| By :
Robert Hinchliffe
Copyright (c) 2010 Robert Hinchliffe When planning an act of worship, hymns are usually selected to reinforce the theme of the service. One technique which I have used very successfully on a number of occasions is to effectively reverse this and actually use the hymn words as a basis for preaching. In other words, I don't prepare a single 15 - 20 minute sermon but follow each hymn with a 'mini' sermon of about 5 minutes taking a particular phrase or phrases from the words of the hymn as a text. By careful selection of hymns it is possible to create a really cohesive service which flows easily from one element to another. I have found congregations to be very responsive to this approach. Ideally, it is best to choose a service which has a very particular theme. I have used this approach for a Harvest service, on a Mothering Sunday and at a church anniversary. Any Sunday which has a very precise place in the church calendar would be appropriate for this approach. Pentecost or Advent, for instance, would be ideal. In all cases there is a wealth of suitable worship music available, from traditional hymns to contemporary worship songs. This approach is particularly effective in an all-age worship situation. A 'blended' worship approach would be most appropriate for this kind of service so that both hymns and worship songs can be used; - something for everyone. Also, this way of doing things means that the young people don't have to sit through any lengthy talks by the preacher. There is a lot to commend it! To give an example of how this all works I will refer to a Harvest Service I did in this way a couple of years ago. I took the twin themes of "Thanksgiving" and "Caring", two topics which we associate with Harvest. I then used three of the hymns as texts for my 'mini' sermons. These three hymns were: - "For the fruits of His creation" - This hymn relates to both the chosen themes. The two main quotes from this hymn which I used were "The just reward of labour" which led logically to the issue of the Fair Trade movement. The line "In the help we give our neighbour" led me neatly into the importance of caring and sharing. - "For the healing of the nations" - This hymn contains the line, "For a just and equal sharing of the things that earth affords". I made the point here that the earth has the richness to easily feed, clothe and resource all its people yet so many go on living in poverty, in despair and, sometimes, in virtual slavery. The hymn then goes on to give us the answer, "To a life of love in action help us rise and pledge our word." The reference to "love in action" is, of course, at the very heart of the Christian faith. - "God in His love for us lent us this planet" - Sung to the tune 'Stewardship', this is a relatively recent hymn which focuses our mind on the resources which our world has and how we should be doing better in preserving it for future generations. It has been said that we don't own the planet we just have it on loan from our children. By using these hymns in this way and expanding on the main points I have mentioned, (I have just given you the 'bare bones' here) I got across the message of my twin themes in a concise way which the congregation found easy to follow. As I said earlier in my article, I have found this approach very successful and I intend to use it more when leading worship on appropriate occasions. A secondary issue with this way of doing things is that it makes the congregation very aware of the words they are singing, perhaps giving them a whole fresh understanding of hymns they have sung for many years.
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