We’ve looked at the important issues in voice and non-verbals over recent days. Both of these have to reinforce and support the work being done by your words when you preach. But before we move on, just a couple of comments on the verbal aspect of delivery . . . the words you choose to [...]
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In thinking about the 3 V’s of delivery, we have looked at the voice (vocal) and are in the midst of the visual (non-verbals). Yesterday we considered the supreme issue of eye-contact (watch a video of yourself if you don’t believe me when I say you probably don’t look at your congregation as much as [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, tagged Bert Decker, Expository Preaching, Hershael York, Non-Verbal, Visual Communication on July 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday we gave some thought to the vocal variations needed for effective delivery. Today let’s remind ourselves of some aspects of visual delivery – the non-verbals that are so powerful. The key here is for the visual (non-verbals) and the vocal to work together with the verbal (words) to make the communication consistent and impactful. [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, tagged Expository Preaching, Preaching Voice, Use of Voice, Vocal, Vocal Delivery on July 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Delivery of a message is a complex issue. While this shouldn’t create tensions in us that distract from working hard on content (Bible study, pastoral awareness, prayer, message shaping, etc.), we do need to give some thought to how we deliver a sermon. Delivery consists of three elements – the verbal (words used), the visual [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, tagged Expository Preaching, Preaching Feedback, Sermon Feedback on June 25, 2009 | 4 Comments »
It is healthy and helpful to get feedback on your preaching. Sometimes you might pursue this by asking several people to fill out an evaluation of a sermon preached. Perhaps you ask for specific feedback on handling of the text, or aspects of delivery that you are working on, etc. Another approach is to form [...]
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There are many exciting parts of the Bible. Last night I was leading a seminar and we thought briefly about the story of Acts. That’s exciting. The problem we have, though, is decades of familiarity combined with a stoic tendency in traditional church settings. Many of us have heard the stories since childhood, and sadly, [...]
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When we are preparing a message there are many ingredients. Biblical explanation, various forms of illustrative support materials, a variety of means of communicating application, etc. A question worth asking ourselves is “where is the burden of the authority in this message?” By this I mean, what part of the message carries the authority of [...]
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Monday morning. For preachers it’s the day after Sunday (I suppose that’s true for others too?) Whether you are privileged to be in a paid ministry position, or privileged to have “normal” employment, Monday is an important time for a preacher. My suggestion:
Reflect – Take a few minutes at some point to prayerfully reflect on [...]
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It can be the environment. It can be the seats and their position on the relative scale of personal discomfort. It can be the ambient temperature. It can certainly be the noisy and distracting child (parents should never underestimate the distracting power of a noisy child!) The environment can certainly be a key factor in [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, Preaching Anecdotes, Preaching illustrations on June 16, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I’d like to ponder those things generally known as “illustrations.” I tend to refer to them as “support materials” to recognize their function. Or even better, I prefer to call them what they actually are, either “explanations” or “proofs” or “applications” since that forces me to be purposeful in how I use them. Notice I [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 4 - Passage Idea, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, tagged Expository Preaching, Order, Progress, Unity on June 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Unity. Order. Progress. Three essentials in effective communication of a message. Yet it strikes me that we can sometimes take these for granted when we are preaching on a single passage. Unity? One passage. Order? Moving through the passage. Progress? Getting closer to the end. If this is all we have, then I suspect our [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching on June 5, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday my wife had to spend the day in the hospital having blood taken every hour. So I received regular updates by text message (SMS). She was listening to some CDs she’d been sent. Teaching on the subject of the family. I received a sort of running commentary by text message. The bottom line? This [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, tagged Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, Explosive Preaching, Ron Boyd-MacMillan, MLK, Robert Schuller on May 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Most chapters in Explosive Preaching prompt me to think of several posts. Hopefully Boyd-MacMillan will forgive my leaning on his book for ideas so often in recent weeks in exchange for my encouragement to others to buy it for themselves. Chapter 28 in the book is a chapter that stands out as unlike anything I’ve [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Preaching Feedback, Sermon Feedback on May 22, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Yesterday I made a passing comment about “disturbing feedback.” Let me begin with yesterday’s example and then add some more. They tend to speak for themselves. Don’t be too encouraged when you hear these kinds of comments after your preaching:
“Ooo, I never would have seen that in that passage!”
