Lesson #7 Other Structure Methods Sherman Haywood Cox II Soul Preaching

Transcription

1 Lesson #7 Other Structure Methods By Sherman Haywood Cox II Soul Preaching

2 NOTICE: You Do NOT Have the Right to Reprint or Resell this Report! You Also MAY NOT Give Away, Sell or Share the Content Herein If you obtained this report from anywhere other than, you have a pirated copy. Please help stop Internet crime by reporting this to: mailto:support@superchargeyoursermons.com 2009 Copyright Sherman Haywood Cox II All Rights Reserved, No part of this may be copied, or changed in any format, sold, or used in any way other than what is outlined within this lesson under any circumstances. The disclaimer can be found at this link: Your use of this product implies acceptance of it.

3 Foreword I never take for granted your continued support of this program. We are now entering the seventh week of the program. It has been a very fruitful and successful one. Now I need your input about the program if I am going to make it better. Your comments have been helpful to this point. I do want to answer a few of the questions right now. As always, you can send me your questions at preacher@superchargeyoursermons.com. First, someone wanted to interact with the other students in the program. This one wanted specifically to determine what others were saying about particular programs. I think this would be a helpful component to the Supercharge Your Sermons system. We are kicking around the idea of a forum for members where their questions and comments could be viewed and responded to by other members as well as myself. If this sounds interesting to you, please let me know at preacher@superchargeyoursermons.com. Second, can we pay for the whole program at once? Sorry, but we are not in a position to accept payment for the whole program at once right now. Third, what happens in the program after we finish the seven steps? This is a very good question. Right now we are in the middle of working through the seven steps. Now we continue discussing how to structure a sermon. Then after we finish the seven steps, we will do an extended example. Here we will look at all seven of the steps in action. Then after we complete that phase of the program we will have a number of selected topics. Right now these topics are: Preaching the Black Church Year, Last Minute Preaching, Preaching on Issues, Preaching Doctrines, Bible Software and Preaching, Preaching Revivals, Preaching Funerals. And finally, I am getting ready for a full presentation on the subject of whooping. You want to stick around in this program! P.S. OK..Enough with the housekeeping. Let s get to this week s training!! Page 3

4 Introduction Last week we discussed sermonic structure. We talked about a method for putting together a sermon. Please note that most of that is the same no matter which structural method you have. You want to exegete the text. You then look at the text through the lens of your sermonic plan. Now you have your ideas that you need to structure into a sermon. Last week we gave one option which was simply to order the points you want to preach in an effective order. Now we will look at a number of other ways to restructure that same data. Page 4

5 Model 1 Three Points and a Poem I will start this section with the quote from Mark Twain who said: "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." There are many who think that the three points and a poem method deserve to fall off the landscape of possible sermonic choices. They see it as an artifact of a bygone era that much like the horse and buggy needs to be set aside for more "effective" modes of presentation. Some preachers would promote the dialectic method. Others would promote a narrative form. Still others think that we should not go to the scripture with a set form in mind and should let the text guide the sermonic structural choice. But this is one of the most persistent models of preaching has been termed "Three Points and a Poem." What it means is that the preacher makes three points and then ends with a poem. Some preachers have termed the same sermon method as "Three points and a celebration." I have been listening to the sermons of a few preachers and have found that this format is still being used even by some well regarded preachers. Just like any art form, there are variants, but here is one description of the parts of such a sermon. Introductory Component Here the preacher looks at the text. The preacher tells the story of the text. If it is a narrative portion of scripture, the preacher tells that story making use of as many vivid details as is necessary for the purposes of the sermon. If it is a different form of text, the preacher may tell the story behind the creation of the text or any other thing that would help hearers understand the text. The preacher makes sure to give background details that can help the hearer understand what is going on. The main point here is that the preacher is attempting to help the people understand the text. That is the emphasis. Now as the preacher describes the text, often applications will spring forth in the minds of the congregation, that is fine and needed, but that is not the emphasis at this point. You want to talk about when the scripture was written and to who. In addition, you want to apply this to the lives of the people. You should have a wealth of information in all of your waves of exegesis to help here. But please include Wave 1 and Wave 4 with their emphasis on creativity. Page 5

6 I was listening to a sermon on I. Corinthians where the preacher compared the background to the background of the people who he was addressing. He attempted to eliminate the time difference between the Corinthian church and the present church so that they can see that the text was referring to the present context. Sometimes people are confused when I use the term "Introduction." I do not mean introduction to the sermon per-se. I mean an introduction to the life and times of the people in the text and an attempt to realize the importance of it. This will definitely include what you traditionally think of as "introduction," but it includes more as stated above. Guiding Statement After the introduction is the guiding statement of the sermon. Here we take what we have done in the introduction and use it to come up with a compass for the sermon. This is almost always a practical question. You can get at this question by looking at the Seven Interrogators: Who, What, When, Why, Which, How, and Where. Once you come up with the guiding statement, the sermon writes itself. An example is "How to Stand in the Midst of Trouble" based on Ephesians 6:13. Please note that this may or may not be the sermon title. In addition, be sure to state that clearly before moving to the next section of the sermon. Three Points of the Sermon Here, you already have the text, you have the guiding question. Now you simply need three answers to the question that you just presented. A few words here. First, the answer should be explicitly or implicitly in the scripture. People should not wonder how you made the connection. It is possible someone may disagree with your application, but they will at least know the connection you tried to make. Second, you need to illustrate each answer with a biblical, historical, or contemporary story. Here you want to drive the point home by illustrating it. Next, you need to tell people explicitly how to accomplish the point. Finally, you must explicitly define what you mean by the point. These four steps should be familiar to you. In the previous lesson we talked about how to expand a point. This is the same idea. Once again look in your exegesis for this information. Now let s look at how the guiding statement and the three points can work together. Let us assume that your text is Ephesians 6: You need a basic Page 6

7 statement that will be answered by the points. In this case your question may be "How to Defeat the Powers." The points might be, you gotta 1) Stand, 2) Put on your uniform, and 3) Pray. Your title might be something like, I'm about Business. The preacher should attempt to make the points of the sermon progressively intense. So the second point is more emotionally intensive than the first and the third is more than the second. Finally, each point of the sermon should have a few parts. First the preacher should show how the point is derived from the text. Answer the question of where this point is in the text. Second the preacher should illustrate the point with some sort of story or example. Third, the preacher should define the point clearly. Fourth, you should tell the people how to accomplish the point, or make it real in their lives. These four aspects can be mixed up in any order, but should be connected to every point. So using the example Ephesians 6:13 and our guiding statement "How to Stand in the midst of Trouble" we have three points. First put on the full armor, second, prepare for the day of evil, and finally, you just stand. Looking at the points, the first one says to put on the full armor. We would explicitly show that it is in the scripture. We might then illustrate and define the point. We might talk about armor in battle and why it is used and why it is important, we might talk about the battle we are in with Satan. We will definitely tell that we are not talking about battling with guns or swords. In addition, we must clearly tell people HOW to put on the full armor. That is the first point. Then we might look at the second point which is to "prepare for the day of evil." This is only implicitly in the text so we have to explicitly point to it in this section. Note that the text says: "so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground." This implies that if you are going to stand in the future, you have to prepare for it in the present. Go ahead and state it that clearly if you have to. Then once again you want to tell people how to do that today. In addition, describe the point fully. The third point is to just stand. In it we have two sides, "having done all" and "just stand." You might give a story of perseverance. Remember to tell people how to do this. You may not like these three points, get three more. I don't think I would preach it as it stands, but I just use it as an example. Page 7

8 The Celebration After you give the three points, the preacher should move towards the celebration. Here you should look for another story or illustration that summarizes the whole sermon. Then you celebrate the gospel in that story which is also celebrating the good news in the entire sermon. You should have some of this in Wave 1 of your exegesis. Now when I say poem, I don't mean a poem per-se, but a celebration. Here you want to celebrate the answering of the question. In our example, we want to celebrate that we will stand. We want to celebrate that no matter the pain and heartache, that we can make it through it. You do this by gathering materials like poems, hymns, spirituals, gospel songs, and scriptures that are what I call "shouting materials." These are materials that emphasize God's power over our circumstances and our ability to persevere. The point here is that you are ending with a "celebration." I think it is interesting how many sermons have good beginnings, a solid middle, and then die out in the end. You need to end strong, and you do that by celebrating the Good news that God is on our side. If you can't find such a great story to end the sermon, then simply go on and celebrate the good news presented in the sermon. In our example, you might celebrate that you are about business. You have done all three things, and you are ready to battle the forces. You also might celebrate that God wages war for you when you enlist in God's army. Page 8

