Basic Articles

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. In addition, many people of other ethnicities have been helped as their preachers have preached this message.

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In 2007, the African American community finds itself in a treacherous situation. It is a time when middle class African Americans have more opportunities than many generations before now. African Americans are CEOs, entertainment personalities, and political leaders in both political parties. But during this time of seemingly relative prosperity the masses of the poor among us are still in terrible conditions. While one might argue that visibly some seem to be rising above all limitations, nevertheless there are indications that racism still affects all African Americans to a greater or lesser certain extent. At this time, the 21st century African American preacher must ask the simple question, “How can we be effective preachers of the Gospel?”

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One of the most persistent models of preaching has been termed "Three points and a Poem." What it means is that the preacher makes three points and then ends with a poem. Some preachers have termed the same sermon method as "Three points and a celebration."

I have been listening to the sermons of a few preachers and have found that this format is still being used even by some well regarded preachers. Just like any art form, there are variants, but here is one description of the parts of such a sermon.

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Charles G. Adams provides a discussion of his sermon preparation method in Cleophus LaRue's book Power in the Pulpit. It is detailed and comprehensive.

Sermon Preparation

Pastor Adams first emphasizes that prayer is at the beginning of the sermon. In addition, the preacher must have a text from the Bible and a subject from the preacher.

The first step is to take the text and read it in every translation possible. This includes reading it in the original language. At this stage you want to be sure not to use commentaries or other people's sermons. That can stifle creativity. You write out your thoughts about your interaction with the text. Read the Rest Here

The final step to preaching a sermon that effectively tells a story is to Practice.

Record yourself telling the story. Then transcribe the story from the tape into a manuscript. This practice will improve your storytelling and your preaching in general.

It is amazing to me how often we preachers will not practice our craft. The musician practices for hours before she comes and performs. If the musician can practice like that to provide an enjoyable experience for the listeners, how much more should we, who are delegated the responsibility of proclaiming the greatest story ever told, practice the messages God gives us to preach.

The next step in preaching an effective sermon that makes use of stories is to decide what details that you collected from steps 1 and 2 are useful to help the preacher fulfill the purpose found in step 3.

In short, the preacher should determine the feelings and the sensory data that are needed to preach a "15-25" minute sermon.

Please note that you will not use all of the data that you have collected in steps 1-2. The guiding purpose is what you saw as the behavioral change taught by this section of scripture.

The third step in Martha Simmons and Henry Mitchell's method for improving storytelling in preaching is the turning point towards putting together the sermon. Here you must determine the behavioral purpose of the sermon. You get this by asking yourself, What change in core belief or obedience is the Passage pushing the people to.

This step recognizes that the sermon must have a purpose. We are not preaching just to be preaching. Neither are we just telling stories for the sake of telling stories. There is a change in belief or practice that we are seeking in the people. For a list of core beliefs, I would encourage you to listen to my audio where I discuss Mitchell and Cooper-Lewter's book Soul Theology.

The second step to exegete the text so that you can more effectively tell the Biblical story as presented in Martha Simmons's and Henry Mitchell's book entitled Study Guide to Accompany Celebration and Experience in Preaching is to note the feelings you find in the text.

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African American Preaching is about encouraging the people to have an encounter with the Bible story. How do you do this? How do you strengthen your storytelling ability specifically for preaching? In the next 5 posts, I will present Rev. Martha Simmons' steps to help preachers "tell the story." These steps are from her and Henry Mitchell's book entitled Study Guide to Accompany Celebration and Experience in Preaching.

The first step is to look at the passage of scripture as if you were walking in the text. Look at it like a movie. Be sure to look at the parts that have to do with the senses.

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I make a habit of listening to Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III of Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas Texas. Dr. Haynes incorporates stories into his preaching very effectively. These stories are gleaned from various sources.

Finding Stories