Biblical Preaching is in the middle of a series of articles defending homiletic training. It is interesting how some will study to get a job, but when it comes to preaching, they think they should just do what comes naturally and not put any study into the subject.

I would encourage all to go over to the Biblical Preaching site and read the discussion there. What I want to talk about in this article though are the different ways that you can get homiletic training.

Read Books

The first thing you can do is read books. There are a number of books that are available to help you learn how to preach. One of the books I recommend is Best Advice for Preaching. The book was written with new preachers in mind and will give you advice on various aspects of preaching.

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Jeremiah Wright, pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ, wrote an article that is included in Blow the Trumpet in Zion: Global Vision and Action for the 21st century Black Church about the legacy of Samuel D. Proctor for preachers in the 21st century.

Intellectual Excellence

Wright summarizes the legacy into four components. The first of these is Intellectual Excellence. Here Proctor pushed not only for his own excellence, but also excellence in his students. As preachers, we must always strive to do the best we can intellectually. The Gospel we handle and the God we serve demands that we push for intellectual excellence.

Cultural Relevance

The next component is Cultural Relevance. There is a lot of talk about "relevance" today. Often this is the "seeker-sensitive" approach that seeks to speak in terms that the people want to hear. however, Wright is speaking about a cultural relevance that comes from speaking from a particular cultural framework. We preachers cannot set aside our background when we preach, and we must use it to address the groups that we are called to preach.

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Olin P. Moyd gives an interesting quote on page 121 of his important work The Sacred Art: Preaching and Theology in the African American Tradition. He writes:

The preaching opportunity always occurs at the intersection where the human situation of a particular group and the Word of God meet in time and place. The sermon must be true to the text, applicable to life situations, and always relevant to present conditions and aspirations of the community being addressed. There must be divine answers to the cries, "What must I do in my present situation?" just as there are answers to "What must I do to be saved?" Preaching in the African American tradition always responded to both of these questions.

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Peter Mead, at Biblical Preaching.Net, gives two options for turning a text into a half hour sermon in this article. Mead provides two options. The first is to carefully plan how to drive the main point into your people. This would include tactically deciding how you will present the idea. Mead succinctly summarizes this option as follows:

Option 1 is to take half-an-hour and make that main idea so clear, so transformative, so evident from the text, so applicational for each life.

Option 2 is to simply throw together information about the text, or other things irrelevant to the point, that obfuscates the point of the message.

I think this is an important thing to ask about everything that we are preaching. Is the tidbit that I am about to add to the sermon actually helping to drive the main point home, or apply the point, or celebrate the point? If it is not, then set it aside. Over the course of your preaching ministry you will probably have a chance to brig it back, but it is not a helpful part of the sermon you are currently working on unless it serves the point of your sermon.

We've come this far by faith

Leaning on the Lord

Trusting in God's Holy World

God's never failed me yet.

Can't turn around

We've come this far by faith.

While in the depths of slavery, no one could have imagined. We just wanted to survive the pain of the middle passage. When your family was being ripped apart, your dream was much lower, you just wanted to survive, to have the master stay out of your daughter's room tonight, we dreamed that our husbands and wives would not be sold tomorrow....

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This is a popular thought in the Black Church. The Lord is not only "going to" bless me, but the Lord already is currently blessing me. The song betrays an attitude of gratitude on behalf of the worshiper. We don't come to God only to request things from God, but to acknowledge the "goodness of Jesus and all he has done for me."

One might wonder what has God done, but the singer of this song answers "he woke me up this morning and started me on my way. Certainly the Lord will bless me, but any adequate understanding of God must begin with an acknowledgment of what God has already done.

As we continue to preach and teach in the Black tradition, we must always keep in the mind of the listener that God has already done so much for us that should elicit praise and works of Love. (Galatians 5:6)

Something within me that holdeth the reins.
Something within me that banishes pain;
Something within me I can't explain,
All that I know, there is something within me.

We often think of the Christian life in terms of what God will give us materially. We hear preachers speak of food on the table and a house and a job. We hear about how God will make you successful on your job or take you to the correct job if you lose that one.

