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What we're going to do for the next uh 15-20 minutes is um just think a bit about about finding um finding your own voice. Uh one of the things that uh I I do within the academy is quite often we'll we'll coach and help people with starting off preaching. Uh so here's a few little things I I'd say um to people when they're starting off. And and first of all, I think it's really important to find your own voice. Because sometimes we see people who are preaching and we really admire what they do and the way they do things, and we think if we're going to be a big uh a good preacher, we need to preach like them. Um when I first moved to Bristol, I was a youth worker and um uh used to lead something called the Mix, which would sometimes have kind of five, six hundred young people there. Um and uh from time to time Philip Gennardi would come and speak. And whenever Philip spoke, I just thought, do you know what? This is just the best talk ever for a young person. Kind of funny, humorous point, kind of really drew to the conclusion. And I was through faithful, do you know what? I need to preach like Philip Gennardi. If I'm gonna if I'm gonna be the best preacher, the best youth worker, I've just got to learn how to tell the stories, bring in a little joke, kind of uh do the pizza, kind of bring it to this really emotional crescendo at the end. Um and I gave it a go and I was rubbish. Because I'm not Philip Gennaro. I'm Tim Dobson. Uh actually the reality is that we all need to find our own voice. Why? Because our own voice is the one that God's created us uniquely with. And actually, if we're gonna be true to ourselves, we need to be true to who God says that we are. Um there's a little quote here from Chuck Switch who says that know who you are, accept who you are, be who you are. I mean that's that's that's I mean that's part of if you're gonna be a good preacher, you're gonna be a great preacher, actually, you need to do that. Now, you need to be um the best version of you, who you generally are. So obviously we all change. We're all hopefully becoming more like Jesus, and and actually our preaching styles may change, but always we need to be genuine to the voice of who we are. Um I remember when uh we ran something called Venue 2 for a while and gave some younger preachers a chance to have a go. And I asked one of uh uh someone called Joe to have a go at preaching because I thought she'd be brilliant. I'd heard do some youth stuff. Um so uh she came and uh she gave it a go, and it was ah I just thought afterwards, why did I get Joe to do that? And so we we we kind of we had a little talk afterwards, and we say, Joe, why why was it that you felt that you had to have three points? Why was it that you felt that you had to kind of take a Bible verse and and and treat it seriously? Because actually, that's probably not you, is it? And and I went through this little kind of triangle that um I've put on here, because um, in some ways I think um we have a tendency towards one of those three things. We have a tendency towards being a preacher or to being a teacher or being a pastor. If we've got a tendency to being uh a preacher, we're kind of it's that kind of we we're preaching for here and now. We want to sense what the Spirit's saying in the room. Uh we it's the word of God, the direct word, the now word of God is what we want. Actually, if we're um being a pastor, we we want to try and care for the people in the room. Actually, when we're saying things, we're kind of like Claire would often say, we're all on a holest journey because in some ways she wants to draw people as she's preaching into a that sense of kind of that things are well with their soul. Forgiveness is a deal. And and the teacher is probably going for uh the mind, is trying to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How can your mind be renewed unless there's some new stuff to think about? So Rob has these three little C's, he thinks that uh within a sermon there should be a challenge, uh, there should be some comfort and there should be some some content. Um, so I chatted to my friend Joe and said, Joe, why did you kind of head down here? Kind of when naturally you're probably up here. Why why next time? Because people have a go doing it twice. So I said, next time, why don't you go more for being a prophet preacher kind of person? Uh and because I think you're probably nearer here than down here. And so she went away, she listened to God, when she came back next time. I mean, she was amazing because she she she found her voice. Her voice, she was a prophet, and there was there wasn't a super lot of structure to it, actually, there wasn't a whole lot of stuff that was new, but you just knew that God was in the room and God was was speaking. And I think for when you're starting off, maybe to think kind of I wonder where within that triangle I might start off. Fivefold ministries. There's the the prophet. Uh maybe the evangelist is kind of at the top there as well. There's the pastor, the teacher, apostle, maybe has a mixture of all three. Um, but God gives those gifts that we are not to all be the same, but that we use those particular gifts