I’ve been reading Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, and I came across a fascinating observation he made about George Whitefield’s preaching.
Franklin heard Whitefield preach often enough that he could tell the difference between a sermon Whitefield had recently written and one he had preached many times. The difference was refinement.
Franklin observed that Whitefield’s frequently repeated sermons became so polished that “every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice” was perfectly placed. He compared hearing one of these sermons to listening to an excellent piece of music.
Whitefield had a unique advantage. As an itinerant preacher, he traveled from place to place, preaching to different audiences. That allowed him to preach the same sermon repeatedly—something Franklin noted a pastor preaching to the same congregation could rarely do.
But there’s a lesson here for every preacher: practice produces refinement.
We spend hours preparing what we are going to say, but sometimes far less time practicing how we are going to say it. Yet delivery matters. The more familiar you become with a sermon, the more you begin to hear it differently. You discover where you need to slow down, where you need to pause, which words deserve emphasis, where a transition feels awkward, and where a sentence that looked great on paper simply doesn’t work out loud.
That’s what practice gives you: the opportunity to refine the sermon before you preach it.
You may not have Whitefield’s opportunity to preach the same sermon over and over to different audiences, but you can rehearse it. You can preach portions of it out loud. You can practice your introduction, your transitions, and your conclusion. And each time you do, you have another opportunity to refine your delivery.
Writing your sermon prepares what you will say. Practicing your sermon refines how you will say it.
Leave a Reply