Peter Mead at the Biblical Preaching site refers to something that I suspect is very common. That at the most inopportune time a distraction happens. It may be a baby crying. It may be someone walking out in a distracting way. It may even be someone showing up late.
Personally, I think just about every sermon should end in an appeal. But what should the appeal entail. I would suggest that the appeal have a three-fold focus.
Should Black Preachers whoop? Does whooping degrade our sermons? Is it an unnecessary detraction? This audio looks at these and other questions in reference to whooping.
The fundamental aspect of the memory system is to connect the thing you want to remember to your brain in a solid fashion. Tony Buzan, in his book Use Your Perfect Memory cites 2 fundamental principles that will aid you in your memory work. In our next post, we will look at the features.
Remember those infomercials about “MEGA-MEMORY?” Kevin Trudeau wrote spoke about learning some techniques to strengthen one’s memory. After seeing the thing for years, I finally purchased the system off of ebay for a big reduction in cost.
Sometimes, especially in the Black Church, preaching is seen as glamorous. This is completely understandable. Seeing someone who has been called of God powerfully living into that call by proclaiming the word is a very attractive proposition. All of us whether preacher or not are called to live into our call powerfully like this. However, becuase the preacher’s job is so visible, we can lose track of the fact that the vast majority of our work is behind the scenes.
How do you increase the intensity of your sermons? Preachers often do this by increasing volume, but that can cause difficulties. Find other ways to bring power to your preaching in this audio.
The Unashamed Workman has a short article where the editor quotes John Stott answering the question what should the people remember from our sermon?
He writes:
What can worship leaders do to provide an effective preaching service? In this audio we will discuss a few things that preachers can do to ensure that the worship services they are a part of are effective vehicles for the proclamation of the Gospel.
Some of our colleagues were shocked at the sermon by Jeremiah Wright. I think one should read and hear a full sermon, and the full body of work, of a preacher before jumping to conclusions about one’s love for the country. Here is a sermon that can help you gain context on this preacher.
There are two characteristics of preaching that are sometimes placed at odds by certain teachers of preaching. Some think that eloquence and passion are on some kind of scale, and that you must choose which one is to be in the drivers seat in your sermon preparation.
I would encourage you to listen to this discussion of Jeremiah Wright’s comments. The discussion includes those who are attacking Rev. Wright and those who are defending him from various standpoints.
Around minute 13 one of my own homiletics professors, Dr. Brad Braxton, provides a brief but important historical description of the African American church and African American preaching.
Ok…It is late and you need a sermon. You look at the text and you only see what you always see. What can you do? A simple tip provided by Charles Koller in the book How to Preach Without Notes might help.