefore, we may expect that the structure, presentation, and form of the sermon contributes to the ease and effectiveness of the listening. The first consideration is then, that we may expect an orderly sermon.

Theme and points⤒🔗

To help the listener, the sermon should have structure. This applies to every speech. No speaker who considers his message of value and who takes his audience seriously will dare to present a tale which makes little sense. We may certainly expect that a sermon is carefully structured.

It is already an old custom in Protestant churches to capture the structure of the sermon in a theme with accompanying points. However, nowadays this is no longer the practice in many denominations. In general, thematic preaching has been discarded. This is only in part caused by shorter sermons which simply do not leave enough time to develop a theme.

Thematic preaching is certainly not the only way in which the sermon can be structured. Its advantage is that the preacher is forced to clarify the structure of the sermon and to present this to the congregation. This gives the listener an excellent outline to follow the development of the sermon. The preacher must certainly know what he is doing if he does not want to make use of this opportunity. Although there are preachers who can do without, experience tells us that many sermons become rather disorganized in the absence of a theme and points.

The formulation of a theme demands that the content of the text is concisely summarized. The points help to identify clearly the various elements in the text. Therefore this method remains important to structure the sermon clearly and understandably. That is what we may expect from a sermon, also when the minister does not use a theme with points.

How long?←⤒🔗

Often the question is asked, how long should a sermon be? This question is not only motivated by the fact that our listening ability is severely hampered by the strong emphasis on the visual in our time. The length of the sermon is also related to its structure.

I would like to plead for a short sermon. I do not mean that a sermon should not be longer than half an hour, or perhaps twenty minutes. The one minister needs much more time than the other, even though they may say the same. The one speaker uses more words than the other. Further, the length of the sermon depends on the text. Therefore, I do not want to prescribe a time limit. I speak of a short sermon. The congregation does not always benefit from all sorts of excursions and elaborations. These do not help the clarity and structure of the sermon, but obscure the message and hinder comprehension. The congregation must be able to follow the sermon readily. Therefore, the sermon must be direct and purposeful, without too many detours. That purpose is determined by the text. We may expect a short sermon, so the congregation is able to follow the preacher readily, and understand the purpose of the sermon.

Reading or speaking←⤒🔗

Should the minister preach from memory, without reading from his notes? Many consider this to be the best way of preaching. And indeed, it is a joy to listen to a speaker who is in such full control of the material that he is able to present it without reading from his prepared speech, captivating his audience in the process. Listening becomes more difficult when the minister reads from a printed sermon, with little thought of the audience.

There are, on the other hand, reservations about preaching without a written-out sermon. Experience shows that a speech becomes longer if its text has not been determined before. This is often obvious towards the end of the sermon, when the minister takes time to search for a "nice" ending. More important is the actual formulation. Since a sermon is the ministering of God's Word, we may expect that the formulation has been prepared with great care. Historically, the church has always paid much attention to the manner in which she echoed God's Word in her confessions. This careful attention should apply equally to the formulation of the sermon. Therefore, the formulation of the sermon may not depend on the inspiration of the moment, or on the preacher's ability to improvise. We may expect that (most of) the text of the sermon in its main thoughts has been prepared before the worship service starts.

Easy or difficult?←⤒🔗

How difficult may a sermon be? Does it always have to be an easy one? What, in fact, is a difficult sermon?

At this point I am not concerned with the content of the sermon. Consideration of the content makes us think of the elementary elements of faith and of growth in insight in God's Word. This aspect was dealt with when we spoke of the instructional aspect of the sermon.¹

I am concerned here with the level of difficulty in the formulating of the sermon. This depends on the preacher and on his audience. The minister, as a person, is a factor which cannot be ignored. The one can deal with difficult Bible passages in a clear and easy manner, while the thought patterns of another are much more complicated. We will always be able to find personal elements in all sermons. There are limits to the extent in which individuals can develop in their ability to express themselves. The congregation also remains a decisive factor. The average churchgoer will have to understand the main thoughts of the sermon in order to have access to its message.

This does not mean that all listeners should be able to retell the sermon completely. On Mondays, many people are unable to tell anything about, let alone retell, the sermons of the previous Sunday, although they listened attentively and with a desirous heart. We cannot measure exactly what we have received in the sermon and what its effects have been on the basis of what we remember. That would be an overemphasis of the importance of intelligence. In church, we are also busy with the heart!

I spoke on purpose about the main thoughts of the sermon. I do not believe that we should demand that every churchgoer will understand in equal measure every detail of the sermon. In that case we would get a sermon for the greatest common denominator.

Such a sermon could easily impoverish some people. Although instruction is directed at a certain average, I recommend that the sermon contains elements which may not be noticed by all, but may be stimulating to some. These are the important raisins in the instructional porridge, a piece of old pedagogical wisdom often forgotten today.

We may, therefore, expect that the difficulty level of the sermon is such that its listeners are stimulated to continue to work with the ministered message of the gospel.

Speaking, preaching, listening←⤒🔗

In these articles we dealt with the question what we may expect from the sermon. I believe that this is an important topic to speak about with each other. I have only dealt with major elements. Much had to be left out because of the limited space available.

The discussion of the sermon is also important in our houses and certainly in the consistory rooms. I have written these articles to stimulate such discussions, because I know that many are hesitant, and uncertain about what they should talk about when discussing the sermon.

In conclusion, it may be necessary to emphasize again that such a discussion can be fruitful only when it is based on real listening. Only those who really want to listen to what God has to say can sensibly speak about the sermon. Otherwise, hollow words will be spoken. That should not happen when we discuss the sermon.

When our discussions are fed by a genuine desire to listen to God's Word, we also want to listen to each other when speaking about the sermon.

This will certainly benefit the preacher and the congregation.