and those particular styles, our particular voice, to build up the church, works of service. So as you start preaching, maybe you think I I I tend to one of those kind of one of those things. Um and and and probably um you may find that at some point as you grow and develop in your voice, actually you may find, do you know what? I I I may be a teacher, but I I know I need to lean in a bit to the prophetic. I know that maybe in my teaching, maybe a couple of words of knowledge might be really helpful because that can speak to people's spirit. Actually, maybe there's, as you're thinking about the life application, actually, maybe in the teaching that I do, maybe there should be a bit more pastoral care rather than I've got this great thought, this great theology, this great doctrine, maybe I need to think a bit more about the people who I'm speaking to. So I think as you develop as a preacher, you kind of maybe move a bit more towards the middle. Um, and maybe you think Jesus in the middle, I don't know. But uh kind of uh but I I think as you start off, realize your voice, realize it's uniquely you, and that's a unique contribution that you can bring. Um as you start off preaching again, knowing your voice is knowing what will help you to be comfortable and confident in what you're saying. So you hopefully you've got something from the Lord that you you want to share. Um, and uh, how do you start to share that? Um and I think we do need to think about the the words that we use, and Claire in a bit is going to just take us through how to put together a sermon. Um, but I think there is there is things around um how to how to communicate effectively. And again, there's this kind of kind of 7, 38, 55 kind of, there's this idea that when you communicate, in general communication, 7% is just your words, 38% is your tone of voice, and 55% is gestures, face expressions, uh, slides, prompts. Um that's in general communication. I think probably when it comes to preaching, it kind of shifts slightly. And I think actually the words do matter a lot more. Um, but actually, I don't think we can discount the emotion, the emphasis, the energy. I don't think we can discount kind of uh your gestures, your facial expressions, uh again, your body posture, uh, but also some of the things that uh can be an addition to what you're saying rather than a distraction from what you're saying. And in some ways, I think when something visual is an addition to what you're saying rather than a distraction from what you're saying, I think actually something visual can be really helpful. And for some people, uh Dave Roderick, one of our churches, actually, he does just the killer PowerPoint. I mean he just has PowerPoint, and he's probably got 75, because he he believes that actually sometimes for a visual age where people are scrolling on their phones and it's Instagram and it's all this kind of thing, actually, if we're just using our words, actually in the visual age, you're missing a trick. Um now when when when Dave and I were young, kind of there wasn't a lot of visual stuff around, no internet, black and black and white TV. Um, no HPs. Yeah, yeah. But I can remember, age seven, I heard a talk, um, and was the first time I said to Jeez, will you want to be my friend? And I can remember because he had a picture. It was a picture of a door with three bolts on it, and about how you could open uh your door of your life. And it was a picture that through my teenage years, I know the adults actually I can remember that picture. I actually met the man who gave the talk about 15 years ago. And he said, I told him about the talk, he said, Do you know what? I've actually got that picture here. So this is what visual stuff looked like when when I was little. And he said, Can you open the door of your heart? Ought you two, kind of, and you kind of slid the slid the bolts along, and uh you open the door, and guess what? There was Jesus waiting for you. A picture, I think I I think a picture can make something memorable. Um, and so do think about as you're preparing, um, and again, I think, again, I I'm I'm not trying to be Dave, Dave's not trying to be me. Actually, I do find visual stuff, for me, is quite helpful to reinforce a point. Um, for yourself, uh think think about do you use visuals? Does it distract from what you're saying or does it add to what you're saying? I think there's something I've thought as well about about the speed of delivery. Um, when I get nervous, I talk very fast. When I talk very fast, I think people get exhausted. Uh sometimes they can't hear what I'm saying. Um when I was a small child, I had all the teeth removed on the bottom part of my jaw, and so sometimes my addiction isn't super clear because kind of trying to pronounce words is kind of and and all those things about vocally how you speak make a difference. So uh do think about, and a bit later on, we've got Rebecca here who does a bit of coaching with uh with with speakers. Uh, she'll be here for the panel time as well as one of the set of the workshops. But again, think about too fast, you can sort sort people, but if you talk too slow, people might get bored. So again, try and think about that. Again, you don't again, some