Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘How to . . . ?’ Category

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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.  [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

Most people have.  Let me share the three reasons people gave at the seminar last weekend for having done this, then I’ll make my point clear:
1. It’s like children wanting the same story told over and over – it gives a sense of security.
2. You catch details you didn’t see first time through.
3. You still [...]

Read Full Post »

The question “why?” is critical for good preaching.
Why did the author write the passage? Wrestling with the intent of the author is critical if the goal is to understand the passage.  This means not only asking “what does the passage say?” – that is, content.  But also asking “why did the author write it?” – [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

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, [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

Just a few practical thoughts on the issue of finding and using “illustrations” in preaching:
Bring Description to Life, Not Just Application –Listeners will tell you that you have great illustrations in your preaching, even if you technically have none.  If you are effective in your description of the narrative, the life situation of the author, [...]

Read Full Post »

Thanks to Sarah for commenting on the post about Illustration Saturation.  As I mentioned in the post, many of us struggle with finding and using “illustration” material.  Sarah asked how to improve at intersecting life experiences with the text.  Here are a few random thoughts to get us going.  Certainly this is no developed strategy, [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

Yesterday I was reflecting on Dr John Lennox’s concerns as Christians add fuel to the fire of Richard Dawkin’s faulty logic.  Faith, by his definition, is knowingly trusting in something which cannot be proven – believing against reason.  Yet Lennox yearns for people to understand that the faith is always a response to fact, and [...]

Read Full Post »

I was not alone in really appreciating John Lennox’s preaching and teaching at the recent European Leadership Forum in Hungary.  As someone who has been focused on debating Richard Dawkins and other “new atheists” in recent years, Dr Lennox has a lot to say about faith and apologetics.  He points to a foundational plank in [...]

Read Full Post »

Probably it’s a combination of attending an apologetically driven conference and being scheduled to preach on faith this Sunday, but I’m pondering preaching for faith.  I suppose that is always close to the heart of the matter in Christian preaching.  Anyway, here are a couple of thoughts, although this could be a series of posts [...]

Read Full Post »

Okay, that should be “developmental questions,” but they are dynamite.  Sunukjian and others have followed Robinson in making quite a fuss of these three questions.  I would encourage you to do the same.  The questions represent the three ways in which a stated idea can be developed.  There are no other ways to develop an [...]

Read Full Post »

Observation does not work in haste.  It takes time to keep looking at something and really see it.  I’m told that you cannot get the best out of an art gallery by rushing around and taking mental snapshots (my default approach).  I know that neither can you get the best out of a Bible passage [...]

Read Full Post »

We all have our unique interests.  One of mine is curricula.  I love looking at the curricula of Bible schools, or helping to think through new possibilities for Bible schools (perhaps adding a second year to a one year program, etc.)  So perhaps it is only me that would enjoy the last of the chapters [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

I have been impressed and helped by Explosive Preaching (written by Ron Boyd-MacMillan).  I’ll share a couple more highlights and then finish with a final review of the book.
Near the end of the book, MacMillan shares some tips for effective preaching from the example of Jesus.  I won’t go into detail in my words or [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

One last time, the basic definition of “Biblical Theology” that I am leaning on for this series of posts: Biblical theology is the fruit of studying the Bible in such a way as to recognize the individuality of each biblical author, the progress of revelation over time and the unity of the canon resulting from [...]

Read Full Post »

Here’s the basic definition of “Biblical Theology” that I am leaning on for this series of posts: Biblical theology is the fruit of studying the Bible in such a way as to recognize the individuality of each biblical author, the progress of revelation over time and the unity of the canon resulting from the inspired [...]

Read Full Post »

Biblical Theology is a very fruitful field for preachers.  Not every fruit is worth eating, of course, but there is real benefit to studying works in this field.  To give a basic definition for the sake of this post: Biblical theology is the fruit of studying the Bible in such a way as to recognize [...]

Read Full Post »

Every text says something.  No text says everything.  Our task is to preach the text’s something in a way that is faithful to the Bible’s “everything”.  Our task is not to preach everything from this text’s something.
Balance – you don’t want to preach something that on its own is faithful to the preaching text, but [...]

Read Full Post »

Preaching is complex. Take, for example, the matter of listener satisfaction. If they aren’t satisfied, it could be a good sign, or a bad sign. Likewise having everyone happy may mean something is wrong. So how do we navigate the issue of listener satisfaction, after all, dissatisfaction expressed is seldom water [...]

Read Full Post »

It is so important to understand the text before you preach it!  I don’t mean just knowing what the big words mean.  I don’t mean just having a collection of exegetical insights to share.  I don’t mean even having a sermon vaguely based on certain parts of the text.  I mean really understanding what the [...]

Read Full Post »

Sitting on my desk is a recent copy of Time Magazine.  The main reason that I still get it is that they offered to almost pay me to receive it (that’s an exaggeration, before you start asking for details).  It is the edition with the world’s 100 most influential people.  Interesting collection of people from [...]

Read Full Post »

This post is building on the previous two.  Yesterday I shared “Five Looks” approach to Bible study to illustrate a discussion on Monday’s post.  The issue raised on Monday was do we preach the main thought of a text, or a biblical theology prompted by the main thought of a text?  The question really focuses [...]

Read Full Post »

Perhaps you have come across the “Five Looks” approach to Bible study?  It is a clear and helpful approach credited to Andrew Reid of Ridley College, Melbourne.  Here is a brief synopsis:
1. Look Up – We need to receive the Bible as the word of God.  This implies a commitment to prayer and faith.
2. Look [...]

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »