PRESUPPOSITIONS
- You are going to “preach the Word” — that is an actual order from God though His friend Paul.
- You are going to have a discipline to study to know what was in God’s heart (1) when He had it written.
- You will have a will and a plan for it to grip your own heart (2). This will show in your passion and delivery.
- A strong goal as you preach is to help listeners take it into their own hearts (3) and want to believe it….feel it….do it++
(1), (2), and (3) ARE THE THREE HEARTS OF PREACHING: GOD’S, MINE THE SPEAKER, AND THEIRS THE LISTENERS.
++ for a long time those who study preaching have explained that every sermon should help the listeners to do one or more of those three:
Believe it : God really created the universe…. He loves me …..Jesus really took all my sins to the cross.
Feel it: God is all-powerful and our Creator and, “Look at that new baby!”
Do it: I will not lie any more. I will “truth it in love.”
STRONG HELPS (AFTER THE CAREFUL STUDY) FOR DELIVERY:
— PAUSES at appropriate times. Some say it is the best attention-getter.
— PASSION AND EMOTION at appropriate times. Shows it has hit your heart.
— PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT THE TRUTH. Knute the man, not just Knute the speaker.
— VARIETY: in how your move and where you stand….in pace of delivery… In volume….in genre of speech (challenge, explanation, illustration, humor….)
— APPLICATION: They should know early on that this talk is for them, even to change their lives!