The interest and value of worship, as conducted in most churches,
depend chiefly on the pastor. The service is almost wholly led by him.
It is, therefore, of the highest moment not only that the sermon be
thoroughly studied, but also that his spirit be prepared to lead and
elevate the souls of the people in acts of devotion; for instruction is
not the only object of the service: it is intended to inspire and lead
souls in true, spiritual worship, such as will be acceptable to God and
profitable to the people. Three things are here specially to be sought.
1. _Unity of thought._ Each occasion of worship should ordinarily have
one leading, pervading, governing thought which shall individualize
that occasion and distinguish it from others. By this it is not meant
that the subject should always be advertised in the hymns and
Scriptures and prayers that precede the sermon; this might be
unfortunate, as interfering with the purpose of general worship. But
all parts of the service should be consistent with the subject of the
discourse, and should flow naturally into it; if possible, nothing
should be allowed to enter which may divert from it. The assembly
should be dismissed filled with one subject and bearing away one great
thought. On this account it is usually better to exclude all other
subjects, both during and immediately following public worship, and
when a subject out of the usual order is to be presented, such as some
benevolent object, to give up the entire service to that and
concentrate attention on it.
2. _Sustained interest._ The interest should rise with the progress of
the service, and find its highest point at the close; otherwise, the
good impressions made in the earlier part are lost in the weariness and
apathy of the later. Failure in sustaining interest to the end may
result from several causes: (1.) Imperfect preparation, so that the
matter of the service is commonplace and uninteresting. In this age of
intense mental activity, a want of freshness, vigor, and variety of
thought is at once felt by the people, and the attention is lost.
(2.) Defective, monotonous delivery, which often destroys the force of
the best thought. For this the only remedy is persistent training,
taken, if possible, under a good elocutionist; and where such a defect
exists, to apply this remedy seems clearly the imperative duty of a man
whose success in his work depends on power in public speech.
(3.) Wearisome protraction of the exercises. Few sermons hold the
interest of a congregation beyond half an hour. The effect of the first
thirty minutes is in most cases destroyed by seeking to force attention
through another fifteen or twenty. (4.) Too great exhaustion of the
physical and nervous force of the preacher before the service in
preparing for it. The pastor should secure thorough rest of body and
mind before the Lord's Day services, so as to come to them fresh and
strong. It is better to leave the sermons unfinished than to fail of
this. Preserve at all hazards a high tone of physical vigor and a
healthful, elastic nervous organism; otherwise, the speaking will lack
force and magnetism, and the most able and elaborate sermon will fall
flat and powerless. Some of the most successful preachers avoid all
severe study on Saturday, making that a day of rest and recreation,
that they may come to their Lord's Day work with full nervous and
physical vigor.
3. _Religious impression._ This is the chief design of religious
worship, so far as it is intended to influence men; and however much an
assembly may be interested in a preacher, the thoughtful and judicious
always feel a painful lack if the service has not stirred their deeper
religious nature. The pulpit may be able, eloquent, intellectually
stimulating; but if it does not touch these inner springs of the soul,
it has fatally failed, and the great object of public worship has not
been secured.