During these days my son Jeremy is so very ill with lymphoma, I will, on occasion, use quotes from other writers. This one is from Dr. Lori Carrell’s new book Preaching That Matters: Reflective Practices for Transforming Sermons.

Informative preachers who make the declaration “I will not manipulate people” often have childhood memories of coercive altar calls. Their commitment to avoid pressuring people with emotional, guilt-inducing pleas is an appropriate ethical standard. But if preachers avoid even asking for change based on aversion to all things persuasive, their sermons will be less transformative than possible.

When I teach public speaking to students or business professionals and we talk about the general goal or purpose, the word persuasion is used without issue. In those settings, the word is not problematic.

With many clergy, however, there seems to be immediate association of manipulation with persuasion. Did that happen for you? If so, might you be able to replace that term with the concept ethical spiritual influence or spiritual leadership? The roots of your aversion may be deep and worthy of your close consideration. One pastor wrote,

 I endured endless verses of “Just as I Am”—a spiritual arm-twisting that made me and other people in my youth group repent and recommit endlessly. I felt badgered and pushed—and I don’t think I’ve ever quite recovered. It’s just so wrong. I never want to “persuade”—just quietly live and talk about my faith.

In your role as a person called by God to lead through the spoken Word, are you able to respectfully and ethically challenge others to change on the authority of the Scriptures, on your conviction that change is needed, and through the power of the Holy Spirit? It is possible to maintain these same commitments—to be a teacher, to be biblical, to be ethical—and to engage in sermon communication for the purpose of spiritual transformation.

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, the book Preaching That Matters, by Dr. Lori Carrell, has finally arrived. It is published by:

 The Alban Institute
131 Elden Street, Suite 202
Herndon, Virginia, 20510
http://www.alban.org.

I highly recommend it.

Though Dr. Carrell words things differently than I do, she makes it clear that it is to everyone’s benefit when the preacher has a “clear, compelling, text-centered subject.” Getting that in mind at the beginning of the sermon-preparation process leads to more-focused research, reduced revision-time and more-focused content. This in turn enhances the whole communication process.

Once the subject has been established, the preacher should next come up with a high-expectation response aim. Again, determining this very early in the sermon-preparation process makes getting the rest of the material much easier. On top of that, it ensures that your sermons are not just informational, but transformational.

She asks her readers to look back at three or four recent sermons to see how well they did in the process. I find this to be a good exercise for all of us. I confess that my sermons don’t always make my subject and response as clear as they should.

Preaching That Matters is one of those rare books where I found myself time and again thinking, “This is really well-written. I’m so glad preachers have this resource available to them.”

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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The book for which I’ve been so patiently waiting has finally arrived! It’s called Preaching That Matters by Dr. Lori Carrell. The subtitle is “Reflective Practices for Transforming Sermons.” The publisher is ALBAN.

 The Alban Institute
131 Elden Street, Suite 202
Herndon, VA 20170

With the 242-page review copy I received, the only information I didn’t get was the price!

I have started my second reading. All the quotes I sent you before are from her manuscript. Here are just three of the many endorsements of the book:

“It is one thing to challenge preachers to prepare and deliver sermons that not only inform but transform; it is another thing altogether to offer them a way to reach that goal. Lori Carrell invites preachers to engage in reflective practices and constructive activities to break bad preaching habits and develop an approach to preaching based on solid sermon communication research.”

—Lucy Lind Hogan
Wesley Theological Seminary

“If preachers will devote themselves to reading, praying, and listening their way through this book, it will push the public preaching of the gospel in the direction it so desperately needs to go.”

—Dwight A. Moody, President
Academy of Preachers

“Lori Carrell is tenacious in her determination to help preachers get better at preaching the most important message on the planet. I unreservedly recommend Preaching that Matters to anyone who takes serious wanting to get better in their preaching.”

—Pastor Bill Lenz
Christ the Rock Community Church

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

Share and Enjoy