Laser or light bulb?
Some preachers only kind-of, sort-of, know what they want to say when they get in the pulpit. And by that I am not saying that they don’t have a manuscript or notes. What I mean by FOCUS is, has the message captured your heart? Has God gripped your soul with what you want to say today to God’s people in God’s name? Focus is when the Big Idea (the Proposition; the Sermon in a Sentence) has gripped your soul and it won’t let you go, until you let it out.
If the message has gripped your soul, you will have Focus. When you have Focus, you have a powerful message.
What is the result of having Focus to your sermon?
1. People will feel the power of your message upon THEIR hearts.
They will be gripped by it as well, and they will focus on you. This is important. I sit at the back of church when I am not preaching, and I see how the people at the back are really easily distracted. It takes a powerful message with a strong focus to capture and keep their attention. The further they sit from the pulpit, the more the Focus is important to maintain their attention.
2. Your message will be delivered to their hearts like a laser, and not like a soft-white diffused fluorescent bulb.
People will feel like God is speaking to them about something specific. God’s application is always very specific. A focused message helps to deliver God’s truth into people’s hearts.
3. Every point in your message will supplement your main point and sharpen the focus.
The Mains will sharpen, clarify, and strengthen what you have to say. They will sharpen the Focus, not soften it.
How do you know if you don’t have Focus in your sermon?
1. You will ramble!
If you don’t have anything specific to say, then, just about anything will do. Rambling generalities never changed anyone’s life.
2. You will try to make too many applications.
When a preacher is not sure of what s/he has to say, they often pull out the easy applications and start hitting people about the same old sins. But Focus helps a sermon to point to one specific life change which God’s Word is calling them to do.
3. You will lack passion.
The people will sense it, and you will feel it. The right words may come out, but not with the same punch or power. Focus adds passion.
How to get Focus in your sermon:
This is the tough part. How can you make sure that week in and week out, you have clear Focus? You need to have clearly written goals for your sermon. I use SermonBase Message Planning Software® to help me frame up my goals for every single message. I determine the main goal for the entire message. (And please note, that this is NOT the same as the Big Idea or Proposition.) Then I determine three sub-goals: Intellectual, Emotional, and Behavioral. Asking these questions helps me to sharpen the Focus of my message.
Hope that helps!
Here’s to good preaching that grab’s people’s hearts in the name of Jesus!
Dr. Bill