However, one of the greatest gifts God has given to you is that "something" that is within you. That "something" that guides and directs you. That "something" that tells pain to stand back. That "something" that keeps you stable in an unstable world. I can't really explain that "something", but God has placed this "something" within you.

Today as we seek to live the life of God, let us keep in mind this great gift that God has given to us which is simply this "something" within.

I shall not be, I shall not be moved
I shall not be, I shall not be moved
Just like a tree, Planted by the waters
I shall not be moved.

Sometimes the sick think of the blessing of God as a cure. Other times the one who has suffered job loss may see the blessing of God as getting that job back or finding a new one. In these cases the blessing is a reversal of fortunes. The blessing is God taking the problem and eliminating it.

But in our lives we often don't get the cure. Sometimes we have to live with the diabetes till we die, sometimes we have to learn how to handle the migraines, and yes sometimes we have to learn how to manage with the arthritides. In addition, some of us may have to recognize that a new job may not be soon on the horizon and happy days may not be here again.

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About a year and a half ago I posted an article about the preaching methodology of Rev. Mark T. Davis of the First Presbyterian Church in Boise Idaho.

Immersion in the Text

In Davis' approach, the preacher does not attempt to determine what he or she is to say. The preacher is simply immersed in the text. The the preacher preaches out of that preparation. Note that structure is not a part of this preparation. This is a very interesting approach that may be helpful to some preachers.

Recently Fred R. Lybrand has written a book that describes his methodology of Preaching on Your Feet. That method is similar to Davis' approach. Here the preacher is not attempting to preach a set sermon, but is attempting to let the preparation and immersion in the text flow from the preacher to the people.

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Preachers are called to tell the truth. In this respect they are in the line of the Biblical prophets who had to tell truth to power. They had to say, like Nathan, thou art the man.

Bailout of the Super-Rich

This past week, the Senate and the House of the United States rushed together to push through a 700 billion dollar bill to support wall street and avert a collapse of the United States economy. The bill would help to bailout Wall Street executives who had engaged in unregulated speculations and had lost. To keep them from going down, the democratic congress and the republican executive branches rushed to essentially place a tab on the middle class to pay for a bailout of the super rich.

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I just listened to a worship service where an associate minister was given an assignment. However, instead of attempting to support the worship service, the associate attempted to turn his part into a chance to "preach."

The Role of the Associate

I have seen it many times before. The associate is called to read the morning scripture or announce the hymn. Instead of following proper protocol, the associate started adding some remarks that continued on. Then 20 minutes later the associate sat down. Sometimes this problem is a training issue. The associate needs to be taught that his or her role is not to add another sermon to the worship service, but to support the service and the preacher. Sometimes it is just an associate who will not follow directions.

Associates support the service by knowing the theme of the service and our part in it. If you have not been assigned the morning sermon, do not take it upon yourself to add one. That unnecessarily lengthens and detracts from the service that worship planners have put together. When it is your turn to give the Word, how would you feel if the 3 or 4 other associates had added 30-45 minutes of distracting additions? Get up, do your assignment, and sit down!

Know Your Role

Keep in mind that associates are used as they support the pastor and the service. Associates who sacrifice the service to gratify their own desire to preach out of season will ultimately limit their future possibilities. Do what God has assigned you in this service and sit down. Your turn will come, and when it does, you will hope that the other associates will follow that simply rule.

In Celebration and Experience in Preaching Henry Mitchell provides various sermon types. These help the preacher either categorize or simply think about how to structure a sermon. One of these types is the Monologue or Testimony. An example of this type of sermon is when a preacher takes on the persona of a Biblical character and preaches a first-person story.

An interesting variant of this type of sermon is in Dr. Martin Luther King's book, Strength to Love. In that book, Dr. King provides a modern letter from the Apostle Paul to American Christians. The sermon provides a model for approaching sermons. While I do not think this should be done too often, every now and then it could open up possibilities for the people to really experience the gospel.

