Leadership weekly newsletter has a fantastic article explaining why ministers who focus upon being dynamic and photogenic, deliver sermons that do not make an impact. Mark Labberton says there are three intangible qualities that give life when we minister: Gravity,light and air. Their absence in a sermon will be felt.
Here are some brief extracts for your reading pleasure. I found his comments to be worthy of contemplation. Hope you brothers do as well.
[rgh]
>....gravity... is not limited to a mood or personality or form. Gravity is the central pull on the preacher's life. What does the preacher's life demonstrate to be his true center as he dares to stand and speak in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
>...light... does not serve itself but what it illumines. It's light that helps people see what matters, and to receive and engage with all that is available.
The preacher should shine the light of truth, understanding, empathy, wisdom, justice, compassion, and hope into the ordinary world and lives of the congregation. It is light to see by and to see with. It's not blinding or violating. It's the kind of light that reveals God to the people and the people to God.
This kind of preaching is in contrast to the much murkier light of mere cleverness or charisma. It's not the dazzling light of manipulation by which the congregation is captured by the aura of the preacher more than by the gospel itself. Instead, the preacher gets out of the way in order to let "the light of the knowledge of God's glory shine in the face of Jesus the Christ."
>... air ...is like breathing grace. It is rejuvenating, motivating, strengthening. Alternatively, polluted air or a shortage of air makes life much harder. When I am listening to or preaching a sermon, I am hoping for some good spiritual oxygen with as little pollution as possible.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/preachingworship/preaching/elementalpreaching.html?start=1
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