Search Results for: sermon structure
Sermon Methodology In A Nutshell
You want a quick way to put together a sermon? Someone asked that I repost this…so here it is… You give THREE ANSWERS TO ONE QUESTION. This is an easy way to…
Sermon Step 7: Get Your Points
Now… Let’s turn the page… You got your exegesis. Now let’s get ready to craft a sermon. Now there are a lot of ways to structure a sermon…
Solving Real Problems in Sermons
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…
Sermons that are Willing to be Misunderstood
I have been reading a challenging book entitled The Intrusive Word by United Methodist Bishop William H. Willimon. He argues that being understood is not the ultimate goal of our ministry or our preaching. The ultimate goal is to be true to the gospel that we preach. He says:
Can we preachers respect the gospel enough to allow people not to understand it? (page 19)
Is Relevance and Understanding the Point?
When Are You Finished Preparing Your Sermon?
This is another one of the most popular questions. Whenever I have a seminar or receive questions through the mail, someone asks, “How do I know my sermon is ready for preaching.”…
How To Analyze A Sermon
I will never forget my first homiletic class where the instructor told us to “analyze a sermon.” I had no idea where to begin and the whole idea seemed difficult. But I…
How to Preach Transformative Sermons
Great preaching has in mind not merely inspiration, but the preaching of transformative sermons. We do not desire to make people who merely know more of the Bible, although that is important…
Do Your Sermons Elevate Your People?
I was reading Pastoral Theology: A Black Church Perspective by James H. Harris. In that book he writes:
Do You Have Power in Your Sermons?
The Apostle Paul wrote that the Gospel was the Power of God unto Salvation. (Romans 1:16) As I contemplate this scripture, I come to the question, is there power in my sermons? If I am preaching the Gospel, then there must be power in them. Power to break strongholds, the power to change lives, the power to bring salvation to the weak, the power to break addictions, the power to bring good out of evil. The power to change structures of evil.
Telling us What’s Wrong
How to Prepare – Editing the Sermon
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.
Sermons of the Black Church – God Will Fix Me
Preachers in the Black church tradition preach many messages. However there are a few that jump out at you. In this series we first looked at the idea that God Will Hook You Up. That message is definitely in the tradition and we cannot forget it. However, in these days, many are ONLY preaching this message. In addition, some are preaching a distorted caricature of this message. But, God skillfully used this message to help Black folks through some dark days in America.
Preaching Patterns – The Funeral Sermon
The next preaching pattern presented in Ronald Allen’s book is the Funeral Homily.
Novel Authors and Sermon Preparation
In many of the other sermon patterns, we looked at approaches to structure a sermon. However, this pattern is a way of sermon preparation. How do you go about preparing a sermon? This method attempts to follow a method much like that which many novelists use.