- With the right gifts and enough hard work, you can write a sermon that is a plateau: from start to end it is engaging and challenging. There are spikes along the way, but it's pretty straight.
- A trap for young players (and busy pastors) is for sermons to nosedive: the introduction and the (long) first point are pretty strong, but the sermon is a gradual downhill from there. It may well end with a cute little summary/conclusion, a little prayer (a re-packaging of the summary for God to listen to) and then announcing the next song.
- But how many sermons have an arrow in them? Sermons that build to a great climax of confrontation, appeal and inspiration; sermons that really get you on the ropes; sermons that silence the congregation?
I know that God is the one who persuades my hearers and the power lies in his word. This doesn't stop me working hard at my exegesis, theology, introductions, illustrations.
But for some reason I can, unintentionally, let my convictions to get in the way of putting good work into the end of the sermon. I don't work as hard as I might on landing it well.
Perhaps this is made worse when you don't set aside time in sermon preparation to go over the finished product and refine the end? Perhaps this is made worse when you don't study those preachers who end well?