people put on a preaching voice and you think, why are they talking like that? Why don't they just be themselves? Uh and again, I think when you feel relaxed, and I think one of the first things I'll say to preachers is when you stand up, try and make yourself relaxed. Make sure you've got some water close at hand if you think your mat's going to dry up, make sure that the thing you stand on, make sure kind of you can see people. Actually, make sure you're comfortable before you start speaking. Because uh if you take just 30 seconds to get comfortable, when you start going, actually your speed, your addiction, actually those things can be really helpful. What else do I say to starting preachers? Uh, I would say um let a good point breathe, like a bottle of red wine. Sometimes, if if you make a good point and you quickly then dash on to something else, sometimes you can miss a moment where God wants to really speak through what you've prepared and you've moved on to point two, kind of, and you've not let point one really sit and rest. And actually, sometimes I think it's really helpful, again, when you're trying to, I've got this content to do, I've only got 20 minutes, I I've done point one, I'm now gonna do point two, and and you've said something that the Holy Spirit's on, and if you don't give it a chance to breathe, and sometimes I might just say, that's a great point, isn't it? I mean, have you ever thought about that? I mean, maybe that's the one thing for you to take away. Point two, kind of, and you go on. But actually, you just when you feel God's saying something, and and particularly when you're preparing, uh, I would say there's content and there's inspiration. Find your inspiration moments. Where do you think particularly God wants something to land with a congregation? Uh, and make sure you've got space around that to let it breathe. I would say um a good a good journey is planned with the end in mind. Um you're planning a talk, uh think about the end before you think about the beginning. Um, sometimes you can think, oh, I need to start at the beginning. Actually, I think think about the end first. Where do you want this talk to land? When you've done the talk and maybe you're going to ask for some prayer and ministry response, what are the two things or the three things you're going to ask people to respond to? Because in some ways they're going to be responding to what the Holy Spirit has said through you in the talk. So, in some ways, from this talk I'm going to give, what would be the one, two, most three things that I think I'd say? Could you sum that up for me in two sentences? If you can't sum your whole talk up in two sentences, if you don't know what the end is in mind, actually, I think you can kind of drift through a sermon. Uh so for me, I'd say to people, um, think about the end first. Uh, when you've thought about the end, that will form your content. When you've formed your content, then you can know what is the bridge that I need to build with the congregation at the start to enable that information to travel across. Uh again, at the start, building, I say to people, try and build a bridge with the congregation. It might be a little story from your week, it might be a little, it might be just a question that you thought, have you ever thought about this? Try and build a connection. So you've you've built a little bridge, and and the the content or the weight of your talk can travel across that. People are more likely to listen. But um, a good journey is planned with the end in mind. Um I think I think for for for me as a teacher, um, when I'm preaching on a Sunday, I'm I'm probably thinking about two things. I'm probably thinking about what at the end of this talk is going to be here and now. So, what am I expecting here and now God's gonna do? What am I expecting here and now that if I call people to repent or I call people to make a choice uh to live a holy lifestyle, I'm expecting that there's gonna be something that's gonna happen in the room here and now. There may be some words of knowledge. I think if you're here uh today and you've strained your right ankle, uh come to the front, here and now, I think God's gonna heal you. And there's a here and now that is there. And sometimes you'll preach, and when you finish the preach, it's definitely what's gonna happen in the room, how you're gonna respond. Come to the front, prepare your ministry, turn to the person next to you, kind of uh, and you're expecting that as the result of your preaching, something's gonna happen. But there is also a then and there. Actually, what I'm saying tonight is gonna help you on Wednesday or Thursday. Actually, it might help you in two or three weeks' time. Actually, lock it away because there's also a then and there. So it's hard to get to give an inspirational talk on spiritual disciplines and talk about fasting and solitude and say, okay, guys, we're gonna do, we've got two minutes. We're gonna fast and we're gonna do solitude in two minutes. Come to the front and fast. Kind of uh actually some stuff you that isn't gonna be a here and uh kind of a here and now, some of it is gonna be a there and then. And actually, the there and then, I suppose