Lessons from Old Sermons
I registered the domain DashHouse.com on July 25, 1999, the day before my 32nd birthday. I wasn't sure what I would do with the site, except that I wanted to write and post my sermons. For almost 26 years now, I've been doing just that, although some of my sermons go all the way back to 1996.
I've been tidying up some of my old posts. It's not easy because there are so many. I've decided to start with my sermons since I've been posting them for so long. The tagging system needs improvement, and I'm converting some of my older sermons from bullet points to paragraphs. I know a sermon manuscript is different from a sermon. A manuscript is a lifeless document, while a sermon comes alive as it's delivered to a specific congregation.
Still, I've learned a lot as I've gone back and tidied up these manuscripts, even doing some light editing.
First, it really does take a while to learn how to preach. I had a few good sermons when I started out, but those ran out pretty quick. Then I had to learn how to prepare a good biblical sermon, not just once or twice, but every week. Looking back, I can see a huge variation in the quality of my sermons. Some were good, some were okay, and some were pretty bad. To a certain extent, that's to be expected. There are things we can do to lay a good foundation for our preaching, but I think Tim Keller was right when he said, "Your first sermons will be terrible, and your early ones won't be much better, but you can't begin the path to good preaching without walking through bad preaching." It takes a long time to learn how to preach a good sermon. When we're young, we need to be patient and give ourselves time to find our feet as preachers.
Second, foundations matter. I had a good foundation but didn't maintain it carefully. When I graduated from seminary, I studied Haddon Robinson's book Biblical Preaching and then tucked it on my shelf. I picked it up again 12 or 13 years later while studying under Haddon at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. For those dozen years, I had what I needed right on my bookshelf. I'd even read it but neglected an approach that would have helped my preaching more than almost anything else.
Becoming a good preacher takes time, but it's crucial to focus on foundational teachings from books like Haddon Robinson's Biblical Preaching and Brian Chapell's Christ-Centered Preaching. I could have been a better preacher if I had paid more attention to what I learned and kept it in mind.
The third lesson I've learned as I've gone through my old sermons is much more encouraging: God is gracious. The good news is God uses imperfect preachers who are still finding their feet and preaching sometimes wobbly messages. To be honest, things haven't changed too much. I think I'm a better preacher now, but I'm sure I'll look back on today's sermons and shake my head one day.
It's still all of grace that God chooses to use any of us, whether we're new at preaching or seasoned. I praise God that he used some of those sermons that I preached over 30 years ago. They weren't all stellar. God was gracious. Power comes not from our preaching skills, but from God's word and the Holy Spirit.
And that's good news for every preacher.
Working through my old sermons has been an experience, and these lessons keep coming up over and over again. Few things can humble a preacher more than reviewing old sermons. Few things can encourage a preacher more than witnessing God's work throughout their preaching journey, shaping them and using their imperfect efforts for the church's benefit and His glory.
