Preaching

"If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use the pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time, a tremendous whack." -- Sir Winston Churchill

A few  years ago I read a book called "Communicating for Change" by Andy Stanley that changed my approach to preaching.  Andy Stanley is the lead pastor at North Point Community Church in Atlanta and is the son of Charles Stanley.  Ever since I began preaching I created sermons with three or four points.  Stanley's book challenges you to craft sermons with one main point.  Here's his quick explanation of how he structures messages: "Me--We--God--You--Us. The communication starts with Me-- let me tell you something about me. Then We, this is something we all have in common. Then God, this is what God says about it. You, this is what you need to do about it. And We, wouldn't it be great if we all did it. So it is a relational outline. Start with you. Connect to them. What does God have to say about this issue? What should…