that's the preacher-teacher thing. And sometimes I'm probably more a there and then. Um actually there's some stuff I know about God's word, and I really want you to get hold of it because I know it's gonna help you to live the best life you could possibly live. So here's some great stuff that I found out about the Bible and around how you could live your life, and and there may be a kind of here and now kind of response. If that's the kind of life you want, why don't you say to Jesus, I want to live like that? So that there might be a here and now response. But again, as you land your talk, are you looking for a here and now or a there and then, or both and. Um, but I think it's helpful to realize what you're doing there as well. As Dave says, Um, keep to time. Uh I just think that's so important. Um, and uh again, maybe it's because I'm a slight control freak, I don't know. Um, but I just know when people start off, and like Dave was saying, you're the it's the one of the first few times you had to chuck a preach, and you've been thinking all your life, waiting for the moment when you're gonna get the chance to preach. And so you stand up and you've got so much to fit into 20 minutes, like Dave says, it turns out to be four to five minutes. Actually, what happens is that they start, people start on your side because oh here's somebody who's a bit younger preaching, and they start on your side, then it gets to kind of 20 minutes, and they're thinking, oh yeah, it's going quite well, and then 25 minutes, 30 minutes, oh, and they're gonna stop. And then and then afterwards, well, they never preach again. And and and actually you do yourself a disservice. I mean, I I would say preach short. So so if you if you're given 25 minutes, aim for 20 minutes. That's that's probably quite because you can finish with people wanting more, or rather people think feeling that was too long. Is that okay? And and again, when you first start preaching, because of your enthusiasm and passion, I know I was the same. The very first time I got to preach in our the Anglican church I was part of, there's probably 450 kind of people in the congregation. Um the vicar let me preach for the first time, so I was there preaching, I was 20 uh 21, 22, um, preaching my first sermon, and I I'd hit kind of uh 20 minutes, and I said, Um, my next point is, rather than say my last point is, I said, my next point is, and the vicar then into his microphone said, You've probably said enough now, Tim. And I said, uh, okay, well, thank you. So just in conclusion, bright red, um that was slightly rough, and I thought I would not do that to anybody else. Um but actually it's it's it's a thing of kind of because I probably had uh those first 20 minutes were cracking 20 minutes. I mean people really appreciated it. Uh but yeah, don't go don't go on too long. Um having said that, I need to look at the time myself. Um so yeah, effective for memorable communication. Uh uh again, if you're a here and now response, in some ways it doesn't have to be memorable. It doesn't have to have any sticky statements, it doesn't have to have any visuals. Actually, you can just preach and people respond. Uh particularly for an evangelist, you just preach, people come to Jesus. Actually, it doesn't need in some ways to be memorable. If you're going to be shaping a church or uh changing people's worldviews, actually things like axioms like Dave says are really helpful. Actually, sometimes a little image or a picture like this one here actually can be really helpful. Um and it makes something memorable. So do think about your talk. What little line, what little image is going to make what you're saying uh memorable? Um uh sorry, I've that's I've got my slides the wrong way around. Um so in your notes, that's there. In your notes, there's a little kind of checklist. Again, if you if you're going through prepare a sermon, uh say, is there so for the verbal part, uh is there clarity? Use plain concrete language, avoid jargon. Is there a structure? Is there an organizational flow? Uh again, even if you haven't got three points, there probably is a flow to what you're doing. Um and again, you might just love preaching with a flow, and you think everyone's going to be with me. But you know what? Some people sometimes people phase in or phase out of a talk. It's true, even the best preacher. And if you've just got a flow and people don't quite know and they phase out, actually, it's really sometimes quite hard for them to phase back in again. Um, and so I I do say to people who uh I'm developing who are a bit more love the stories, love the flow, I say, just just have three PowerPoints, just have three three things that just come up with a little phrase or a little word. Um, because if someone's phased out, when they see that little phrase come up on the screen, they can really engage with what you're saying. Actually, it does give you three little anchor points. So although you're going with a flow in your preaching, it gives you three little anchor points to help you as you're doing your more free flowing thing to hit. And again, it helps with the timing as well. So um, stickiness, again, sticky ideas, bio references, takeaway lines, uh uh