When Someone FINALLY Does What You Tell Them

For several years, I’ve been encouraging a preacher friend of mine to see the light, read Communicating For A Change, use the ME-WE-GOD-YOU-WE outline it describes, and preach a one-point sermon.

But my friend is notoriously hard-headed and for years he resisted.

Until this last Sunday.

Here’s the report he gave me:

Full disclosure: tried the me/we/God/you/we today for the first time. Felt a bit unnatural, since it was new, but it seemed to really connect with people. Truly. Thanks for the tip (long ago).

I even had a bottom line: “Without love, everything amounts to nothing.” (From 1 Cor 13) – I did some work in the sermon to make clear the love was cruciform, not generic/romantic. Seemed to land well.

He actually landed at a bottom line that was both memorable and truthful — Without love, everything amounts to nothing.

My first one-pointer, delivered in 2006 and based on the Jacob-Esau-Joseph saga, arrived here: Forgiveness is learned, so teach it well.

So my friend is off to a good start. Notice what he said: “[it] really connected with people … seemed to land well.” Because congregants don’t want to be walked through an outline; they long to be taken on a journey.