Preaching for Life Change or Self-Help?

Preaching for Life Change

…or self-help

What role does "self-help" have in preaching?

I ask that because a lot of popular preaching today is what I consider "self-help": three ways to a better marriage, how to overcome fear, etc. This is what attracts people and gets them to come back.

Preaching is More Than Self-Help

I'm not against offering helpful sermons. I think Jesus was always teaching people how they could live a better life. But I am concerned when sermons are just a retool of a Dr. Phil book with a few Bible verses added. That sells people short of what they came to church for. Jesus brought a fresh message, not a spiritualized version of human wisdom.

My question as a speaker is: what exactly can I add to a my message that moves it from being merely "self-help" to "God transforms"? How can I elevate people's thinking beyond what they can do, to what only God can do in them and through them?

The goal is to help people see how God wants to enter their life to bring a power/ability/ reasoning that the world can't offer them.

I don't want people leaving church saying, "That was good but nothing I can't get from Dr. Phil or Oprah."  I want people saying, "Dr. Phil was helpful, but this is life-changing. This is going to be a game-changer." 

Preaching is About Resurrection and Transformation

What makes our message a "game-changer" is helping people realize that God is a God of resurrection and transformation. He has covered our past by Jesus' death and given us his Spirit to renew our future: a clean slate with unlimited possibilities. That'll preach.

So if you are a communicator of Jesus' message, don't sell people short. Give people what no one else can offer them: new life in Jesus Christ.