S2 Ep2172: Teaching Tip 351 | “Plain Speaking - building your sermon” | Malcolm Cox

Malcolm Cox

Teaching Tip 351 | “Plain Speaking - building your sermon” | Malcolm Cox

Introduction

Here is your 2-minute tip based on chapter 2 of the book, “Plain speaking: How to preach and teach effectively" by David Bercot.
“These steps are flexible and can be adapted to your own preferences. But to be an effective speaker, you will want to follow some plan." Page 37
Six steps according to Bercot:

1. Praying for guidance - including listening. Why are we afraid of silence? “Silence gave me space to remember that my most urgent spiritual questions are not necessarily the ones that will endure.” Tish Warren, ‘Prayer in the Night’
2. Researching - reference tools (bestcommentaries.com / accordancebible.com )
3. Reflecting and brainstorming - what else is important to explore regarding this topic? Water at the well - Bible’s story regarding water, other scriptures about ‘living water’.
4. Illustrating my topic - more on that next week
5. Organising - more on that in an upcoming episode
6. Sculpturing - more on that in another episode

Even a cursory examination of the sermon on the mount indicates that Jesus didn't put it together casually. We are not looking for a formula, but for practices that will help us to be disciplined in our preparation.
Conclusion
Do you agree with these steps?
Which of the steps are easy for you?
Which of the steps are hard for you and why?
Has today’s tip been worth two minutes of your time? I hope so.
Next week: illustrations make a sermon memorable
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Remember to keep calm, and carry on teaching.
God bless, Malcolm