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Archive for the ‘Stage 7 – Message Outline’ Category

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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Why do I recommend preachers have full sentence points?  Or to put it another way – what is the problem with single-word points? After all, a series of three or four single words can be memorable, both during the message and potentially after it.  So why not just give single word “points” as the message [...]

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One approach to preaching a text is a particularly well worn path, but at times it verges on leaving the territory of the expository.  If done well it doesn’t leave the territory, but it sometimes gets close to the fence.  Let me see if I can help you see what I mean. Imagine you have [...]

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Yesterday I shared about the contrast between the attention of the crowd one night and the significant distraction the next night – same venue, same weather, same chairs, different speaker.  Perhaps something here might be helpful to you.  Why were they distracted? 1. It felt like a commentary with added anecdotes. It was like a [...]

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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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I suspect somewhere in more than a thousand posts on here, I have mentioned once or twice about the importance of unity in a message.  Order is often present, if only by virtue of the progression of the text.  Progress is sort of present, inasmuch as the number of verses are running out, as is [...]

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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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A couple of other ideas that can be added to yesterday’s post: “Sermon Ideation Groups to plan a series through a book.” John suggested this and I heartily concur.  Mapping out passages and initial ideas can be a great headstart to the sermon series planning process.  Anything that helps to avoid the “from scratch” sensation [...]

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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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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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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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I’ve posted a couple of posts about the fact that listeners can’t see your notes.  This fact does create a burden or two on you, the preacher, but there are positives too. 1. They don’t know what you missed. This may be for the sake of time, or because your eyes skipped, or because of [...]

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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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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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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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At the BibleFresh preaching event one speaker shared about preaching to the 20′s-30′s generation.  I think his name was Andy West (apologies Andy if I got your last name wrong).  His talk will probably be available online in due course at this site. He shared four styles of preaching that he observes among effective preaching [...]

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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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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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It’s easy to preach like a commentary.  Either you lift content out of a commentary and preach it, or you write your message like you were writing a commentary.  It leads to a set of headings superimposed on the text, and sometimes superimposed on a projector screen too.  The Problem of Prayer, The Power of [...]

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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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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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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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I was in a conversation with a friend the other day and his question prompted a response that I heard previously from Haddon Robinson.  Interestingly, I don’t remember Haddon overtly teaching this concept, but it came out several times in responses to questions he was asked.  Perhaps these three principles (from Aristotle, I believe), are [...]

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I’m not referring specifically to the speed of delivery here.  Some of us need to slow down sometimes, others could really do with speeding up slightly, and we all need to be sensitive to the particular listeners before us. I am referring to the pace of information being offered.  It is easy, especially after studying [...]

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In a lot of preaching situations it is easier to simply present the text and press home the imperatives.  Whether or not there is technically an imperative in the grammar, we can easily turn a passage into an instruction and press for change through our words. I wonder how often we miss the opportunity to [...]

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