A Clear Purpose Avoids the Black Hole

A Clear Purpose Avoids the Black Hole

In the last post we saw that the people who listen to you are the best critics of your message.  Are your messages hitting home?  If not, they will be  sucked up into the black hole of sermons on Monday.  In this post we are going to see that a clear purpose avoids the black hole of sermons.  What does that mean?  It means that if the people in your church can answer a few basic questions about your message, they will hold onto it, which will help keep it out of the sermon sucking black hole.

What Was The Purpose of the Message?

This is pretty basic, but essential to the success of your message.  This is the first question recommended by  David Mains in his book The Sermon Sucking Black Hole.  Are you hitting one basic purpose in your message?  A man that I mentored for awhile put it well in a discussion about sermons.  He said that more impact is made with a rifle than a shotgun.  Do you get the image?  A rifle is a powerful instrument that shoots one shell with powerful energy.  A shotgun, on the other hand, disburses the energy over a broad area.  So, how does this apply to your message?  Simply this: a clear purpose avoids the black hole of unremembered sermons.

If your purpose is clear, every point relates to the purpose; every illustration relates to the purpose; every prayer in the service relates to the purpose.

This past Sunday I listened to a message from someone who usually is pretty good at this.  But this particular message wandered through chapter of the Bible, making several points.  I couldn’t figure out the purpose until he was almost done, however.  I felt like the preacher was using a shotgun, not a rifle.

The Black Hole Catches Unclear Purposes

Do you want your message to avoid the sermon sucking black hole?  Then make your purpose clear in the title of the message.  Continue that purpose in your introduction.  How does your introduction lead into the purpose?  Remember: a clear purpose avoids the black hole of sermons unremembered.

For illustration purposes, let’s consider the message I heard this past Sunday.  The passage was Philippians 4.  The message was part of a series on the book of Philippians under the theme: the community God calls us to.   That’s a good theme.  However, the introduction was a summary of the messages on chapters 1-3.  Then the first part of the message was dedicated to a consideration of Paul’s exhortation to two members of the church, Euodia and Syntyche to “be of the same mind”.  This call accurately says that we don’t always agree on everything in the church, but we should work it out.

The next sentence calls the church leader to help them.  The preacher did not touch this.   He also did not give examples of the various ways people disagree, and how we as a church can help people come to resolution.

The rest of the passage is a series of exhortations about not having anxiety, focusing on the good, etc.  He touched on these subjects  quickly touched on quickly, without much explanation as to how they fit the implied purpose of getting along in the church.

Avoiding the Black Hole

I suspect that for most of the people in the church, this message went into the sermon sucking black hole by Monday.  How could this have been done differently?  Let me suggest some ways that this message could have hit a home run.

Introduction: A story (of which there are hundreds) of a church battle in which people were at odds.  There are many examples from the Covid area about whether or not people should wear masks.

Point 1: People in the church are called to “be of one mind”.  Does that mean that we agree on everything?  Doubtful.  It does mean that we continue to treat others in our church community with respect and love.  What does that look like?  Rejoicing in the Lord always.  Focus on the good things God is doing in the world..

Point 2: The role of church leaders in this process.  Helping?  Listening?  Encouraging?

Conclusion:   Are you in disagreement with people in this community?  Work it out.  Let leadership know about the disagreement so they can help.

Conclusion

A clear purpose helps about the black hole that sucks sermons out of memory.  So, the first evaluative question for you as the creator of the sermon is this: What is your purpose?

In the next post we’ll look at other evaluative questions that your listeners should be able to answer about your message.