Why You Should Preach to Empty Rooms.

Taking the Call to Preach Seriously

Systems are awesome. Small groups are dope. Growth tracks change people’s lives.
I’m all for that. But let’s not forget that Jesus charged Peter to “feed my sheep”.
Peter took the call to preach the Gospel seriously.

Preaching is not secondary. Preaching is essential.

Preaching cannot be overlooked. It is hard. It takes everything you have, and it takes years of private development. If you’re called to preach, please go find an empty sanctuary and develop your voice.

Preaching to the Chairs

Quarantine was not my first time preaching in an empty room. Bishop Thompson used to do preaching practice with Pastor Brian Bullock and I on Saturday afternoons. In an empty sanctuary. And he would grade us immediately after the sermon.

Pastor Brian always got an A+, but I didn’t.

Bishop Thompson would grade us, critique us, rip our sermons to shreds, record us and make us watch the video so we could “see what he saw.” I remember Bishop saying, “If you can’t preach in an empty sanctuary, then God will never fill it. Preach until you fill the room.”

I went to a private Christian college, Gordon College, and during my junior year, I got the chance to preach. I was pumped, but I was also nervous. So, I snuck into the chapel and practiced my message in that empty room for hours. Tia was a sophomore at the time and would give me feedback.

Recently, I preached in an empty sanctuary for Hillsong Youth’s Encounterfest. It has been about 12 to 15 years since Bishop Thompson made me do it for practice. Bishop was in his 60s when he made us preach in an empty sanctuary and I could never repay him for how seriously he took preparing us for the call to preach.

Preach Until You Fill the Room

If you are a young preacher right now, go find an empty sanctuary and develop your gift. Sharpen your craft. Find your voice. Preach to the chairs until you fill the room.

When Pastor Andy Thompson first hired me to be the youth pastor at World Overcomers, I was so nervous to preach to the teens that I would arrive hours early on a Wednesday and I’d preach to the chairs.

I would pray in that empty sanctuary. I’d lay hands on chairs believing that God would fill them and then I’d practice my sermon.

I remember a couple of weeks the maintenance crew walked in on me yelling and screaming on stage. I was desperate to become a world-class communicator.

If you are a preacher, that means you are a prophet. Tap into your prophetic gift. Don’t ever complain about not having opportunities. If the worship team practices, then you need to practice too. Go find an empty sanctuary, stand on stage, and preach until you fill the room. God honors private sacrifice.

Stop complaining.
Go practice in private.
Go preach to chairs.
Go prophecy to atmospheres and shift the heavens.

The only people who downplay the importance of preaching are the people who aren’t good at preaching. How convenient.

If you can’t preach to an empty room, you can’t preach. You don’t need the crowd. The crowd needs you. You are responsible for all the energy. You can’t blame the refs for losing a game and you can’t blame a difficult audience when you bomb a sermon.

I challenge you to preach to an empty room and to practice in private.

Peace,
Manny