When you are preparing for preaching, one must edit the sermon. One must take a very close look at the sermon and rewrite it. Henry Mitchell has written a very important article on this very subject that you can find in Best Advice for Preaching. I would encourage all new preachers to get this book.
Henry Mitchell provides some things that the preacher should refine and revise in the editing process. These are:
- Grammar and Consistency – Here correct the grammatical problems
- Sentence Structure – Simplify
- Paragraph Structure – Shorten, provide good topic sentence, and good transitions.
- Words – Choose the word you want, use clear words and limit adjectives and adverbs.
- Particularity – Get out of the theoretical clouds and preach in particulars with concrete details.
- Pronunciation – Figure out how you will pronounce the words in the sermon. Correctly pronouncing a Biblical city or personality really helps your credibility.
When you edit your sermons, think about these aspects as suggested by Henry Mitchell.
Kindly assist
Thanks for posting this article. It somehow enforced my understanding of my own style of writing sermons. And also make me more aware especially in the pronunciation department.