THE FOUR SPEECHES
According to Bits & Pieces, William Lyon Phelps, the late Yale professor and lecturer, once said that he got credit for only one-fourth of his after-dinner speeches. “Every time I accept an invitation to speak, I really make four addresses. First is the speech I prepare in advance. That is pretty good. Second is the speech I really make. Third is the speech I make on my way home, which is the best of all; and the fourth is the speech the newspapers the next morning say I made, which bears no relation to any of the others.” I think a pastor could re-use Phelp’s story to describe the sermon that you have in mind by Saturday, the sermon you preach on Sunday morning, the sermon you re-preach in your mind on the way home from church and the sermon that is reviewed by your people at Sunday lunch.
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