I Just Preached a Terrible Sermon: Now What?

Last week I just wasn't feeling it up there.

I have several good excuses, but I probably shouldn't take the time to list them off to you as they all sound pretty lame post de facto. But believe me, I had some justifiable reasons why I wasn't at my best.

The moment that I stepped out of the pulpit, my adrenaline was gone, my feet felt heavy, and I had the sense that I was stepping onto an alien landscape without my space helmet. Very often I have sensed a certain discordance when the sermon is over that is hard to describe.

So I delivered a clunker. You probably have too. The question is "Now what?"

Since we have all preached a few duds, let's just define a "bad sermon" as one in which you realized immediately that this isn't your best stuff. Let me clarify that by a "bad sermon," I do not mean one that is false, misleading, or purposefully malevolent. We are not talking about heresy or anything like that at the moment.

In fact, it's not always easy to recognize why a sermon is just -- how can I say it -- off, but you know one when you experience it: the congregation is not making clear connections, the delivery is strained, the transitions are awkward, and the applications seem disjointed.  

In this week's YouTube video, I will discuss (1) what to do during the bad sermon itself, (2) how to "review the tape" afterward and diagnose the problems, and (3) what we can do in the future to make sure we come into the pulpit confident and ready. Enjoy!