The Curse of Knowledge for Preachers

The Curse of Knowledge for Preachers In this post we are turning away from the subject of the past several weeks, new maps for sermon making, to a challenging subject: the curse of knowledge for preachers as they present their sermons. What…

The Importance of Being Yourself When You Preach

The Importance of Being Yourself When You Preach This post is about the importance of being yourself when you preach to a congregation. One of the most engaging preachers in my geographical area became a professor of preaching.  He was…
types of self-care

How To Take Care Of Yourself

How To Take Care Of Yourself In the last post I made some suggestions as to why this is indeed a stressful time, so you need to take care of yourself.  In this post, we're going to look at how to do that, how to take care of yourself in times…

Proclaiming Hope for Hopeless People

Proclaiming Hope for Hopeless People We have been looking at how to preach in a pandemic.  Here's the first in the series of posts.  In this post we will consider that proclaiming hope for hopeless people as they face the trauma of this time…

Preaching in a Pandemic

Preaching in a Pandemic In this post I begin a series on recommendations on how to go about preaching in a pandemic such as we are experiencing right now.  When we, as human beings, engage in things that cause us loss, it can easily become…
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The Sermon is a Symphony

The Sermon is a Symphony In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, there is a scene in which the main character, Hamlet, is walking down the corridor of the palace reading.  Someone asked him, as he walked, what he was reading.  His response was,…

Walk The Talk

Walk the Talk In the past few posts we have been looking at organizing your sermon well, with the hearer in mind.  There is more to say in that regard, but an article I read recently sets me off on a different path.  Let's think for a few…
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Keep Your Face To The Sun

Keep Your Face To The Sun We've been looking at the five activities of the speech writer, or preacher.  They are: the invention of ideas, the organization of ideas; ways to communicate those ideas in relevant, appropriate language; forceful…

Set Out Some Sign Posts

Set Out Some Sign Posts In the last post we looked at where sermons come from.  I quoted from The Sermon Doctor about five things that a speech requires, according to ancient philosophers.  The first was the generation of an idea.  The…

Where Sermons Come From

Where Sermons Come From Where do sermons come from as you prepare to preach?  The easy answer is that they come from God through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Right?  Or we could say that they come from the Bible.  But if…