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Archive for the ‘Stage 5 – Message Purpose’ Category

Sad Separations

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail on August 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Here are three separations often occurring in pulpits that are sad, to say the least: The separation of leadership and preaching – I’ve mentioned this before, probably after reading Michael Quicke’s 360-Degree Leadership.  In some churches, especially those that have to, or choose to, rely on visiting speakers, there is an unfortunate separation of preaching [...]

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Where Does Christ Fit?

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Old Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 4 - Passage Idea, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged on August 26, 2010 | 1 Comment »

When you are preaching the Old Testament, there should always be a radar bleeping in your heart regarding where Christ fits into the message.  Some will suggest that every message must be entirely and purely about Christ, whatever the text was originally intended to convey.  I feel this approach can bring our view of the [...]

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Simply Good Preaching

Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 4 - Passage Idea, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged on August 11, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Someone has said that you know it was a good sermon when you find yourself asking how the preacher knew all about you.  That’s a nice sentiment that points to the importance of applicational relevance in preaching. Now allow me to give you my statement.  This is not a complete statement, or a forever statement.  [...]

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Beyond Identification

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, Old Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose on August 6, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Yesterday I wrote about how narratives do engage us through identification and disassociation.  We can’t avoid that reality – it drives the popularity of movies, of bedtime stories, of Sunday School stories, of family fireside reminiscences, etc.  But biblical narrative always offers something more.  Our challenge as preachers is to be sure to always go [...]

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The Identification Situation

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Old Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged , on August 5, 2010 | 1 Comment »

One of the secrets of the success of narrative writing and storytelling (whether that is historical narrative, fiction, fantasy, film or whatever) is the power of identification.  When you read, hear or see a story, you naturally find yourself either identifying with or disassociating from characters in the story.  If you are left cold, it [...]

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Okay, One More Spurgeon Quote

Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, tagged , , , on July 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Honestly, I’m at Keswick this week, moving on Monday, and a little overwhelmed, so I am resorting to an easy source for quality thought-provoking material.  Spurgeon.  Following on from yesterday and thinking about preaching to save souls, here’s a blast worth receiving: If we ourselves doubt the power of the gospel, how can we preach [...]

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Spirituality – Which Room?

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Religion, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, tagged , , , , on July 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

When I post on the Cor Deo blog, I link to it on this site.  Today’s post is relevant for us all as believers, and as we consider the effect of our preaching on others.  Please take a look, and if you wouldn’t mind, please leave a comment too – that would be really helpful! [...]

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Preview for Clarity

Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged , on July 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Some people like to take the complexity and intricacy of preaching and turn it into a one-size fits all template.  This is unfortunate because preaching has so many variables to be enjoyed and utilized.  Take, for instance, the preview.  As part of the introduction to a  message, the preacher may choose to give an outline [...]

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When Time is Short

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 1 - Passage Selection, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on June 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

A good friend wrote the following: As I anticipate teaching preaching overseas, I realize that I need to take seriously the lack of time that these pastors have for sermon prep. I feel like my training has prepared me well both to practice and to teach a strategy for preaching that requires quite a bit [...]

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Some Thoughts on Preparing to Preach Psalm 22

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Old Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 4 - Passage Idea, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on June 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

This is not a complete post, but it may be helpful.  I received the following question from a good friend: I have been asked to preach on psalm 22 and am at the moment soaking myself in it to try and make sure I understand the message, the structure and what God was saying then [...]

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When Order Matters

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on June 3, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Sometimes the points in a message can be given in any order.  Sometimes order matters. 1. When wrong order of content loses listeners I remember Don Sunukjian explaining how in preaching, because we increase the time taken to explain the elements of a sentence, we sometimes need to reverse the order.  For example, I can [...]

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But Wait, They Can See My Notes

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, Uncategorized, tagged on May 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Yesterday I wrote about some of the challenges that come from our listeners not being able to see our notes.  We preach orally, but tend to prepare in literary forms (manuscript, indented outlines, etc.)  I mentioned the issue of transitions – very different animals in spoken than in written communication.  I mentioned the need to [...]

