I remember one time trying to make some dry beans. I had been used to the frozen beans that cooked very quickly. I didn’t realize that the dry beans need much more time. It felt like they cooked and cooked and cooked. But they were never done. Finally, they got to the point where they were ready for eating. A little seasoning and the outcome was much better than the frozen beans I was used to eating.
Charles Koller’s excellent book entitled How To Preach Without Notes devotes chapter 16 to the topic of The Basic Appeals in Biblical Preaching. We will work our way through these appeals in the coming days.
Charles G. Adams provides a discussion of his sermon preparation method in Cleophus LaRue’s book Power in the Pulpit. It is detailed and comprehensive.
Pastor Adams first emphasizes that prayer is at the beginning of the sermon. In addition, the preacher must have a text from the Bible and a subject from the preacher.
The last general principle Cleophus LaRue writes about in his book before walking through the methods of the great preachers is Preaching Out of the Overflow
Be not deceived, great preaching requires sustained study and great discipline. Cleophus LaRue notes this fact in his book Power in the Pulpit.
Kent Anderson on the Preaching.Org site put up a link to the Chronological Bible Storying Site.
What is Chronological Bible Storying? According to the site
Cleophus LaRue speaks of hymnody in his book Power in the Pulpit. Preachers have used the power of hymns in their preaching for centuries. LaRue notes that some preachers quote hymns here and there throughout the sermon. Other preachers use it during the “celebration” phase of the sermon.
Cleophus LaRue’s next principle of effective sermons is The Sermon as Continuous Creation.
The preacher is to always think on the sermon. Even after it is “ready” for preaching, the preacher is still thinking of new ideas and new ways to present certain ideas.
If you are going to preach an effective sermon you must follow Cleophus LaRue’s next principle of effective sermons which is A Fitting Close to the Sermon
Cleophus LaRue speaks of the Importance of a Manuscript in his bookPower in the Pulpit. This is another element of great preaching.
Cleophus LaRue’s next element of great preaching is an Astute Awareness of the Culture. The preacher must have a connection to real life if the preacher is to preach a message that connects to people.
LaRue states:
The final step to preaching a sermon that effectively tells a story is to Practice.
Record yourself telling the story. Then transcribe the story from the tape into a manuscript. This practice will improve your storytelling and your preaching in general.
The next step in preaching an effective sermon that makes use of stories is to decide what details that you collected from steps 1 and 2 are useful to help the preacher fulfill the purpose found in step 3.
In short, the preacher should determine the feelings and the sensory data that are needed to preach a “15-25” minute sermon.
The third step in Martha Simmons and Henry Mitchell’s method for improving storytelling in preaching is the turning point towards putting together the sermon. Here you must determine the behavioral purpose of the sermon. You get this by asking yourself, What change in core belief or obedience is the Passage pushing the people to.