“As ever, such a rich message. I [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, Pastoral Ministry, Church Leadership on May 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Last week I shared three sneaky landmines that every preacher faces in the ministry. I appreciated the good comments by Larry and Sudhir, so thought I’d bring their suggestions to the fore in this post. More landmines:
Thinking we need something new to say – Now just because a take on a passage has [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, tagged Expository Preaching, Boring Preaching, Explosive Preaching, Ron Boyd-MacMillan on April 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In his book, Explosive Preaching, Ron Boyd-MacMillan delineates two factions in a debate over the place of preaching. On the one hand, there are those he calls the pro-sermon faction who need to wake up to the fact that their logic is often overdone. That is to say, in their mind “preaching = sermonizing” and [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, tagged Luther-King, Martin Luther King, Mentoring, MLK on April 24, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I believe we need repeated prodding on this issue. It’s a critical issue in ministry and church health. I believe it is the heart of biblical ministry. Here’s a prod from Explosive Preaching, 145:
There is no greater tragedy for preaching today than the senior pastor who claims to be too busy to mentor preachers.
I say, [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Genre, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching on April 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
If you are a regular preacher, then the chances are that you have a rhythm in your preparation. This is good in many ways. However, it also runs the risk of getting into some well-worn ruts. If you are an irregular preacher, then perhaps your preparation process lasts over several weeks. This is also good [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, tagged Expository Preaching, proxemics, Small Church on April 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Just a little thing, but prompted by a recent experience in a church. It was a small church, perhaps 30 people packed in to what is essentially just a room. At the front there is the preaching platform, raised probably six to eight inches off the floor. Then there’s me – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Well, not [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Applicational Preaching, Expository Preaching, Preaching Applications, Sub-Christian Preaching on April 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Carrying on from yesterday’s two failings, here are the rest:
“3. Vague Phrasing – Preachers seem hardwired to eschew all vivid verbs and concrete nouns, with the result that they sound vague and uninteresting.”
A lack of energy in delivery, a lack of facial engagement, a lack of passion, a lack of effective sensory description and so [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, Sermon Introductions, Message Introductions on April 15, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I thought I’d share this list of five major failings of many preachers, according to the book that I am currently enjoying:
“1. Multiplitus – Using too many points until the sermon becomes a starburst that dazzles rather than communicates.”
Well put. When we try to preach more than one point, we quickly move from communication [...]
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I just read an interesting article about a study in motivation at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The study involved presenting students with an exercise regime. One group had it presented in plain Arial font, the other in a hard-to-read messy font. Apparently the results, in terms of motivation, were remarkable. The plain [...]
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Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Public Speaking, Expository Preaching, Manipulative Preaching, Manipulation, Affections, Human Will on April 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Thought I’d follow up on Saturday’s post by sharing a quote I appreciated in the book I will name this week:
You must not fear to have affective goals for the sermon as well as cognitive goals. There is nothing wrong with trying to move the listener. It is not manipulative to seek to engage their [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Genre, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching on April 11, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Some preachers preach merely to inform. Perhaps they are under the impression that the mind is the control center of the human being. Perhaps that think that their task is merely educative. Perhaps they are in a tradition that reveres the intellect, but pulls away from other aspects of human complexity. Perhaps they’ve never known [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Applicational Preaching, Expository Preaching, Sunukjian, Donald Sunukjian, Preach the Word, Charles Kraft, Explaining the Text on April 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Here’s a provocative quote from Charles Kraft:
The amount of crucial information involved in Christianity is, I believe, quite small. The amount of Christian behavior demanded in response to all that information is, however, quite large. We have, however, given ourselves over to a methodology that emphasizes the lesser of the two ingredients. (Jesus Model for [...]
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It has been an interesting weekend of preaching for me. For the first time in almost four years, I preached in Italian. Actually, three times in two churches. (Background: I spent my first five years in Italy and have visited many times while growing up, my Italian is quite poor, limited vocabulary and by no [...]
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You’ve probably heard of writer’s block – apparently it explains why some authors spend hours wandering aimlessly around cities like London and New York, buying coffee at Starbucks and then claiming it as a business expense. But what about preacher’s block? I’ve never heard anyone use the term, but I’ve certainly experienced it. Here are [...]
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Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Genre, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Old Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, First-Person Preaching, In Character Preaching on April 3, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I just received a really encouraging email from Steve. Steve has attended a couple of my preaching seminars and also helped to set one up in his own church. We had talked about the possibility of preaching in first-person, and he followed through on the idea. Here are the highlights of the email with some [...]
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Just a quick prompt to do a self-check on your delivery. By definition, biblical preaching must be heavily focused on content (both biblical and connected to contemporary life). However, great content can easily be undermined by poor delivery. Perhaps it would be worth running a quick self-scan over your delivery strengths and weaknesses. Don’t be [...]
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Alright, I think this will be the last in the series. Yesterday I made mention of sensory details and sufficient time for images to form on the screens of the hearts and imaginations of the listeners. This is all true and important, well worth pondering, but here’s another piece of the puzzle. Listeners won’t remain [...]
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