When it comes to the application of a message, there are many options. One is to ignore it completely and leave it up to the Holy Spirit (not a good option since it’s part of our job as preachers . . . by this logic why do we preach at all?) Another is to be [...]
Archive for the ‘Stage 5 - Message Purpose’ Category
Application: Specific Not Facile
Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching on July 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Why Why Matters
Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching on July 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
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?” – [...]
Expository Preaching Is a Matter of Life and Death!
Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose on June 30, 2009 | 6 Comments »
I’ve picked up Albert Mohler’s book He is Not Silent again. In chapter 3 he addresses the issue of defining expository preaching. He urges us to drop the language of “I prefer expository preaching” in favor of defining true exposition, which is true preaching. Mohler has major concerns with the contemporary emphasis on topical and [...]
True Topical Takes Time
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 1 - Passage Selection, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, Expository-Topical Preaching, Subject Preaching, Topical Preaching on June 26, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Some churches apparently have “topical sermons” every week. Apparently some preachers think they are easier to prepare and easier to listen to. Yes and no. A topical message is easier to prepare if you are simply wanting to say your own thing and bounce off a couple of verses along the way. A topical message [...]
Preach for Faith – Lennox II
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Apologetic Preaching, ELF, European Leadership Forum, John Lennox on June 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
Preach for Faith
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 3 - Passage Purpose, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Christian Faith, Expository Preaching, John Lennox on June 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Preacher Say Something
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 [...]
Disturbing Feedback
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 [...]
More Sneaky Landmines
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 Church Leadership, Expository Preaching, Pastoral Ministry 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 [...]
Question to Ponder – What is it we preach?
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, tagged Biblical preaching, Christocentric Preaching, Expository Preaching, Theocentric Preaching on May 4, 2009 | 2 Comments »
What is it that we preach? I’m really “preaching to the choir” in this post. I’m addressing those who are committed to expository preaching and therefore will unhesitatingly affirm – “we preach the Bible!” Others may hesitate and desire to preach contemporary ideas or whatever else, but for those of us who, at least in [...]
Five Major Failings – Part 2
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 [...]
Five Major Failings
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, Message Introductions, Sermon 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 [...]
Monday Musings on Manipulation
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 [...]
The Whole Listener
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 [...]
Do We Get It Backwards?
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, Charles Kraft, Donald Sunukjian, Explaining the Text, Expository Preaching, Preach the Word, Sunukjian 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 [...]
The First-Person Exception Clause
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 [...]
Biblical Preaching – Crisis and Recovery
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, tagged Pulpit Authority, Al Mohler, Mohler, Southern Seminary, Baptist Seminary, Jesus' Preaching on April 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »
We’re coming toward the end of terms and semesters. Just a few weeks to go until many will walk the stage, shake the hands, get the paper, etc. Here are some great thoughts from Al Mohler’s commencement address at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary last December. It’s worth reading the whole address, here’s [...]
Disadvantage Us?
Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, New Testament, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged David Wenham, Forsyth, Homilies, Liturgical Church, Liturgical Preaching, Liturgy, Mainstream Churches, P.T.Forsyth on March 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Here’s a quote worth pondering, wherever you sit theologically. It is quoted in a book that is more mainstream and liturgical in orientation than the more evangelical books I tend to quote from. It is a quote by P.T.Forsyth in reference to the Roman Catholic church. I’m sure this post could stir response on numerous [...]
The Aim of Preaching Easter
Posted in Homiletics, New Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, tagged Expository Preaching, Pasquarello, Michael Pasquarello III, Martin Luther, Preaching Easter on March 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
What is your aim as you preach this Easter? In his book, Sacred Rhetoric (p119-120), Michael Pasquarello makes the following comment about Martin Luther:
Luther’s homiletic aim was to demonstrate, by means of the Gospel, that the resurrection is more than an idle tale or a painted picture that evokes admiration and religious sentiment. . . [...]
Preaching Means Picking Words
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, Preaching Words, Verbal Precision on March 24, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It almost goes without saying, but let’s say it anyway: preaching involves choosing words. Sometimes the words are chosen agonizingly poring over a manuscript. Other times words are chosen at an essentially sub-conscious level during delivery. Whether it takes an age to get the right word, or a split-second to get any word, what word [...]
Unhealthy Division: Style & Substance
Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged 1Cor.2, Apostle Paul, Corinthians, Expsository Preaching, Preaching Delivery, Preaching style, Substance on March 21, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Perhaps people like me add to the kind of division I am thinking about by the labels used in our teaching of preaching, but still, we’d do well to think about this. Do we too easily divide elements of preaching?
For example, content and delivery, or substance and style. It’s a simple distinction, and it works [...]
Not Every Passage is Easy
Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Homiletics, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, John Piper, Brothers We Are Not Professionals on March 14, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I suppose many of us preachers have a desire to make every passage understandable. This is good and right on many levels. Yet some passages, and some details in passages, are tough. I was leading a Bible study on Isaiah 49-50 the other night . . . there was a tough detail. Should I force [...]
Don’t Dilute By Distraction – Part 2
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Conclusion, conclusions, Expository Preaching, Message Conclusions, Sermon conclusions on March 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
In the closing stages of a message, the last leg of the journey, it is easy to lose the focus and momentum of a message. Yesterday I raised the issue of introducing other texts, which can (not always, but often) dilute the force of the ending of a message. Here’s another:
Don’t dilute by adding unnecessary [...]
Don’t Dilute By Distraction
Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 7 - Message Outline, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Conclusion, conclusions, Expository Preaching, Message Conclusions, Sermon conclusions on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Just a quick thought relating to the concluding movement of a message. This includes the conclusion, but might also bring in the final movement or point of the message. During the final thrust, the crescendo of the message, do not dilute the focus of listeners. It is so easy to unnecessarily add [...]
The Danger of Disengagement
Posted in Audience Analysis, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Expository Preaching, attention span, Andy Stanley, Ed Stetzer, David Buttrick on March 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday I enjoyed a couple of very encouraging, although too brief, conversations on preaching. One thought that was bounced around was one I have addressed on here before – the fact that shortening attention spans is a myth. People will listen as long as they are engaged. For some preachers, that means an hour long [...]
How Would Jesus Preach?
Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, New Testament, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Westminster Chapel, Expository Preaching, Preach the Word, Greg Haslam on February 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Haslam’s book, Preach the Word, has a chapter entitled “Learning from Jesus.” To some it is obvious that we should look to Jesus, who was, after all, the finest of preachers. But I suppose some would overlook Jesus as a model of preaching since, well, we’re not Jesus. In this chapter, the writer points out [...]
Plagiarism and Echoes
Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Phillips Brooks, Fred Lybrand, Preaching on Your Feet, Sermon Stealing, Internet Sermons, Preaching Plagiarism, Feeble Echo on February 17, 2009 | 2 Comments »
At some point I will write a review of Preaching on Your Feet by Fred Lybrand. I need to finish it first. Today I’d just like to raise an interesting thought. Is there a connection between plagiarism and the way most preachers preach? To put it another way, is it possible to steal your own [...]
Preaching and the Great Commandment
Posted in Christianity, Delivery, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 2 - Passage Study, 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 Affective, Affective Theology, Expository Preaching, Ron Frost, Spreading Goodness, spreadinggoodness, Trinitarian on February 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
My post today is not here, but you can get there from here. It’s a guest post on a blog I appreciate very much – spreadinggoodness.org. It is a blog by Dr Ron Frost. I commend the blog to you, and I’m not just saying that because Ron has kindly invited me [...]
Chatting Through Sunday’s Sermon
Posted in Christianity, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, Preacher's Personal Life, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 8 - Message Detail, tagged Application, Expository Preaching on February 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Sunday’s coming and hopefully your message is not too far away now. Allow me to engage you in a brief conversation about your message. Perhaps this is the kind of conversation you have with your spouse or a staff member of your church. So we chat about the passage, the main idea as you see [...]
Easter is Coming – The Power of Identification
Posted in Audience Analysis, Christianity, Delivery, Genre, Homiletics, How to . . . ?, New Testament, Preaching, Religion, Stage 5 - Message Purpose, Stage 6 - Message Idea, tagged Easter, Calvary, Genre, Expository Preaching, Martin Luther, Passion Narratives, Evangelical Theology on January 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I know Easter is still a couple of months away, but as a preacher it is never too early to think about Easter. In fact, there is a sense in which commemoration of Easter is never more than six days away – the Lord’s Day is a weekly gathering because of His resurrection. So here’s [...]
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