Creating Space for Emotion

Preaching should effect the heart. Therefore an emotional response should be expected from a sermon. How that is created is critical to the successful conveyance of the message. When we preach we are not out to entertain, educate or to fill in time, we are trying to challenge behaviour and create an ongoing life long change in people. Jesus' teachings all had a point and appealed to what people already knew from their occupations, their knowledge of the old testament and their local environment.
Once when preaching I talked about Christmas and contrasted the amount we in the West spend on Christmas compared to the cost of fresh water for everyone on earth (Advent Conspiracy). It was important for people to be taken from an emotional high of celebrating the birth of Jesus, their Saviour to being challenged by the effect of him being their Saviour and what that means to them. To change the mood of the people within the service allowed them to consider the effect of their lavish western styled Christmas and how at odds with the true Christmas message their lifestyle has become. In terms of a deeper more personal emotional response that may be better left for the safety and mutual support of study / life groups, as I feel people today don't go to church to be 'beaten up emotionally' but to escape the darkness of the world and to be encouraged to keep walking in faith, this however maybe just a result of the competition from life's other activities people face in attending church, and people wish to go for an enjoyable time.