Be not deceived, great preaching requires sustained study and great discipline. Cleophus LaRue notes this fact in his book Power in the Pulpit.
Category: Preaching Methods
Hymns in Preaching
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.
The Sermon is Never Finished
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.
Closing the Sermon Right
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
The Manuscript and Great Preaching
Cleophus LaRue speaks of the Importance of a Manuscript in his bookPower in the Pulpit. This is another element of great preaching.
Awareness of the Culture in 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:
Improving Storytelling in Preaching Step 4 – Collect the Data
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.
Improving Storytelling in Preaching Step 3 – Determine the Purpose
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.
Improving Storytelling in Preaching Step 2 -Uncover Feelings
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:
- Loneliness
- Jealousy
- Greed
- Fear
Improving Storytelling in Preaching Step 1 – Sensory Exegesis
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.
Preparing a Sermon for the Real Congregation
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.
Wrestling with the Text
The next characteristic of great preaching that the preachers described in Preaching with Power is “The Importance of Wrestling with the Text.”
Waiting on God in the Sermonic Process
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.
Preaching as Oral/Aural Event
Cleophus LaRue edited a book entitled Preaching in the Pulpit: How America’s Most Effective Black Preachers Prepare Their Sermons.. In the book he gives 11 characteristics of the methodologies of these great preachers.