Bringing Christ Closer: The Power of a Sermon - Essay Sample

Introduction

Each and every day there are people gathered either in church or a workplace listening to a minister deliver their sermon. The preaching at times can be encouraging, or at times they can be boring due to either being repetitive or lacking in content. Among, the famous scholars on sermon reviews and writings urge ministers to be oriented on bringing Christ closer to people through their homilies rather than their theological teachings. In most of the sermons that are being given either the streets or at the pulpit, there have to be some preparations. One important aspect of sermon delivery is how the homilies are prepared. Hence, this paper is about the preparation of sermons, various style, and aspects relevant to sermon writings.

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So, among the first steps of creating a sermon that will not only integrate God's words but also be in touch with how humans live in accordance with the ways of God. Among the few notes that one should keep in mind is that a sermon should be used to engage the biblical text. Engaging biblical text is all about giving a correct verse that is relevant to the sermon. As a good preacher and a minister of the word of God, one is supposed to act in a manner that is in accordance with the scriptures that they are preaching (Heisler). Sermons that have biblical text usually are relevant to the congregants. Most of the time ministers fail to visualize their sermons with biblical text and texts that are true to the current happenings.

Another important factor in the preparation is that the sermon has to proclaim the gospel and live the gospel. Living the gospel truth is the fact that a sermon should not derail from the truth of the gospel. The current world is full of individual doctrine that people want to influence others but they do not want to live the gospel. The gospel as we all know is full of teachings that we can't exhaust in any way. The best way to bring the gospel into the light is through the sermons that are true, short, and precise to the core. Having a sermon that has biblical context and urges the congregants to live in accordance with the gospel will influence most of the people. Just like Jesus when he was giving his sermons, He never failed to give an example that was local and an example that people could easily relate with. So as a minister one should be able to relate with the environment they are in and find relevant gospel scripture that can relate to that particular congregants.

Similarly, a well-structured sermon that is easy to understand and also easy to follow. One aspect is to gauge the age and the level of the audience you are to preach for. In cases where children are gathered, it will be easier to come up with ideas that they can relate with for example the story about Noah and the Ark (Smith 192). This can make the children be conversant with the sermon and also participate in case you ask them to. Another important aspect of relating to the audience is the examples one gives; one should be able to ask questions that the audience can easily answer and also feel free to interact. Most of the audience within the precinct of the churches do find that sermons are either too straight or either too demanding that they cannot adjust to the teachings. A sermon that is centered on the gospel not only inspire the audience to change but also instills some truth in their ways of doing things.

In one of the sermons that a minister should give, it should have the interaction of the audience. One way to bring a point home is through engaging the audience if the audience can feel what you tell them, they can make good use of living the gospel. Because as a minister we are supposed to impact the audience through the gospel that is alive and also that can change their lives forever. Once a congregant has felt that the gospel has touched their lives in a good way then they can encourage others to join and thus the spreading of the gospel will be complete. An audience that is engaged throughout the sermon, is an audience that will feel the presence of the gospel among their lives and will see the works of the Lord through the sermon that the minister has given unto them.

Also, a good sermon should be precise and be well delivered to the audience. A minister should be a person who knows and understands how to bring out the gospel without hesitations. Once they step on the pulpit one should not be afraid to speak the gospel truth as it is since if your fear to bring out the truth how well then can you bring out the bad vices? Some of the audience need to know that we are supposed to live the gospel as it is. One of the influential people who are supposed to bring the gospel to light are the ministers and they do so through the sermons they deliver in churches (Tillis). As a minister one of the qualities one should possess is the power of speech, no fear or favor of prejudice. If one is fearful of losing the audience due to the gospel truth then they should ask God to help them overcome the fear.

Lastly, when presenting the sermon, a minister should be bold and also specific to the sermon prepared. They should also make the sermon to be pointing back to Christ and not to the societal mischief and living. Sermons should be summarized in a way that it proves the first point of preaching the gospel and the word of God. In as much as the sermon is short and precise, it should be straight to the core. Also, sermons should be inclusive of the word of God and be sure that it touches the life of the congregants. One point to note is that no matter how long or short the sermon is one should be ready and prepared to preach it and be affirmative in their say while delivering the sermon. One of the things that I have noticed is that some ministers do blame the clock for being too fast, and others blame the clock for being too slow. In as much as time is of the essence the truth of the matter is that always prepare the sermon that will be within the time limits you desire.

Work Cited

Heisler, Greg. Spirit-Led Preaching: The Holy Spirit's Role in Sermon Preparation and Delivery. B&H Publishing Group, 2018.

Smith, Lesley. "Friars and the Preparation of Pastoral Aids." The English Province of the Franciscans (1224-c. 1350). BRILL, 2017. 175-192.

Tillis, Stephen Andrew. Reading to Preach the Beneficial Nature of lectio divina for Sermon Preparation. Diss. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2019.