Preacher: Craig Rees
Sermon Title: Divine Intelligence (link to video)
Craig Rees is the lead pastor at Central Wesleyan Church. In a series called Impoverished (their Lent series), he speaks about Divine Intelligence as the intelligence of God beyond human understanding, and yet given to us by God. Craig is a great communicator. Here are a few things we can learn form him.
When it’s beneficial, talk about the original language.
As preachers, we should look at the original languages with whatever capacity we have been able to acquire. Things can and do (literally) get lost in translation. This does not mean, however, that we need to explicitly talk about it every week. Greek and Hebrew are not the worlds in which our congregations live. However, doing so from time to time can be eye-opening, as it is in this passage. When the rich young ruler asks Jesus, “What do I still lack?,” the word lack implies a certain kind of impoverishment. It can be translated, “to suffer need,” and implies missing out on what is vital. In a word: impoverished. That’s a much stronger word and more loudly calls attention to the reality at hand; this man though rich and religious is empty. That strong disconnect is better realized through the tone of language that Craig discovered in the Greek. Often the tone of the Greek or Hebrew is what is lost in the word-for-word or thought-for-thought translations we have in our versions. For those without strong language capacity, use free sites like biblehub.com to access the alternate meanings, and perhaps most importantly, connotations or feelings connected to the original words.
Use creative audience participation.
In a metaphor about the changing lens that Scripture can give us, Pastor Craig Rees simulates a virtual reality scenario and asks an audience member to come up to participate in this with him. This served to give the audience a visible and engaging example about the worlds we hide ourselves away in, compared with the augmented reality glasses that kept us in the real world but changed how we looked at it. This demonstration would have taken time and careful preparation to make this happen. This metaphor was one that not only served the sermon, but was one the audience could (and likely would) take with them—it was memorable and engaging.
Call them higher.
People respond to the level to which they are called. Craig Rees does not shy away from calling his congregation to big things. Calling people to greater spiritual responsibility and engagement can result in powerful eternal dividends. Sometimes we hesitate to ask people for a big response, afraid that we’ll scare them away. Perhaps that will be the case with some, but for many others the opposite will occur. They will dig in and take the challenge you give them. Who knows? They might even exceed it, and God may use it beyond what you can imagine. That sounds like God, doesn’t it? One of the things Craig Rees challenged his congregation to a fast, one of the spiritual disciplines we like to often ignore. This, however, could prove to be powerful in the life of his congregation.
To grow in your sermon development, try these few tips:
- Press yourself to use what original language material you can. If you don’t know original languages, that’s okay. But don’t run away from that material when you find it in commentaries! It can be still be incredibly useful. You don’t have to be fluent in Greek to learn from the original languages. Word studies can easily be done on Blue Letter Bible or Bible Hub. Find a friend who can refresh your memory on how to do these. If you do have some familiarity with the original languages, invest. Invest a little time this week into a study of just one verse; you may be a little rusty, but some of it may even come back to you. Better yet, find a friend who is also studying the original languages and invest this time together. Do no mention it in every sermon. Let it stand in the background like the studs that support your drywall.
- What is the main point you want to convey this week? How might you bring the audience to greater understanding of that point with some participation on their part? As Fred Craddock and Tom Long have written about in their preaching books, the weight of the sermon does not lie only with the preacher; some responsibility lies with the congregation. There are many ways to encourage participation and engagement; you don’t need to call someone to the front every week. You can ask for audience response from their seats. You can give them something to do in their seats. Give them a note sheet to record main ideas. There are a hundred ways to do this— be as creative and out-of-the-box as you can. What will make the point memorable? What will engage your audience effectively?
- Finally, carefully consider your response time. What might you ask them to do that would be faithful to the Word the congregation (and you, the preacher) have received? Is this response challenging? Compare this with your prayer life. We pray for things that are in sight, but out of our reach. We know how to pray for it, but it’s going to take God’s intervention to get an answer to that prayer. Ask your audience to see what is just out of their reach, a bit uncomfortable for them. Something they’ll need to ask for God’s help to do. Call them to something higher than themselves that will require our dependence on God. This is how we grow.