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Because They Can’t See Your Notes

Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged on May 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I suppose it is obvious, but sometimes obvious things need stating.  When we preach we are communicating orally.  People hear us, and usually can see us, but they can’t see our notes. What difference does this startling realization make to our preaching?  Well, it should cause us to pay particular attention to the following: 1. [...]

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The Height of Application

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail on May 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I’ve written recently about application and where it is aimed – heart, head and hands (i.e. affection, belief and conduct).  But what about the height of the application?  That is to say, how high do we set the bar?  Now immediately there are issues rising up: does this language imply duty and responsibility that will [...]

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What Makes For Thin-Blooded Preaching?

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged , on May 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »

After a whole series of careful caveats, Michael Quicke defines what he means by thin-blooded preaching in 360-Degree Leadership.  I’ll share brief introductions to each thought, but really recommend buying the book and thinking through his argument first-hand. 1. Individualistic – It is easier to preach to individuals, than to address the complexities of corporate [...]

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Ingredients for Creativity

Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Genre, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on May 3, 2010 | 2 Comments »

If you want to increase creativity in your preaching, what is needed? 1. Time. If you are squeezed for time then it will not be possible to add the extra work needed (and the thinking capacity needed) for adding creativity to your preaching. 2. Freedom and trust. It is important to know the congregation to [...]

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Struggling With Style and Substance

Posted in Audience Analysis, Delivery, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose on April 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »

A lot of comments are made about preaching to the younger generation.  Lots can be said about the newest set of adults in our culture, and it is imperative that we get to know who we are trying to reach, or who we are preaching to on a Sunday . . . But let’s not [...]

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Points in a Narrative Text Sermon

Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Old Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged , , on April 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

There is a field of homiletics referred to as narrative preaching, but this post is concerned with the preaching of a narrative passage – eg. David and Goliath, Joseph in Potiphar’s House, Hannah & Samuel, etc. In other posts I have encouraged the use of full sentence points, rather than descriptive titles that make the [...]

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Managing Message Momentum

Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on April 13, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Even the best message preparation often overlooks the critical issue of momentum.  So messages will often follow one of these patterns: 1. “U” … Start with a bang – drag on through the bulk – pick up for a strong finish. 2. “/” … Start slow – gradually increase in energy and get going. 3. [...]

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Purposeful Selection Then Forgotten

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 1 - Passage Selection, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 4 - Passage Idea, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, tagged , on April 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

The first logical step in preparing a message (once you’ve been asked to preach, which is presumed), is to select your passage(s) on which to base the message.  Sometimes the invitation comes with the passage, sometimes with a theme, sometimes an open invitation.  Select then forget.  What do I mean? 1. When you’re invited to [...]

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Helping People Trust Their Bibles – Part 2

Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail on April 6, 2010 | 4 Comments »

I recently wrote a post relating to textual criticism – please click here to see it. Shrode commented and asked for an example of how I might address the issue of a missing verse while preaching on the passage. Relatively simple, gracious and trust-building was the request. Here’s my attempt (okay, so length may be [...]

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Falling Short of Unity, Order and Progress

Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, tagged , on April 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Can I offer three ways in which we can have unity, order and progress, yet still fall short in each area? Unity – We often fall short when we just tie together the sections of the text by means of a keyword or subject.  In many passages it is relatively easy to make the two [...]

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Monological Q and A – part 2

Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on March 30, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Yesterday I offered three thoughts on how to make a message that engages the listener.  Even though you are doing all the talking, they don’t feel like observers at a presentation, but participants in a half quiet conversation.  They feel like you’re talking to them, like they are involved as the message progresses.  Relevant preaching, [...]

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Monological Q and A

Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail on March 29, 2010 | 1 Comment »

My last post on Friday sparked a few comments regarding the possibilities of Q&A with congregations.  There is certainly more to be said for that.  I read an article by a friend wrestling with the biblical tension (for want of a better word), between the need for authoritative presentation of truth (preacher as herald), and [...]

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A Classic Contrast Revisited

Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, tagged , , , on March 22, 2010 | 2 Comments »

In Between Two Worlds (I Believe in Preaching), John Stott contrasted the typical weakness in more liberal churches from the weakness in the preaching in more conservative churches.  One connected with the audience, but had no rooting in Scripture.  The other started with Scripture and built straight up to heaven, without ever touching down.  Timothy [...]

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