Designing the Sermon


Book Description

Providing fundamental homiletical principles, this classic book gives readers all the tools they need to prepare a meaningful sermon. "Sermon design"--James Massey's contemporary, creative approach to shaping specific classifications of sermons--focuses on order (What is the preacher's goal?) and on movement (What structure is he or she using to get there?). The discussion of his approach begins with an appraisal of the sermon in context--in relation to goals, design, basic forms, contemporary concerns, and the "why" of it all. Dr. Massey's specific forms for designing sermons include the narrative/story sermon--a subject which is receiving renewed interest today; the textual-expository sermon; the doctrinal/topical sermon; and the special occasion sermon, for which he has chosen the topic of the funeral. Suggestions are included for studying the methods of master preachers as a resource for more effective preaching. And three of the author's own tested sermons are used as illustrations of sermon design possibilities.




Preaching the Whole Counsel of God


Book Description

Preaching the Whole Counsel of God is a primary textbook on the art and science of preaching for pastors and pastors-in-training that teaches you how to practice expository, Christ-focused hermeneutics, combined with Gospel-centered, audience-transforming homiletics. It will guide you to: Discover the truth of the text according to the human author. Discern Christ in the text according to the divine author. Design your sermon with truth, goodness, and beauty. Deliver your sermon in a way that keeps attention, retention, and leads to transformation.




Choosing to Preach


Book Description

Today, traditional forms of preaching are being scrutinized and challenged. The biblical sermon is not immune to the pressure to evolve or even fall by the wayside, leaving pastors and seminary students confused over how best to communicate to today’s listeners. In this forward-looking textbook, Kenton Anderson delivers a strong call to current and future ministers to indeed choose to preach biblical sermons, despite the obstacles to doing so. While preaching itself is non-negotiable, the exact form it takes can be much more flexible, allowing people to hear from God as they hear his Word preached. Rather than presenting one model or process for preparing a sermon, Anderson explains several available options. As you discern your message from the Bible, will you begin with the text (deductive) or with the listener (inductive)? Will you focus on the idea (cognitive) or the image (affective)? The choices you make lead to five possible sermon structures: • DECLARATIVE—make an argument • PRAGMATIC—solve a mystery • NARRATIVE—tell a story • VISIONARY—paint a picture • INTEGRATIVE—sing a song Each model is described in detail and related to well-known contemporary preachers, including John MacArthur, Rick Warren, Eugene Lowry, and Rob Bell. This book equips you with a variety of tools for your preaching tool kit. A CD-ROM with additional helpful resources is included, as well as discussion questions and practical exercises.




Designing the Sermon


Book Description

"Sermon design"--James Massey's approach to shaping specific classifications of sermons--focuses on order (What is the preacher's goal?) and on movement (What structure is he or she using to get there?). The discussion of his approach begins with an appraisal of the sermon in context--in relation to goals, design, basic forms, contemporary concerns, and the "why" of it all. Dr. Massey's specific forms for designing sermons include the narrative/story sermon, the textual-expository sermon, the doctrinal/topical sermon, and the special occasion sermon for which he has chosen the topic of the funeral. Suggestions are included for studying the methods of master preachers as a resource for more effective preaching. And three of the author's own tested sermons are used as illustrations of sermon design possibilities. --From publisher's description.




You Can Preach to the Kids, Too!


Book Description

Many preachers are aware of the presence of children in Sunday morning worship and wish to include them effectively in worship, but have a hard time figuring out how to do so. Preachers who are unhappy with children's sermons in general and all the books of printed children's sermons in particular are looking for a theologically and educationally sound approach to preaching to congregations that include children. This practical guide offers preachers a variety of ideas and helps for making any sermon one that is suitable for both children and adults. The author includes an introductory chapter on the importance of children's participation in worship during their elementary school years as part of their faith development. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how children "listen" to a sermon and the importance of planning for children in preparing sermons.




The Four Pages of the Sermon


Book Description

Doing justice to the complexity of the preaching task and the questions that underlie it, Wilson organizes both the preparation and the content of the sermon around its "four pages." Each "page" addresses a different theological and creative component of what happens in any sermon. Page One presents the trouble or conflict that takes place in or that underscores the biblical text itself. Page Two looks at similar conflict--sin or brokenness--in our own time. Page Three returns to the Bible to identify where God is at work in or behind the text--in other words, to discover the good news. Page Four points to God at work in our world, particularly in relation to the situations described in Page Two.




Divine Design


Book Description

Divine Design calls us back to God's original intent for men and women. Clearing away the cultural noise and misconceptions, author John MacArthur tackles big issues such as authority in marriage, mothers in the home, and God's view of equality, all while exploring the innate differences between men and women. Throughout, Divine Design provides an indispensable guide for understanding your mate, and shares how embracing your unique design can foster security, blance, and love in a marriage and family.




The Sermon of All Creation


Book Description

With a profound vision of the sacred quality of creation, this collection of beautiful photographs of the natural world combined with commentaries by a host of Christian sages of all denominations, from the origins of Christianity through the 19th century, provides answers to how we should view the relationship between the Creator and creation as well as understand how the divine activity permeates the entire universe.




Show Me How to Preach Evangelistic Sermons


Book Description

Author and evangelistic speaker R. Larry Moyer shows pastors and speakers how to communicate the good news. In twenty-seven helpful chapters, he explains why expository evangelistic preaching is so important and offers guidance for compellingly delivering the message of the gospel.




Ways of the Word


Book Description

Preaching, and the discipline of preaching, is at a crossroads. The changing realities of church and theological education, the diversity of our classrooms, and our increasingly complex community contexts leave us in search of tools to help train a rising generation of preachers for a future whose contours are far from clear. The questions are immense: How to support preachers in contexts that are diverse religiously, culturally, and ethnically, both inside and outside the church? How to help students take varied contexts seriously as they are formed as leaders? In Ways of the Word, a dynamic team of master preachers brings much-needed help. Different in race, gender, age, and tradition, both Sally A. Brown and Luke A. Powery speak with one voice their belief that preaching is Spirit-empowered event: an embodied, vocalized, actively received, here-and-now witness to the ongoing work of God in the world. They aspire to help students and preachers alike to reflect on a journey of learning by doing. They aim to help preachers to become more attuned to the Spirit, more adept in preaching’s component skills, and more self-aware about all that is at stake in proclaiming the redemptive work of God in specific contexts.