Subtitle: How to Prepare and Deliver Expository Sermons

Power in the Pulpit is a lengthy three-section textbook.  At times it may feel like the goal in writing was exhaustive explanation, rather than reasonable length.  Although not in the same league as Robinson or Sunukjian, the book is worth reading.  It is especially targeted at the minister preaching every Sunday.

The first section deals with the preparation for exposition.  The task of preaching is defined with a lengthy support for exposition as the ideal philosophy of preaching.  The foundation for preaching is seen in the word of God and worship of God, fundamental pre-requisites for preaching, along with the less well supported concepts of the call of God and anointing.  Finally, the preparation of the preacher is set out through the idea of being a healthy, hard-working individual who is a good steward of heart, mind, body and schedule. 

The second section is somewhat unsatisfying.  The process of exposition is set out at length, but seemingly without original contribution.  The analysis of the text is presented well, followed by the process of theme unification.  In fact, the sections on the central idea, the proposition and the purpose, are all effective (albeit tedious at points).  There is a bombastic attack on the new homiletic when the structure section begins (this makes the book read like a college text rather than a seminary text – proving a point cheaply using straw men, rather than engaging fairly with different views).  Then the structure section gets into concepts like the keyword method.  This section begins well but seems to get weighed down in detail and dogmatism by this stage. 

The writers rightly urge the preacher to be not only biblical, but also relevant.  So the preacher should observe culture and learn about people, they should particularly be concerned with how the message is relevant to their specific audience.  The section ends with strength as the authors provide helpful discussion of invitations at the end of messages (detail often overlooked in preaching texts).

The third part of the book deals with the presentation of the message.  After development comes delivery.  Here the book comes into its own with detailed suggestions on how to communicate the thoughts of the message in a way that will engage and communicate with the audience.  Here audience awareness is critical –level of education, type of vocabulary, manner of delivery and so on.  In order to make the connection necessary with the audience, it is helpful to use visualization for the sake of more vivid communication.  Part of this is visualization of the audience.  Thus, the preacher who better knows his audience will be better prepared.

The book ends with a strong call for preaching from the heart.  It is this personal connection, delivery of passion, of soul, of self, that magnifies the effect of communication on the recipients.  Helpful appendices at the end deal with relaxation, breathing and voice.

This book certainly covers a lot of ground.  Perhaps its greatest strength comes in its exhaustive dealing with delivery.  It is certain chapters, such as on the voice, that will prove a useful resource. 

Subtitle: Preaching First-Person Expository Messages.

This book, by Robinson and son, has a clear target. The sleek and well prepared script of the book flies effortlessly to hit that target. Unhindered by extraneous information, disconnected asides or time-consuming tangents, the book achieves its purpose. Preaching first-person expository messages.

The first major thrust of the book is to convince the reader of the efficacy of first-person preaching. Like a stealth bomber that flies in undetected by the defensive radar systems of modern believers, this kind of message can hit the heart like no other. By thinking through the audience and strategically designing the message, the preacher may be more effective using sanctified stealth than throwing traditional telegraphed torpedoes at them. People love a story. God’s Word is overflowing with them. So why do we tend to dissect a story and make it a lecture, leaking power at every stage in the process?

The book goes on to describe the process. Since this is expository preaching, it begins with massive amounts of study – of the text, of the character, of the setting. A key decision is what stance the character should use in light of the text and the audience. Are they with us, are we with them, do they know the listeners are there, etc? Then comes the well-worked big idea, definition of clear purpose, followed by structure, flow and the meat on the bones of the message. The process of preparing a first-person message is described essentially as a simplified Robinson process, with the additional step of character stance. The purpose of a message is not to perform (preacher-centered), but to effectively bring the big idea of a text home to the hearts and lives of the specific listeners that will hear it (Bible and audience centered).

There is a helpful section dealing with specific aspects of delivery such as movement, delivery, costume and so on. Obvious hindrances are overcome in the final chapter. One important lesson brought out in this section deals with the issue of sanctified imagination. As a preacher it is possible to easily assume people can tell the difference between fact and added detail. Assumptions are dangerous. A colorful illustrative detail can be misleading for an unaware audience.

The book ends with seven example sermons showing different approaches, different character stances and so on. Both Matthewson’s and Edward’s, as well as the Robinsons’ Herod sermons left an impression, even just in print. I would have liked to experience the effect of these sermons in person.

This book will leave you with one question. Why don’t you use first-person preaching more often?