# Reading Sermon Resources



## PaulCLawton (Feb 22, 2017)

Hello all, looking for any

Resources
Advice
Tips
For preparing and delivering a "reading sermon" as an elder in the URCNA.


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## Guido's Brother (Feb 23, 2017)

Paul,

I think this is the best resource available for Reformed reading sermons: TheSeed.info

You'll find over 1400 sermons there, including a fair number from URC pastors.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## PaulCLawton (Feb 24, 2017)

Thank you Rev. Bredenhof. Do you (or any others) have any suggestions or tips for the elder leading the service? One thing I am concerned about is reading the sermon with enough expression to be followed easily and yet I am concerned about being too...theatrical for lack of a better word. Any tips would be appreciated.


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Feb 24, 2017)

PaulCLawton said:


> Thank you Rev. Bredenhof. Do you (or any others) have any suggestions or tips for the elder leading the service? One thing I am concerned about is reading the sermon with enough expression to be followed easily and yet I am concerned about being too...theatrical for lack of a better word. Any tips would be appreciated.



Without sounding demeaning, your asking a question biblical preacher's don't really ask in that light.
The remedy for your question resides on understanding, overall, the nature and office of the minister as herald of God's word, being called / trained in that office, and having the skills and necessary qualifications to preach. 
Again, without meaning to be too harsh or so, that's not going to be answered inside of a post on the puritanboard. 

At the very least, you need to wrap your mind around 1) the office itself and its commission, and 2) the act of preaching itself. These are two gigantic topics to deal with.

Thomas Hodges (Westminster Divine) in a work called "The Necessity, Dignity and Duty of the Gospel Ministry," said: "As wicked Ministers are like salt in its corrupt estate, so is the portion of unsavory salt their punishment. Unsavory salt is to be cast out and trodden under foot. And so useless ministers must be moved out. No loiterers must be allowed to stay in God’s vineyard. There must be none but laborers in his harvest. The Lord of the vineyard and of the harvest will cast out the unprofitable servant, such must be cast out of the salt-cellar and out of the salt-box."

You don't want to be unsavory salt.

If you've not learned how to preach, or how to put together a sermon, you may want to take advantage of a section of APM that will introduce you to some of these topics. On this page there are a number of "evaluations" of books on homiletics and the pastoral ministry. They are cliff notes on the works themselves. On this page is a written walk through on how to put together a sermon. Its super basic but includes important steps. On this page are short videos on pastoral theology.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## PaulCLawton (Feb 24, 2017)

I think I have been misunderstood. I am referring to the practice of an elder leading worship and reading a sermon prepared by an ordained minister when (for example) the minister is away or the church is vacant and appropriate pulpit supply cannot be arranged.


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Feb 24, 2017)

PaulCLawton said:


> I think I have been misunderstood. I am referring to the practice of an elder leading worship and reading a sermon prepared by an ordained minister when (for example) the minister is away or the church is vacant and appropriate pulpit supply cannot be arranged.



No, brother, I didn't misunderstand you.


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## PaulCLawton (Feb 24, 2017)

Then I fail to see the relevance of your advice. You are under no obligation to explain further, I will re-read and think it over.


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## py3ak (Feb 24, 2017)

PaulCLawton said:


> Thank you Rev. Bredenhof. Do you (or any others) have any suggestions or tips for the elder leading the service? One thing I am concerned about is reading the sermon with enough expression to be followed easily and yet I am concerned about being too...theatrical for lack of a better word. Any tips would be appreciated.



In a read sermon, dryness and dullness are far more immediate dangers than an excess of drama, at least for most people. Things that would be very outsized in a living room are often barely noticeable in a church auditorium. 

If the sermon is stirring you as you read it, there's nothing wrong with that showing, as long as it doesn't hinder the clarity. E.g., some people speak too quickly when excited, or let their voice drop too low. But a dispassionate delivery will also hinder clarity, because the sermon itself will have particular peaks.


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## Afterthought (Feb 24, 2017)

PaulCLawton said:


> Thank you Rev. Bredenhof. Do you (or any others) have any suggestions or tips for the elder leading the service? One thing I am concerned about is reading the sermon with enough expression to be followed easily and yet I am concerned about being too...theatrical for lack of a better word. Any tips would be appreciated.


When I have seen this done, the man reads the same way he reads a serious book to his family. It is definitely not monotonous in tone, but has a serious gravity to it. However, in reference to Ruben's post, their church meeting place is extremely small, so that may be why it works.  He does indeed get stirred while reading from time to time too. Also in reference to Ruben's post, so far as pacing one's voice goes, you can try reading and recording your voice to see whether you are speaking too quickly or have dropped to too soft a tone.

