What The Blues Teaches Us About Preaching
Ron Allen in his book Patterns of Preaching next discusses the pattern of Preaching Verse by Verse. Here the preacher goes step by step through a text or series of text and explains each part. In some traditions this is one of the most prominent ways of preaching a text of scripture.
Preaching a Sermon Verse by Verse Read MoreThe next pattern in Ronald Allen’s book, Preaching Patterns is what has been called “3 Points and a Poem.” This is an old deductive form where you begin by stating the major claim of the sermon. You then identify some key points that you will discuss. Then you end by helping the people reflect on the points in their daily living. Many times you close with a poem.
Sermons that Make Points Read MorePeter Mead over at the Biblical Preaching blog presents another very helpful thought on how to Make Your Sermon Sizzle.
How do you do it? Simply use vivid and concrete descriptions.
Mead notes:
Vivid Description the Key to Making a Sermon Sizzle Read MoreWhen you describe a Biblical scene, or an applicational situation, or an illustration, be as specific as possible. When you are specific, then listeners will be able to see, feel and experience. Do it well and your sermon will sizzle.
Lamey answers “Yes” and I agree with him. He also hastens to add that we must be careful not to have applications in our sermons that are “contrived, forced or ‘moralistic.'”
Should we have Personal Application in Preaching? Read MoreThe next pattern in the book Preaching Patterns by Ronald Allen is the Sermon as Journey to Celebration.
Sermon as Journey to Celebration Read MoreThe first style of preaching talked about in the Patterns of Preaching book is the Puritan Plain Style. Allen notes: “As the term ‘plain’ implies, this approach is simple to the point.”
There are six sections in the structure of this style of sermon
In the coming weeks, I will discuss some of the patterns that Ron Allen has defined in his book Patterns of Preaching: A Sermon Sampler. That book has 34 patterns and a sermonic example of each one.
Patterns of Preaching Read MoreWhat can a preacher learn from a novelist? What specifically can we learn from Earnest Hemmingway? The Preaching Today Blog picks up this interesting question.
There are two primary things that the author notes that he learns from Hemmingway. First is Hemmingway’s question for love and deep healing. The second is his effectiveness in communication.
Learning to Preach from a Novelist Read MoreThe Unashamed Workman blog has a post up on Reading Your Audience when preaching. The author suggests that preachers must change their presentation based on the congregation that is actually there. He then notes five types of audiences and how we should change our presentation to address each one.
Communicate to the Real People in Front of You Read MoreThe Unashamed Workman teaches truth by quoting John Stott’s new book entitled The Living Church. Stott says in part:
Biblical or Contemporary? Read MoreBut authentic Christian preaching is a bridge-building operation. It relates the text to the context in such a way as to be faithful to the biblical text and sensitive to the modern context. We must not sacrifice either to the other.
Perhaps one of the most common errors in sermonic structure is to have too many competing points. Sometimes preachers exhibit this error when they go on tangents or on asides that are only marginally related to the main point.
Xavier Pickett over at Reformed Blacks of America has done it again. He has presented a concise attack on the status-quo from the perspective of the Black Preaching Tradition.
He states:
Expository Black Preaching? Read MoreThe goal of preaching is not expositional preaching, but rather to present and proclaim Christ as resurrected.
The Brand New Biblical Preaching blog has an interesting post up on How to preach a text with a list in it. This is actually a helpful post. I encourage you to go over and read it. I especially like this point:
How to Preach a Text With a List Read MoreSecondly, within the list, notice the places of emphasis. These are almost always the start and end, as well as the middle on some occasions (especially if the structure is clearly chiastic). Notice any repetition of terms, or clustering of concepts.
The Biblical Preaching blog has a post up entitled “After you preach, then what happens?” In it the importance of a sermonic purpose is discussed. The author states: “we should be preaching for response.”
Purpose in Preaching Read More