Starting and leading a local church
Preaching to Offend no one is an article about frankness in preaching and preaching on things that need to be addressed, but many preachers shy away from these.
This is an article which I have spoken to our people about over the years, but I just read an article, Preaching in Neutral by Brandon Cox (no relation to me, and I do not endorse Rick Warren, Brandon sat under him) and it reminded me of the topic.
Why I give a written sermon outline out explains the advantages of giving your sermon outline to your people.
Many preachers like to give surprises to their people. Their sermon is one of those surprises. Actually, the people have no idea where he is headed even half-way through his sermon, and by the end, they still are lost as to what he is talking about.
Christ taught the importance of not entering into dubious speech. Deceiving speech in one where what is said is not what really is. An example here is when a preacher says that the sermon today is “Once saved, always saved: The assurance of our Eternal Salvation.” Before halfway through the sermon, he hits on Bible versions and talks on that the rest of the sermon. Say what you mean, and live what you say.
Truthfulness, even in the presentation of sermons, should be a characteristic of all Christians, especially preachers.
Rambling is moving about a lot without any real purpose except to hear yourself talk. You do not really fulfill the purpose of the sermon (communicating your divine message to your hearers). When you say things that don’t directly relate to your sermon, you are rambling. If you record your sermon and then listen back to it, you can identify the parts that “don’t belong”. Be heavy handed in cutting out anything that doesn’t belong in your sermon.
It is frustrating for a preacher to stand up and tell us what we are going to hear today and then he doesn’t spend hardly any time on that topic! He has lied to us, so why should we believe anything he has to say to us!
The central problem here has its roots in the sermon preparation.
This is taken from a TEDS talk.
In this post, 7 Deadly sins of speaking, a reminder of some “sins” common among speakers. Don’t do these!
Preaching Intelligently
or How to Preach to Dumb People
By Pastor Missionary David Cox
You ask me, why this topic? I was sitting in a sermon of another person, and as always it seems (I like my own preaching maybe 70% of the time), I didn’t like the fellow’s presentation or delivery and I was making some mental notes so that at least in my own preaching I can avoid what I saw. I realized that a lot of my mental notes would benefit others, especially young preachers, novice preachers.
By Pastor David Cox
Qualities of Good Preaching is a discourse on the indispensable qualities of a good sermon, veracity, clarity, authority, and authenticity.
