Whether someone is preaching in view of a call, filling in for a vacationing pastor, or performing a wedding, every pastor will have to deliver a “one time” sermon at some point. Deciding what to preach or how to preach can be a challenge, especially if the pastor is young and doesn’t have a handy sermon stashed away in his back pocket for these occasions.
I asked Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research and author and co-author of several books, including Planting Missional Churches and Transformational Church, how would he advise pastors to approach a “one time” sermon.
I remember the first time I preached a sermon, though it’s unlikely anyone else does. In fact, I’m actually relieved that no record remains of its existence. I was asked to preach one time and, like many other first-time preachers, I brought everything I knew into that message. It was long, painful, and scattered—-but a kind group of older adults not only invited me to preach, they also patiently sat through my message—-though they never asked me back.
Preaching a stand-alone message can be tricky. For me, they generally fall in between sermon series (as I much prefer to preach) or when I am invited somewhere as a guest preacher.
Sometimes, as a guest preacher you are part of a series. For example, at one church, I simply continued the series (though I was a little bitter with the passage I was assigned). This isn’t too difficult—-you listen to a few messages before, tie in to those, and help the pastor along the way.
However, it’s harder when you are the guest preacher with a single topic. I think you can go about it in two legitimate ways.
1. Preach a text on a topic.
2. Preach a topic with texts.
Preaching a Text on a Topic
A message is supposed to be grounded in the text, but text-based messages can still become exegetically irresponsible if we force a theme onto a text when it really does not fit. For example, if you are preaching on “motherhood” on Mother’s Day, it might be better to connect with multiple texts rather than preach a text that touches on motherhood and you make it all about motherhood.
So when preaching a text on a topic, you need to be careful that you don’t let the topic mold the text. Rather, the text, if appropriate, will inform and mold your approach to the topic. However, approaching a message in this way means it may look somewhat different from a standard expositional treatment of the passage. If I am preaching a text on a topic, I do not tell everything I would in a verse-by-verse exposition. Instead, I talk about how this verse undergirds the topic, but also that it addresses more than this topic. I say that, but I do not explain that. The topic will limit, to a certain degree, what I unpack from the passage.
For example, when I filled in at another church, I preached from the text, 1 Peter 4:8-11, on “Engaging all God’s People in Mission.” When I preach a one-week message, after all the study and preparation I wind up leaving a lot on my desk that I don’t take with me into the pulpit. Your text will always say more than what you have to say and that’s okay. Just ensure that what you do say is faithful to that text.
Preaching a Topic with Texts
On the other hand, one can also responsibly preach a topic with texts.
I recently returned from a church where my job was to encourage people to “live sent.” I preached a topic with a few texts. The topic was how we might live as the sent people of Jesus. The texts (as well as the title) were the “Sendings of Jesus.” These commissions included John 20:21, Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 24:46-48, and Acts 1:8.
The principles are actually the same. I wound up leaving a lot on my desk, but I worked hard to be faithful in what I brought with me to preach.
Or, once when I preached, the theme was the “seven last words of Jesus.” My assignment was forgiveness. My assigned topic was not just that Jesus forgave, but how it affects what God has called us to do. Thus, I made it clear in the title: “Forgiveness: It’s Who God Is, It’s Why Jesus Came, and It’s What Christians Do.”
I believe it’s easier to be thorough and responsible with the text when you preach through a series. If you are preaching through a book (as I am right now at my church), it is simply following the arguments, themes, and stories of the author. If you are preaching doctrinally or thematically, you can bring the whole counsel of God to a topic by being faithful to what the scripture teaches in its multiple mentions of the topic.
However, you simply cannot be as thorough in a one-shot message.
So, here is what I try to do:
- Never use verses in way that would result in the apostle Paul (or Moses, Jesus, etc.) to say, “Whoa, that was not my point.”
- Don’t share everything you know—-leave some things on your desk and tell people you are doing so.
- Don’t preach a single message like a series—-you can’t do it well. Single messages have limitations and you have to live with them.
- Point people to Jesus. Don’t simply leave them with commands, lead them to the promises of God in Jesus.
I should end with my bias. I don’t like single messages. I prefer a series because I find I can present a clearer picture of scriptural teaching on an issue. But do not despise the single message—-nobody ever preaches a series in the Bible, and we don’t see it much until John Chrysostom in the fourth/fifth century after Christ.
Be faithful with the small things . . . even the small sermons.
