Preacher's Block

This preaching tip was shared by Preacher’s Block co-founder, Hunter Bethea. If you’re interested in joining the most focused preachers in the world and getting these tips sent to your inbox every week, sign up here.

Good pitchers do one (or more) of three things: 1) throw it hard, 2) throw it right where they want it, or 3) have a repertoire of pitches that they can change up to keep the batter guessing. I want to focus on this third type of pitcher. What makes them effective is that they have various things they do well—though maybe not perfectly—that keeps a batter on his toes.

As preachers, I think we need to develop several different types of pitches (types of sermons). God created each of us differently and therefore, we all learn and connect with God differently. If you always preach an expository sermon or a narrative sermon or whatever comes to your mind, it’s likely that you’re only speaking to a portion of your congregation. Change it up and you’ll change up who you’re reaching.

The last three sermons I’ve preached have all been different styles (expository, narrative, and first-person). Each sermon, I’ve had a few people come up and tell me how much that sermon spoke to them. Each time, it’s been a different group of people. I’ve also had a few people tell me after each sermon that the sermon was a “swing and a miss” for them. Each time, it’s been a different group of people. I celebrate that! That means that by changing up the style of sermon, I’m preaching the Word of God to people who learn differently.

I still remember the first time I preached first-person at my church. I had been at my church maybe 9 months. After the service, someone came up to me with tears in their eyes saying that they had never connected with God in that way before. I’m embarrassed to say that I had seen that person most Sundays but I didn’t know their name because I hadn’t ever talked to them. For 9 months, they came into the service, worshipped God, listened to the sermon, and walked out. This Sunday, though, God spoke to them in a way that made them come and speak to me. Don’t hear me wrong—I’m not propping up that sermon as something great. Instead, I think it was the first time that they had ever heard the Word of God preached in the way they learn best and they were expressing their appreciation for that.

If you always preach the same style of sermon, I can guarantee that there are people in your pews who have never heard the Word of God preached to them in the way they learn best.

Learn a new pitch. Develop a repertoire of sermon styles. You don’t have to be great at them all; it’s highly unlikely that you will be. You don’t even have to like every style you preach with. But if you want to preach the Word of God in a way that connects with all of your people, I recommend learning a few different preaching styles.

Next week, I’ll give you a few resources to help you grow into a couple other preaching styles!