I am a planter which means that I have the duty of tilling the soil. I literally have to break the soil, and turn what was up, over so that it is down. They reverse things when necessary. Likewise, I have the task of placing what was down and under the earth up and on top. Likewise, I have to take that which is up and put it down.
When people ask me about preaching without notes, many assume that you must write out the whole sermon and then memorize the sermon. These preachers are looking for a method that will help them memorize such a large amount of material.
While reflection on my brief tenure in the pastorate I can say in all honesty that there is no greater joy than to work in the area of one’s passion. For about two months I have been living in a region of the country completely foreign to me, involved in an immense act of service towards individuals who constantly perplex, surprise, and at times even serve as a source of agony. Nonetheless, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing!
Here is an article by Charles Swindoll that seeks to answer the question, “Why are some Preacher’s Better than Others?” In it he gives three things that go into all good preaching:
Another method used by preachers to limit notes is to memorize part of the message. Here the preacher takes a manuscript, but has a particular portion of the sermon that is to be preached without reliance on it. For example, there are some manuscript preachers that know their introduction so well that they do not refer to their manuscript during this portion. Others like to memorize the conclusion/celebration so that they can close strong.
I feel like starting with the quote from Mark Twain who said: “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” There are many who think that the three points and a poem deserve to fall off the landscape of possible sermonic choices.
In the book, Blow the Trumpet in Zion, Renita Weems has a sermon entitled: Running the Race for Future Generations: Can You Handle the Faith Without Fulfillment? The Sermon’s text is essentially the Book of Hebrews.
The pastor was unusually eloquent. He preached with power and the people sensed a special move of God. While the Pastor usually preaches well, this time he really brought it home. Imagine my surprise when I was reading a book of Sermons from the divinity library and found that that Pastor had stolen a sermon word for word. After that I paid more attention and on another occasion saw another of that Pastor’s sermons on the internet.
In Homiletic Theory, Dr. McClure has given each of the students a few terms that we are to define. By the luck of the draw (or lack thereof) I was among the first students that had to define a word in homiletics. Interestingly enough the word that I was given is one that I knew nothing about originally. the word is Nommo which is an Afrocentric term that refers to the creative power of the word. If anyone wishes to read the full document you can get it below.
Can one learn to whoop? Is there a system to help anybody whoop? Rev. Jasper Williams answers this question with an unequivocal yes. He states that anyone who has been called to preach has been given by God the ability to whoop.
I just realized that I do not have any posts that give an outline of my method for exegesis. Here is the basic process.
Gregory M. Howard, pastor of Union Branch Baptist Church in Chesterfield, Virginia has written a book that gathers much of the rhetoric of the Black church and the Black pulpit into one volume.