A couple of traps for young preachers. Not first-sermon preachers... but first-five-years preachers.
You can do a clear, well-structured, engaging and biblical sermon... that still doesn't work as well as it could.
1. Not human enough
You can slip into a trap of being a bit too 'pastor'. A bit too much 'public figure delivering public oratory'. And so while the sermon is good... it's not really YOU. It's not really relateable. You put on your slightly preacher voice. And you polish it up. And it could be anyone.
Someone has described preaching as 'truth through personality'... and sometimes newish pastors can lack personality in their preaching.
Let some cracks show. Relax. Get a friend or a older pastor or your husband/wife to tease you when you are being too preacher-ly.
2. Clumsy applications that just don't land
In an effort to apply the text thoroughly and practically, young-ish preachers can over-reach in clumsy ways. Detailed, prescriptive stuff that just sounds jarring.
Speaking from my own experience, when you are still young in life, you often don't have things in proportion... and so your idea of what a good application might be can often sound 'off' or even mildly absurd to your listeners.
So test your applications carefully on others. Or go with what you actually know. Or apply a little less in depth than you'd like to think you can.
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