A REPRINT FROM AN ARTICLE BY Sherman Cox
Scripture: Hebrews 11:35-11:40
I was talking to a laymember the
other day who was very excited about a sermon he had heard. The member gave me
all four of the points of the sermon and was excited about applying the sermon
to his daily life. Interestingly enough, he searched on the Internet to try to
find this sermon and other sermons by the same preacher.
The preacher was a white American
preacher. This preacher didn’t yell. His voice did keep a pleasant rising and
lowering due to a natural conversational tone. The preacher didn’t whoop or use
any other “stylistic” components of the African American preaching tradition.
So what did the preacher do?
Clear
Points
The preacher did three things that
I have written on in other posts that can help any preacher’s sermons. The
first thing he did was have clear and easily identifiable points. The people
did not have to guess about what was important; the preacher simply told them.
The preacher clearly defined the points and clearly defined what he meant by
the points. We as preachers cannot expect anyone to remember our points if they
don’t even know what they are.
Illustrate Each Point
Well
The second thing the preacher did
was clearly illustrate the points with stories. Each and every main point had a
story connected to it. These stories were memorable and clearly connected to
the point. Sometimes we tell stories that are only tangentially related to the
point. Stop doing that. It takes away from your message. However, if you have a
clear point and a relevant memorable story, you are well on the way to a sermon
that people will remember.
Each Point
Stronger Than the Previous One
Finally, the preacher’s stories
were more intense as the sermon continued. The layperson told me that each
story and point was “stronger” than the other one. Please note that I am not
talking about yelling to manufacture intensity; I am talking about the content
being stronger. So point two was stronger than point one, and point three was
stronger than point two, and point four was stronger than point three. Here was
a use of the “whooping curve” without necessarily whooping. We must leave
people with the strongest content at the end, and that content should be
related to the point illustrated and the main point of the sermon.
Here was an effective preacher who
had content that the people remembered. And the people were ready to apply it
to their daily lives. If we are to learn from this preacher, we must clearly
define our points, illustrate them well with stories and make each point
progressively intense. Then the people will understand and be ready to apply
the sermon.
