Tag Archives: attention

Posted on

Why Gaining Attention and Interest Isn’t Enough in Our Introductions

by

I just completed a very satisfying week of teaching Doctor of Ministry students at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. That’s my excuse for not creating a blog post last week. The track is called, Preaching the Literary Forms of the Bible. Pastors and professors from all over the world made up the class and, as always, the final day or so is devoted to hearing them preach.

I was amazed at how many, regardless of where they were from or who trained them, chose to begin their sermon with some kind of attention-getting device. And in all cases, their opening stories or illustrations were effective in gaining attention and initial interest. But that’s not enough.

Over and over throughout the day I repeated and restated the same thing:

“Try telling us why we need to hear your sermon. How does this Scripture function for the Church?”

Homileticians sometimes refer to this as surfacing need in the introduction and I believe in the practice for the following reasons:

  • it shows our listeners in the opening minutes that the exposition of Scripture is relevant. This is critical because there are expositors who will begin their sermon and preach several minutes without ever telling their listeners that this affects their lives.
  • it’s an opportunity to clearly state how we will worship God as a result of hearing the exposition of Scripture. This keeps expository preaching from being a history lesson about the Text. This reminds us that preaching is an act of worship when we respond to the revelation of God.
  • it allows us to begin the process of application in the introduction instead of waiting till the end of the sermon or near the end of major points in our outline.

So, before Sunday, start with the “why?”, and not just the “what?” of your sermon so our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. Some of you might be thinking that starting with “why” is giving too much information in the introduction. Some practice a much more inductive approach. My answer is that I want my listeners to know why this information/exhortation is being given from the start so that they can remember the purpose for our being together throughout the sermon.

Posted on

Doing Our Part To Keep Worshipers Awake

by

Image

During our family’s recent vacation I was able to read a little paperback, Saving Eutychus: How to preach God’s Word and keep people awake. Millar and Campbell struck a balance between being biblical and interesting. I highly recommend the book. In the introduction Campbell flat out says: “It’s our job to keep people awake, and we’ll take the blame if they fall out the window” (p. 14). Well, yes and no. It would be interesting to list the sleep-inducers that are not in our control. However, one thing I noticed after listening to about 30 sermons over the past two months is this: biblical preachers often struggle maintaining adequate pace. If this might describe you–it does me–you will profit from the section, Agile Delivery (pp. 107ff.). The authors will force you to think about where to place emphasis in the sermon. They’ll help you think about not letting the sermon bog down. They’ll help you save your sleepy saint on Sunday morning.

Posted on

Maximizing Your Sermon Titles

by

Image

 

Check your last few sermon titles and see which of the following you created:

  • Market-driven title (like Fear Factor, which plays off the TV show)
  • Content-driven title (The Damaging Affects of Fear)
  • Application-driven title (How Christ Conquers Our Fears)

Most of us tend to gravitate toward one form of title. Over the last several years I’ve noticed an increase in the number of sermon titles designed to gain attention. You can maximize the impact of your title by creating them with an applicational element. Considering that the sermon title is often read before the sermon begins, an application-driven title can help you communicate before you begin preaching. Before the sermon begins, anyone who reads the title begins to process what your preaching portion is intended to do.