Book Summary: Preaching Without Notes Webb

Webb’s basic thesis is that the best preaching is done without notes. He then precedes to give an example of how he puts his sermons together week after week. Webb attempts to prove that preaching without notes is more valuable in general because it allows a greater connection to the audience and it frees the preacher to be passionate. Then after defending the approach, Webb describes the approach in a day by day approach.

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Notes or No Notes…What is important?

Joseph Webb stated that passion is more important than eloquence in his book Preaching Without Notes. I heard a preacher who is pretty effective with a full manuscript. A few weeks ago he preached a sermon that moved many people. However, today he preached a sermon completely without notes. He did have more passion than normal. He also moved around and had better eye contact with the people. But, his sermon had some major structural problems.

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Subjectivity and Rhetorical Flair in Preaching

Henry Mitchell states: “Real soul preaching demands rhetorical flair” in the book Black Preaching: The Recovery of a Powerful Art. He also states: “The flow and phraseology of the King James Version will never die in America while Black Christianity stays Black.”

Black preaching demands not just saying what you want to say, but the way in which you say it. The preacher should use “rhetorical flair” to aid the presentation of the gospel through the sermonic event.

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