This may sound contradictory to you, but the longer I stay in ministry, the less I understand about preaching. In fact, I know less about preaching today than I knew ten years ago. Back then, while I was a seminary student, I could tell you what constituted a good sermon, what was needed to do it right. All I had to do was ask one of my homiletics professors. Today, I’m not so sure they knew all that much. Why does a sermon "work", why does it achieve positive results, when by all rights it ought to fall on its face and die? And why does a sermon not work when it has all the right stuff, just the right blend of humor and drama, and only lasts twelve minutes? I just don’t know.

On a good week, when there’s been ample time to do all the research and word searches and Internet surfing through …