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.
Many have done it. You listen to a preacher say something catchy and repeat it. Perhaps you have heard a great sermon and re-preached it. Whatever the case, presenting other’s work as your own is stealing and false representation. Whenever, we front like the work of another is ours we are stealing!
The second step to exegete the text so that you can more effectively tell the Biblical story as presented in Martha Simmons’s and Henry Mitchell’s book entitled Study Guide to Accompany Celebration and Experience in Preaching is to note the feelings you find in the text.
Here you once again read the text and place yourself in the text. However, this time you are looking for the feelings of the various people in the text.
Look for any feelings including the following:
African American Preaching is about encouraging the people to have an encounter with the Bible story. How do you do this? How do you strengthen your storytelling ability specifically for preaching? In the next 5 posts, I will present Rev. Martha Simmons’ steps to help preachers “tell the story.” These steps are from her and Henry Mitchell’s book entitled Study Guide to Accompany Celebration and Experience in Preaching.
Peter Mead of Biblical Preaching has a post up on why preachers should listen to other preachers. It should go without saying that a preacher should listen to other preachers if that preacher is to improve the preacher’s craft.
Richard S. Storrs second lecture in the book entitled Preaching Without Notes: A Series of Lectures describes some specific conditions for success in preaching without notes. These are as follows:
Richard S. Storrs wrote a book entitled Preaching Without Notes: A Series of Lectures. The book is made up of three lectures on this subject. Storrs presents some general suggestions in the first lecture.
As you know if you are a regular reader of this website, the Biblical Preaching Blog is one of my favorite websites for preaching related information. Peter Mead, the primary contributor, has a post up where he encourages preachers to not “Half Quit.”
I am proud to be an intern on The African American Lectionary. The project is live and can be found at the following link. I would encourage all individuals who are interested in the African American Church to go and visit this important link.
LaRue’s next element of great preaching is the significance of the waiting Congregation. In this element, the congregation is involved in the entire preparation process.
My first experience was “all good.” HA HA…yeah right I was as nervous as hell on judgment day! I fasted the week of the sermon by eating only fruits and vegetables until the day before which I ate nothing. I was sooooo focused on delivering that message John 10 the Good Shepherd. I had no title, I still 4 years later and with a MDiv in sight don’t title most sermons!
The next characteristic of great preaching that the preachers described in Preaching with Power is “The Importance of Wrestling with the Text.”
The Second characteristic that Cleophus LaRue speaks of in his book Preaching With Power is a “Sense of Divine Encounter.” Here the preacher must wait until God speaks to the preacher before the sermonic process can begin. This encounter is between the divine and human, thus it is more than human generated.