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

How To Pray for Your Church

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:20-21)

1) Pray for believers to experience true worship

· Pray for an outpouring of God's glory in your church as people acknowledge Him, not only with their lips but with their lives

· Ask God for a spirit of worship to manifest itself at your church.

2) Pray that believers will know, accept, and obey the Word of God

· Pray that God's Word be preached continually at your church.

· Pray for spiritual discernment and understanding among the people

· Ask God to make you obedient to His Word

3) Pray for unity in the church

· Pray for humility among your church's leaders and among the body of believers

· Pray that a spirit of repentance will rise up among all your members

· Ask God to break down all racial, cultural, and denominational walls.

4) Pray for souls to be won to Christ

· Ask God to continue impressing the vision of winning the lost to Christ among your church's leaders and members

· Pray for workers for the harvest -- believers who will consistently share their faith

5) Pray for joy in the hearts and lives of believers

· Ask God to reveal your church's potential to your leaders and the members.

· Ask God to bring joy to your leaders and members

Praying For Your Worship Services

Below is a guide to use for praying for your weekly worship services. It can be used by pastors, staff, and congregational members.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. -- John 4:23

The following are prayer topics that will strengthen our worship services. Please pray that:

*The worship time will be glorifying to God.

*Our hearts will be prepared to hear from God so that He can speak to each person present through the music and the message.

*Our preacher will be sensitive to the leading of the Lord both as he prepares and as he speaks, resulting in the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the message.

*People will be faithful to apply to their lives what God shows them during the service.

*People will come to the Lord for both salvation and renewal.

*The musicians will each be in good voice and show forth the joy of the Lord.

*God will give wisdom and guidance for our worship minister as she chooses the music, that each song will deepen our worship experience and prepare us for the message.

*All equipment will work perfectly.

*All who attend will feel the love of God in our people and sense a spirit of peace and unity and that they are an important part of our church.

*Guests will be welcomed, be ministered to, and will desire to become a part of our church family.

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods… Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. -- Psalms 95:1-3; 6-7

How to Preach With a Full Manuscript (without anyone being able to tell!)

In Preaching classes the professor often warns the students of the tendency many have to become "note-bound" -- especially if he or she is using sermon notes that have the message written out word-for-word (or "full manuscript"). I have sat through many sermons myself where the preacher read, rather than preached, the message. It is quite cumbersome to follow someone who does this, and the warning by our well-meaning professors needs to be heeded. But at the same time, many of us who are in the pulpit week after week know that it is next to impossible to memorize the entire message, and have failed miserably at speaking extemporaneously, even if we have gone over the sermon again and again.

The following suggestions for preaching with a full manuscript while looking like you are preaching with little or no notes comes from years of experience. I have many people ask me how I preach without notes, when the fact is, I have five or more pages of single-spaced, typed notes in front of me the entire time. Here is how I do it:

1. Use a large enough font to see from a distance (I use 14 point).
2. Use Clear, Relevant, and Simple Main Points and Sub-Points (in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS).
3. Start every sentence with a new line.
4. Start every sentence with a hyphen (-).
5. Use the ampersand (&) instead of "and" and use shortened forms of "with" (w/) and "without" (w/0).
6. Use commas (,), colons (:), and semi-colons (;) as you normally would.
7. Put all illustrative material in brackets [Illustration].
8. Type all of your scripture texts in italics other than the scripture reference.
9. Take a Yellow Highlighter and highlight all Main Points and Sub-Points, the hyphen (-) that begins each new line, the ampersands (&), "with" and "withouts" (w/, w/o), commas (,), colons (:), and semi-colons (;). Also, highlight all scripture text (but not the reference), and draw a line (with the highlighter) down the left-hand margin of your page alongside any sermon illustrations you have.

After you've done this you will see a single-spaced sermon manuscript with yellow markings all over it. It will look like the graphic below:

(Click the link for an actual sermon -- http://www.sermonworld.com/wiaic3.doc)

What this will do will be to allow you to scan a good portion of the page, taking in much more than you would be able to otherwise. You will find yourself only glancing at the page occasionally, and facing your congregation a much higher percentage of the time. In addition, if you provide your congregation with a "fill-in-the-blank" type outline, the majority of them will be looking down at the page when you state your Main and Sub-Points, allowing you to rapidly focus your eyes on the text below the points and look back up at your audience before they are done writing on the sermon notes page.

One more thing -- go over your notes the evening before you preach, and again about 15 minutes to an hour before you actually deliver the message. You will be so familiar with your sermon that you will find yourself glancing at the highlighted portions and barely needing to skim the notes at all. But at the same time, you have the security of your manuscript "just in case!"

In Christ,
Barry L. Davis, D.Min.
http://www.sermonworld.com
http://www.pastorshelper.com