Reactions: Like 1


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## PaulCLawton (Feb 24, 2017)

Thanks guys, that is helpful, especially the warning against dryness and dullness.


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## Guido's Brother (Feb 25, 2017)

Paul,

No, I'm sorry, I don't have a lot of advice to offer other than to suggest practicing at least once or twice until you're comfortable with it. Oh, and try to read at your own natural speaking pace.

BTW, I think Matthew's comment comes from a context where elders are often expected to be able to prepare and deliver their own sermons. In our (Dutch) Reformed heritage that is virtually unheard of. One exception would have been my Great (x4)-grandfather Dirk Hoksbergen in the Netherlands. But that was a very unusual situation! 

Normally, in Reformed churches of Dutch background, elders will read sermons prepared by ministers if a minister isn't available to preach.


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## Bill The Baptist (Feb 25, 2017)

Guido's Brother said:


> Paul,
> 
> No, I'm sorry, I don't have a lot of advice to offer other than to suggest practicing at least once or twice until you're comfortable with it. Oh, and try to read at your own natural speaking pace.



I would second this advice. I normally practice my sermon four times before I deliver it, so that when I deliver it on Sunday morning, it is actually the fifth time I have "preached" it. Doing this allows you to have a familiarity with the material that will aid in making your delivery seem more natural.

P.S. I think what Dr. McMahon was trying to express to you was that, as an elder, you should be trained in how to prepare and deliver a sermon, so that it will not be a case of simply "reading" someone else's sermon. The resources that Dr. McMahon linked would be extremely beneficial in helping you to get to that point.


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## mvdm (Feb 26, 2017)

Guido's Brother said:


> Paul,
> 
> I think this is the best resource available for Reformed reading sermons: TheSeed.info
> 
> You'll find over 1400 sermons there, including a fair number from URC pastors.



Wes, I used this resource last fall when I did a reading sermon. It was your sermon on "They Kingdom Come"! I only made a few minor alterations/additions


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## Edward (Feb 26, 2017)

Bill The Baptist said:


> P.S. I think what Dr. McMahon was trying to express to you was that, as an elder, you should be trained in how to prepare and deliver a sermon, so that it will not be a case of simply "reading" someone else's sermon. The resources that Dr. McMahon linked would be extremely beneficial in helping you to get to that point.



In some traditions, a Ruling Elder should not prepare a sermon, but may read a sermon prepared by a teaching elder if there is no teaching elder available or provide an 'exhortation'. 

The PCA (although you might not guess it from some of the practices) provides in its Book of Church Order:



> 4-5. Churches without teaching elders ought not to forsake theassembling of themselves together, but should be convened by the Session on the Lord's Day, and at other suitable times, for prayer, praise, the presenting and
> expounding of the Holy Scriptures, and exhortation, * or the reading of a sermon of some approved minister.* In like manner, Christians whose lot is cast in destitute regions ought to meet regularly for the worship of God.



I would suppose that the original poster is from a like denomination.


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## Bill The Baptist (Feb 26, 2017)

Edward said:


> In some traditions, a Ruling Elder should not prepare a sermon, but may read a sermon prepared by a teaching elder if there is no teaching elder available or provide an 'exhortation'.
> 
> The PCA (although you might not guess it from some of the practices) provides in its Book of Church Order:



Ah, that makes more sense. I guess I am not accustomed to distinguishing between teaching and ruling elders. Do those who hold such a view believe that ruling elders are exempt from the biblical requirement of being able to teach? Or is preaching considered to be separate from teaching? Just curious.


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## Edward (Feb 26, 2017)

Bill The Baptist said:


> Do those who hold such a view believe that ruling elders are exempt from the biblical requirement of being able to teach?



No.



Bill The Baptist said:


> Or is preaching considered to be separate from teaching?



A harder question to briefly answer. And it has implications for the two office vs three office debate at some level. (The PCA, from which BCO I quoted, is a two office denomination).

-----edit-----

For now, I'll defer to the denominational study on the number of offices, particularly Roman Numeral II on the two orders of the one office of Elder
http://www.pcahistory.org/pca/2-462.html 

In practice, however, I know our congregation, in the past, has looked to evidence of teaching gifts when screening candidates for Ruling Elder.


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Feb 27, 2017)

----edited out - not really applicable----


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