The challenge of this type of sermon is that you must really understand the text and its author in their context. This will require following a multi step process to exegete the text. You then must understand the current context. Download our free book You Can Preach: 7 Steps to an Effective Sermon which provides one approach to these first two steps.Finally, you must imaginatively place the Biblical character into our modern context in the sermon. Have you tried one of these sermons? Let us know your experiences by leaving a comment.

Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote an article for Harper's Magazine entitled What's the Matter with Preaching?. In the article Fosdick, former pastor of the famed Riverside Church in New York, gives his principle for strong sermons. He states:

Any preacher who even with moderate skill is thus helping folks to solve their real problems is functioning. He never will lack an audience..

The basic idea is that a preacher should help the people solve a real problem that they are having. He continues:

Every sermon should have for its main business the solving of some problem--a vital, important problem, puzzling minds, burdening consciences, distracting lives--and any sermon which thus does tackle a real problem , throw even a little light on it, and help some individuals practically to find their way through it cannot be altogether uninteresting.

I find much to agree with and and respectfully find some things to disagree with in these quotes. I agree that preachers must address people exactly where they are. This is a basic rule of communication. However, I do not agree that preaching is mere problem solving. Preaching must remind the people of another kingdom. Preaching must point to possibilities and realities that are even outside of the structures that seem to constrain us. Preaching must remind us of something that is even greater than our problems. That something is that kingdom of God that ultimately places our problems into a larger context.

So yes, address people where they are, but take them to another place to meet the Sovereign of the Universe. And then as our congregants meet that great God, hopefully, they will receive the vision as well as the tools to deal with the problems that this world gives us.

Dr. McMickle discusses "praise" as the next reason why prophetic preaching has not been on the agenda of most preachers. Whether it is preaching conferences, journals, magazines, and church services, we are constantly given this call to praise. McMickle writes:

[T]here is a constant call to "praise God" that is seldom, if ever, followed up with a challenge to serve God in tangible ways that are benefit to our brothers and sisters, to our neighbors and friends, or to the widows, orphans, and strangers who are so constantly referenced in the Bible. Page 79.

McMickle notes that this call is constant whether on the WORD or Trinity Broadcasting Network, people of all ethnicities are calling for "praise." We are constantly told that "when praises go up...blessings come down." Certainly praise is important. The Bible itself tells us to praise God, but something is wrong when praise becomes an end to itself. Something is wrong when the preacher never gets to any ethical demands of the Christian life. Something is wrong when we depart the worship service without any intention to live a better life and/or to serve the community?

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Dr. McMickle continues helping modern preachers by forcing us to ask ourselves the question: "Am I a patriot or a prophet?" A preacher cannot be both. A patriot is one who equates the policies of a political party with the voice of God. In addition, the "patriot" thinks that God's love for America surpasses the Almighty's love for other nations.

Is America's Will God's Will?

This kind of mindset often reduces to the idea that what is good for America is God's will. You might hear such a "patriot" saying that God wants you to vote for McCain or even for Obama. Patriots often find themselves fighting for a political policy and losing track of God's perspective. When we look in the Bible we find prophets standing up for God's will even when it is at odds with the established political order. Ahab called Elijah a "troubler of Israel." Nathan Confronted David for his adultery and murder. (2 Samuel 12:7) In addition, Samuel decided to be a prophet rather than a patriot when he confronted Saul. (1 Samuel 15:11) Let us remember that John the Baptist stood up against Herod which reminds us that sometimes being a prophet will get your head placed on a plate. (Matthew 14:11)

Let's be Prophets

No, God has not called us to be beholden to political parties. We are called to be prophets. Patrick Henry is not our model as a preacher; Nathan is!! George Washington is not who we have been called to emulate; Elijah is!! Let us become the prophets that God has called us to be even if the established order does not like it.

Many people contact me wanting a step by step method to learn to whoop, here is the outline of a method.

