Color Coded Sermons

I forget the exact comment, but several years ago, when I had just begun preaching full-time, a lady came up to me and mentioned something about my sermons "always having a lot of stories about "me" in them."  Though I see the value of sharing personally - as it is easier to speak from the heart that way - I really wrestled with the unspoken of what she was saying.  Did my sermons have more stories that directed people to me and my life....rather than to something (or Someone) else?  Would a visitor come in and think, "Man....this guy points to himself and not to God?"

I've heard some great story-telling preachers.  They can captivate congregations.  Their stories are remembered.  And the really great story-telling pastors have a gift for directing those stories back to biblical truths.

With only four years of full-time preaching, I'm still really working on the "art" of story-telling in my sermons.  I want to be great at it.  Jesus was great at it.  I don't know if I could find any of Jesus' teachings that didn't include stories!!  

Hmmmmm--Jesus was great at story-telling?!?!

Soon after the woman I mentioned earlier came up to me and made that comment, I decided something.  I decided that I wanted all my sermons pointing back to Scripture...not to any story about me!  Ultimately, I want all my sermons pointing back to Jesus.

So here's what I started doing soon after her comment:  I started color-coding my sermons.  I started highlighting, bolding, and putting the Scripture passages in green in my notes.  Any stories that I told about me (or stories from others), I put in blue.  Any quotes from some book I usually put in purple.  This way, I can look at a page of my notes (manuscript) and see what I'm speaking most about.  Does my page have more green that blue/purple?  And not just a little bit more green....but significantly more green than any other color?  If I see more green, than at least I know I'm on the right track for letting Scripture tell the story.

I believe fully that our stories (stories about my life and about others') are still part of the story God is writing today.  So I do believe there needs to be the blue and purple lines in my notes.  But I also believe that the story of Jesus - as found in the pages of what we call the Holy Bible - point directly to a story God has so graciously already penned for us.

Next time that lady comes up to me, I hope she says, "Man - you really told God's story well!"  May it be only with the grace of God!!

(Here's a snapshot of a recent sermon.  No need to read the page....just look at the colors.  If you want to read the page, you may as well listen to the whole sermon!  Go to www.ffmwired.com and look under online sermons.  This snapshot comes from 9/29/13 Sin: Paul's Sandwich Board Theology.)