9 Model 2 Dialectic Method The next pattern used for creation of sermons is the Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis pattern. Many preachers also use the method. I think it is something that it is a method that many should attempt to learn of. Please note that you do not have to go in this order, sometimes we start with anti-thesis, sometimes with thesis. Thesis The thesis is the Biblical ideal. Here you want to clearly describe and define the Bible truth of the issue or point of the sermon. Let us assume that we were using Ephesians 6: We may have a thesis that looks like this: We are to stand up against the forces of darkness, no matter where they come from. As we stand up, we do this through having the right clothes on, the whole armor of God. That is the only way we can overcome and live the life God calls us to. Note that the thesis simply gives the truth of the matter. It may be difficult it may be hard, but it is true and biblical. Set aside all caveats at this point. You want to know the requirements of God on humanity in the thesis. Anti-Thesis Now in the anti-thesis you want to know the reality of the present world. you want to know what is difficult and true about the issue. You want to know about how it is not always easy to do what God requires and asks. It is here that we add in our human frailty as well as reality. To continue our example, you might say: But we are so weak. How can we put on these clothes when we are in such a problematic position? How can we live the life when I am such a wrenched man? Who shall deliver me from this body? Please note that this is the truth of our real existence in this world. What does the world look like without God. In the thesis you want to know how the world looks if you ignore our humanity. Now look at what the world looks like when you ignore God s help. Page 9

10 Relevant Question This is a question that demonstrates the tension between the thesis and the antithesis. Now you need to encapsulate both the thesis and the antithesis. The question is asking, how can I be true to the thesis while recognizing the limitations demonstrated in the antithesis? To continue our example we might have a relevant question of: How can we being so weak battle the forces of Darkness? Synthesis Now we are ready to synthesize the two. We preach the rest of the sermon by answering the claims of the antithesis, while being true to God s demand in the thesis. And to finish our example: The key here is in acknowledging one s weakness. It is the armor of God not our own that we are to fight in. Of course we lose when we try, but we are to walk in God s armor. This text doesn t get into us, it just tells us to put on the armor. When we have on God s armor it will shield us, it will fight for us, and it will lead us. Celebration And like every other form, we want to end in celebration. Here you want to celebrate the truth of the synthesis. Don t just synthesize and sit down, no, synthesize and celebrate it, with story, hymn, or something else. We will talk more specifically about celebration later in the course, but you should have enough information to help you here. Page 10

11 Other Methods These other methods we will discuss quickly. These methods are basically narrative methods. Here your sermon is one long story whether that story is a biblical story or another story mixed with the Biblical story. I would encourage you to play around with these methods just as you try one of the other two. Model 3 Bible Order Method This method simply looks at the text and finds the order in the text. In this sermon I use the Bible order to wake up, throw off, and put on. The scripture is Romans 13: What is very interesting about the sermon is that I simply add an introductory portion to the sermon. I then weave in that introductory story in with the Bible story. And then I move into the three points which are straight from the Bible order. Yes, you can order your sermon simply by following the order of the scripture. Model 4 The Story Method Here you take a story and you simply tell the story. But as you tell the story, you add in your points in the course of your sermon. You naturally bring your points out as you move forward. In other words you tack your point to various points in the sermon. This is like the previous method, only it is a totally narrative method. The previous method follows the Bible order whether it is logical, narrative, or some other ordering method. Note that sometimes the Bible jumps around in time, you would simply follow the Bible in the previous method. However in this method, you follow the timeline of the story. You may piece together parts from various locations in the sermon. The key is that you you re your points to the story. These are breaks in the sermon where you state your point. Page 11

12 This Week s Assignments 1. Spend some time structuring your sermon as a three points and a poem. 2. Then structure your sermon as a Thesis, anti-thesis, synthesis method. 3. Now look at how your sermon would work as a story or narrative. God Bless and Keep on Preaching, Sherman Haywood Cox II Sherman Haywood Cox II Publisher, Supercharge Your Sermons Coming Up Next... Lesson #8: Quick Start: Inviting Introduction In this lesson we will speak directly on how to put together an introduction that will effectively usher in the hearers to your sermon. Page 12

13 Special Supercharge Idea for Week #7 Structure Your Sermon Differently Preachers can easily fall into a rut. Here the preacher simply preaches the same way that she has always preached. The people can sometimes know exactly what is coming next. However, one of the easy ways to add variety to your sermons is to structure your sermon differently. In this lesson we discussed four methods, I would encourage you to attempt to use all of them. Try them! See which works and which ones do not work for you. Once you learn how to preach with many different structural methods, you will be well on the way to supercharging your sermons! Sherman Haywood Cox II Page 13