1. Listen to Other Whoopers

The first thing that one should do if you want to learn how to whoop is listen to other whoopers. Just like if you want to learn how to play jazz, you must listen to others who do it well. Please note that there are different levels of listening. The first level is merely for enjoyment. Here you simply listen for things that you enjoy or that "speak to you" on some level. Another level of listening however is critical analysis. Here you seek to understand what is happening. You listen to the whooper trying to hear the pitch changes. When does the whooper change pitch. When does the whooper change the volume? Does the whooper only get loud at the end? Does the whooper get loud and soft? Another question one might listen for is a sequence of pitches. Does the whooper make use of a sequence (sometimes called a riff in music)? What about rhythm? Does the whooper change his or her rhythm?

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Many books on preaching only emphasize the preparation of the sermon. However, few deal with the issue of presenting the sermon. In the book Best Advice for Preaching Mitties McDonald de Champlain provides some things to keep in mind when preaching the sermon. Explicitly Champlain describes the purpose of his presentation as "How to be good news while preaching the good news is the concern of this chapter." The first section of the chapter describes the goals of the preacher in seeking to preachthe gospel.

Be Authentic

The first goal of the preacher is to be authentic. Here the preacher seeks to be "open, honest, relevant, and real" (pg 100). As I have noted before, God has called you as the preacher for a reason. We must be that one that God has chosen to preach the Gospel through. In addition, de Chaplain emphasizes that being authentic would include nonverbal as well as verbal communication.

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I am currently reading the important work by Marvin McMickle entitled Where Have all the Prophets Gone? In the book McMickle looks at 4 trends that have caused the prophetic voice of the prophets to be blunted in the Christian church.

The first trend that has served to minimize the prophetic witness in the Christian pulpit is the truncation of the message of Justice. Here the demands of Justice are limited to 1 or 2 issues. McMickle notes that among some mainline and liberal Christian groups the great tradition of activism for justice has been reduced to activism for homosexual and for abortion rights.

Both Conservative and Progressive Limits Justice

Certainly the demands of justice includes more than the rights of homosexuals and the rights of women. However, much of the demands for full justice which would include advocacy for the poor and those who's backs are against the wall is set aside while these two subjects dominate the discussion.

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When you are preaching the Gospel, you need various tools to help you understand the Biblical text. As noted in other places on this site and others, you should never begin your preparation looking at these tools, however, you should always ensure that your preaching is in line with what is truth. There is nothing that will ruin your credibility faster than basing a major point in your sermon on something that is simply untrue.

When you are attempting to understand the text, you need to know the background of the text, author, occasion that calls for the writing of the scripture. One should never forget that the scripture is an alien book to us. Sometimes we think we are reading a book written primarily to 20th century readers, but there is a gap between us and the original hearers of scripture that require bridging. One important tool in this bridging is the Bible Dictionary. There are a number of dictionaries that can be of aid to the preacher. I personally have Harper-Collins Bible dictionary in addition to Anchor Bible Dictionary on CD. Harper-Collins is one volume and the Anchor is a multi volume tool.

A good Bible dictionary will allow you to look up any word you find in the Bible. That word may be a person, place, or thing. It might be a city. You might wonder about an animal or even the monetary system. Have you thought about the other gods in the surrounding areas of Palestine? All of these questions will be addressed in a good Bible dictionary.

Another Bible dictionary that you can find on the web for free is the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. However that is a bit dated. in any case, preachers should never preach a text that is not fully understood. While referring to the Bible Dictionary should not be the first place in the sermon prep, you must never get up in the pulpit preaching a text you dont' understand, a Bible dictionary will help you not make that mistake.

Oh Freedom, Oh Freedom, Oh Freedom Over Me And Before I'd Be a Slave I'd Be Burried in my Grave And Go Home to my Lord and be Free What is the Black Preaching Tradition? This is not an easy question to answer. I have often heard someone describe a preacher by saying, "He preaches Black." Often the preacher is using an animated style that elicits a response from the congregation. Those preachers who have such a style are said to preach "black" because they allegedly sound like a Black preacher.

Perhaps we all have heard preachers who attempt to preach in that tradition without adequate thought or preparation. Sometimes these individuals just yell. I remember hearing a preacher once who upon reaching his conclusion began yelling, he had heard other Black preachers increase their intensity at the end of the sermon, so he just started yelling. The yelling didn't fit. The yelling was simply a caricature of the tradition.

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