Preaching As A Call To Action

With some minor exceptions, preaching is a call to action. The one proclaiming the message is calling for life change on the part of the individual, the church, the nation, or some other group of people. Even when the purpose of a sermon is mainly to teach doctrinal truth, there is at the very least a challenge for the hearer to change their thinking or to adapt their lifestyle in relation to the truth being taught.

So many preachers fail in this area and simply state a list of facts, but give no real direction to the congregation as to how they are expected to respond. For instance, the sermon outline might look like this:

TROUBLE AND FAITH

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
James 1:2-4 (NLT)

1. WE ALL HAVE TROUBLE

2. JOY CAN BE FOUND IN TROUBLE

3. TROUBLE IS A TEST THAT DEVELOPS US

But what happens when we prepare this same message with a call to action in mind?

USING TROUBLE TO TRIUMPH

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
James 1:2-4 (NLT)

1. WHEN TROUBLE COMES, SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY

2. WHEN TROUBLE COMES, LET YOUR FAITH GROW

3. WHEN TROUBLE COMES, BE PREPARED TO OVERCOME

Notice that the doctrinal truth is the same in both messages. But the first message simply teaches doctrinal truth, while the second message teaches people how to live the doctrinal truth. The approach to the message is the main factor in determining whether the sermon will be developed to change people's lives or to simply add to their bank of knowledge. As preachers we are in the life change business, so we must choose the latter.

Here are some questions to ask of the text you are going to preach on each week that will help in this matter:

1. What is God asking us to do differently than we've done before?

2. What action is God calling us to take?

3. What solution is God giving to the problem we have?

4. What steps are necessary on our part to accomplish what God is calling us to?

Of course, we could come up with more questions than these, but these will help get us started. Once I have answers to these questions, the answers themselves will provide the framework (or outline) for how I will develop and preach this message.

Another huge help for the preacher is to use "action" or "power" verbs in the outline. These are verbs that grab people's attention and call them to actually do something with what they are learning that day. Below are a list of power verbs that you can print out and keep handy when preparing your outline.

A-B
accelerated acclimated accompanied accomplished achieved acquired acted activated actuated adapted added addressed adhered adjusted administered admitted adopted advanced advertised advised advocated aided aired affected allocated altered amended amplified analyzed answered anticipated appointed appraised approached approved arbitrated arranged ascertained asked assembled assigned assumed assessed assisted attained attracted audited augmented authored authorized automated awarded avail balanced bargained borrowed bought broadened budgeted built

C
calculated canvassed capitalized captured carried out cast cataloged centralized challenged chaired changed channeled charted checked chose circulated clarified classified cleared closed co-authored cold called collaborated collected combined commissioned committed communicated compared compiled complied completed composed computed conceived conceptualized concluded condensed conducted conferred consolidated constructed consulted contracted contrasted contributed contrived controlled converted convinced coordinated corrected corresponded counseled counted created critiqued cultivated cut

D
debugged decided decentralized decreased deferred defined delegated delivered demonstrated depreciated described designated designed determined developed devised devoted diagrammed directed disclosed discounted discovered dispatched displayed dissembled distinguished distributed diversified divested documented doubled drafted

E
earned eased edited effected elected eliminated employed enabled encouraged endorsed enforced engaged engineered enhanced enlarged enriched entered entertained established estimated evaluated examined exceeded exchanged executed exempted exercised expanded expedited explained exposed extended extracted extrapolated

F-H
facilitated familiarized fashioned fielded figured financed fit focused forecasted formalized formed formulated fortified found founded framed fulfilled functioned furnished gained gathered gauged gave generated governed graded granted greeted grouped guided handled headed hired hosted

I
identified illustrated illuminated implemented improved improvised inaugurated indoctrinated increased incurred induced influenced informed initiated innovated inquired inspected inspired installed instigated instilled instituted instructed insured interfaced interpreted interviewed introduced invented inventoried invested investigated invited involved isolated issued

J-M
joined judged launched lectured led lightened liquidated litigated lobbied localized located maintained managed mapped marketed maximized measured mediated merchandised merged met minimized modeled moderated modernized modified monitored motivated moved multiplied

N-O
named narrated negotiated noticed nurtured observed obtained offered offset opened operated operationalized orchestrated ordered organized oriented originated overhauled oversaw

P
paid participated passed patterned penalized perceived performed permitted persuaded phased out pinpointed pioneered placed planned polled prepared presented preserved presided prevented priced printed prioritized probed processed procured produced profiled programmed projected promoted promoted prompted proposed proved provided publicized published purchased pursued

Q-R
quantified quoted raised ranked rated reacted read received recommended reconciled recorded recovered recruited rectified redesigned reduced referred refined regained regulated rehabilitated reinforced reinstated rejected related remedied remodeled renegotiated reorganized replaced repaired reported represented requested researched resolved responded restored restructured resulted retained retrieved revamped revealed reversed reviewed revised revitalized rewarded routed

S
safeguarded salvaged saved scheduled screened secured segmented selected sent separated served serviced settled shaped shortened showed shrank signed simplified sold solved spearheaded specified speculated spoke spread stabilized staffed staged standardized steered stimulated strategized streamlined strengthened stressed structured studied submitted substantiated substituted suggested summarized superseded supervised supplied supported surpassed surveyed synchronized synthesized systematized

T-W
tabulated tailored targeted taught terminated tested testified tightened took traced traded trained transacted transferred transformed translated transported traveled treated tripled uncovered undertook unified united updated upgraded used utilized validated valued verified viewed visited weighed welcomed widened witnessed won worked wrote

Every week as we stand in the pulpit we are given the wonderful opportunity by God to share His Word with His people. We can't afford to blow it by spending that valuable time simply reciting biblical facts. Our calling is to call other people to action, and we can do exactly that when we preach with the approach I've given you.

In Christ,

Barry