repeat, reframe the main point. Um again, sometimes people say, tell people where you're going, go there, tell them where you've been. Uh again, if you if you if you want, if you if you there's something for people to remember. Um, again, vocal tone of delivery, change pace, change pitch, change volume, uh, emphasize key points, uh, use silence strategically to let truth sink in. Uh, let your tone match the message, compassion for pastoral moments, energy vision casting, etc. Engagement, rhetorical questions, uh again, invite short responses to keep people actively listening. Um, again, body language, eye contact, open posture. Uh, if you're if you're here preaching like this the whole time, you're thinking, oh, what's this man? Is it kind of and it's just quite hard. You might feel it's quite a comfortable way to preach, but actually it's it's quite a closed way to preach. So look at your your body language. Um again, I said already, slides and hand-ups. Just the last thing before um I ask you the same question about Dave, what one thing you're gonna take away. Um with preachers, sometimes because uh you think I'm preaching the Bible, it's gonna be okay. I love the Bible, but sometimes it's not okay because the Pharisees and the scribes, they knew their Bible. Um so it said it says of Jesus, uh, the people are amazed at his teaching, Jesus' Bible teaching, uh, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. So there's Jesus who teaches with authority, there's the teachers of law who are teaching the Bible still, but they're teaching it in which in a way that, ah, unlike Jesus, I'm not quite sure about this person. What was it about Jesus that engaged people, has authority, and what was it using scriptural ideas and the scriptural, his scriptural background, and what was it about the teachers of the law when they taught? Um, and I think Paul picks up on this, and again, for for younger preachers, I would say, have have a think about this. He talks about um uh you show that you are letters from Christ, a result of our ministry. So here's Paul, he's been ministering to people, and somehow things have changed in their life as a result of his ministry, as a result of his pastoring, his preaching, his care. Something's happened. And what happened is this it was written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God. Not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of the human heart. Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we're competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our confidence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers, we're ministering the new covenants we preach, ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Actually, there's something about when you come to preach, actually, don't just rest on the fact there's something magical about the Bible. I just need to say the Bible bit, and that's it. Actually, because in some ways, I've been in some preachers where people have preached the Bible, and you know what? I've come out feeling super guilty and feel life is so bleak, I'm the worm, I'm rubbish, kind of, and actually the letter, you can take the Bible, and actually it can be used in such a way that it can it can kill. Actually, you you don't. Whereas Paul says here, it's not like you're chiseling kind of the the tablets of stone, God's word was written on tablets, something was chipped out. Sometimes you think with preaching, you've got to chip things out of people. Uh kind of you you mustn't sleep with your boyfriend, you mustn't do this, and you have language, you shouldn't be kind of cursing and and and don't do this, don't do that, don't do that. And it's like you're trying to chip things out of people's kind of life, rather than ministering the spirit. And I say, it what's the flow of what you're trying to do? Are you trying to knock things out of people's lives, or actually, like ink, are you trying to leave something of the Holy Spirit's ministry on people's lives? Because actually, I think there's a harshness about some kind of teaching that doesn't have the spirit of life behind it, that in the end of the day can be negative rather than positive. And there's something about being open to the Holy Spirit that is uh ministering and it's actually it gives life. It's like every time I preach, like ink is left on each person's heart. Actually, I'm praying, Lord, from what I've said this morning, could there be something that I've said that like ink has been written on someone's heart? So when they go away, I've not knocked something out, but I've something of the spirit has been written on. Uh and I think as you come to prepare a preach, there's an attitude that I think is just so helpful to think, what am I ministering to somebody? What's going to land with somebody? What's the Holy Spirit going to be doing? Um rather than just here's a text, I'm going to do the text, and then uh which can be sometimes a little bit uh crunchy. Okay, I spoke fast because I had to try and get it into 20 minutes. Um but just skin two or three minutes with the person next to you. What uh what any of that stuff you think might be helpful that you've learned this new? Um and uh yeah, thing you might take home.