Preaching

In 1960 when Adlai Stevenson introduced John F. Kennedy, who was then a candidate for president, he said: “In classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, ‘How well he spoke’ — but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said, ‘Let us march’!” If you had to pick between praise or marchers, which would you choose?

This quote will change your perspective on sermon preparation: "Preaching is not so much preparing a sermon and delivering it as it is preparing a preacher and delivering him,” wrote Bishop William Quayle.

Love your audience. "Some singers want the audience to love them.  I love the audience.” - Luciano Pavarotti Motivation makes a big difference.

Use the right language. “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. ” – Nelson Mandela When trying to bridge the world of the Bible and the world of an audience, it's important to understand both contexts.  We want to hear from Scripture an authentic and accurate word; to do so means understanding first what the passage meant and then what it means. After that, our next task is to communicate truth in a way that makes sense to our audience.  To do so requires finding their language -- what are they dealing with, reeling from, suspicious about?  What's their language?

Know what you're not saying. "A man does not know what he is saying until he knows what he is not saying." – G. K. Chesterton One of the hardest disciplines in preaching is knowing what to eliminate from your outline.  Too many times we have two or three really good sermons packed into one sermon.  Slice and dice until you have the essential message.