Pastor Liu, who has been serving full-time in a church in a southern city for many years, voiced out that pastors need to relearn how to prepare a sermon.
In a recent interview with the Chinese online Christian newspaper, the Gospel Times, Pastor Liu stated that preaching is a significant issue in the Chinese church today, perhaps even one of the biggest challenges. He believes that in order to deliver God's word effectively, the first step is for pastors to establish their own relationship with God and build their own spiritual lives. Next is the preparation a pastor undertakes for a sermon, which includes both long-term strategic planning and short-term and specific actions.
Although homiletics courses are offered in seminaries, Liu believes that most of these courses do not provide substantial practical help to pastors.
The current situation is that many grassroots pastors have limited cultural and theological foundations, making it difficult for them to prepare high-quality sermons, especially for those in third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas.
For these reasons, Pastor Liu believes that it is necessary for many pastors to start relearning how to give sermons.
He shared that when he was in seminary, he often learned many things superficially, without much in-depth thinking. However, after serving for a long time and then going back to study, he was able to think and understand more deeply.
Liu gave an example of how to prepare a sermon, which involves many methods that can be relearned one by one. This includes how to write the introduction, outline, and main points of a sermon, as well as the examples and testimonies used during the sermon, and how to apply the message to real life.
"In reality, we see many pastors whose sermons are often a mess. With a weak introduction or without an introduction, they jump straight into the sermon. Then, during the sermon, there is no clear outline, and the audience has no idea what is being preached. When it comes to the conclusion, many ministers do not know how to end the sermon."
Pastor Liu continued, "But a good sermon is different, as it can deeply move believers who hear it. They will repent, cry, and desire to follow God's Word."
In his view, many sermons by some pastors "have bones but no flesh." This indicates that not only are the beginnings and endings of the sermons weak, but the middle part is also a failure.
For these reasons, Liu believes that pastors must relearn how to preach. By studying again, they can flesh out their sermons, preach the truth with spiritual maturity, and make their preaching full of vitality, influence, and transformative power.
- Edited and translated by Abigail Wu
