
The Sermon is a Symphony
Top Preaching TipsThe 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
Top Preaching TipsWalk 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…

Keep Your Face To The Sun
Top Preaching TipsKeep 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
Top Preaching TipsSet 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
Top Preaching TipsWhere 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…

When The Critics Attack
Top Preaching TipsWhen the Critics Attack
In the last a few posts we have explored some helpful tips to improve preaching. You can look back at the ideas of keeping your radar on, keeping your bucket handy, and using a marinade for your messages. In this…

Don't Forget the Marinade
Top Preaching TipsDon't Forget the Marinade
We have been looking at some key tips for more effective preaching. We've looked at the idea of keeping your radar on, And then we talked about having a bucket of some kind to store ideas for sermons. In this…

Keep Your Bucket Handy
Top Preaching TipsKeep Your Bucket Handy
In the last post I gave one of the great tips for more effective preaching: keep your radar on. In other words, be aware of those moments around you when God's movement in a life or in the community is obvious. This…

Keep Your Radar On
Top Preaching TipsKeep Your Radar On
One of the secrets to effective preaching is simply this: keep your radar on at all times. The definition of radar is this, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of the English Language:
1. A system for detecting…

Dealing With the Preaching Contract
Top Preaching TipsDealing With The Preaching Contract
We've been talking in this blog about the agreements that exist between a congregation and the preacher. You can check this out in the previous posts. This is sometimes referred to as the preaching contract,…