Steven P. Vitrano

PREPARING a good sermon takes time. It is a creative enterprise and therefore challenges a person's inner resources because what is created is born of the soul. But as a church elder, the time you give to the work of the church is limited.…

IT WAS said earlier that a textual sermon must have a theme, the amplification of the theme, and the application of the theme. So far, quite a bit has been said about the theme and its amplification, but nothing as to its…

THE textual sermon may involve a sentence or two, a paragraph, or a longer passage such as a chapter or a whole book of the Bible. A sermon involving a longer passage has traditionally been called an expository sermon. I have not used that…

WHILE reading the Bible, you are impressed that you should preach on a particular passage. Let us say the passage is 1 John 1:8-10, R.S.V.: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,…

YOU ARE READING a passage from Scripture. As you read, you are impressed that a portion of what you are reading would be helpful to the church you serve and would make a good sermon. Moved by the Spirit, you decide to use this text the next…

COHERENCE in the sermon is determined, to a large degree, by whether or not the parts of the sermon are properly arranged. In his book The Sermon (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), p. 78, R. C. H. Lenski says:

The essentials…

YOU have been asked to preach next Sabbath. What are you going to preach about? Or perhaps the question should be, What should you preach about? The reason for changing the question is that preaching is not a matter of proclaiming your words,…

DID YOU ever hear someone speak who sounded as though he were trying to talk through a mouthful of pebbles? Wasn't clear, was it? Either he couldn't articulate well or he didn't. When there is a serious speech impediment affecting the speech…

CLARITY in preaching is not only a matter of central theme, precise word usage and sentence structure, and illustrations that illustrate. All of this may be in perfect order, but if the speech cannot be heard or understood little has been…

"WHAT you say is not quite clear. Could you illustrate?" Have you ever said that? Did anyone ever say it to you?

We illustrate to clarify. In his book The Art of Illustrating Sermons, Ian Macpherson says: "To begin with their…

CLARITY and coherence should characterize Christian preaching. If the preacher is to "encourage" and "charge" men "to lead a life worthy of God," (1 Thess. 2:12) what he says must not be muddled, ambiguous, or confusing. Careful consideration…

PREACHING is a means ordained of God whereby God and man come together in communion and communication. As the believer listens to the Word of God in proclamation, he accepts it as the Word of God which is at work in him (1 Thess. 2:13). The…

WHAT is preaching all about anyway? The question has been asked again and again, and answered as often in one way or another. But when you have been ordained as a local elder and you realize that one of your responsibilities is to preach…

Did you ever listen to a sermon that fell gelatinously all over the congregation? "Gelatinously"? Julian Huxley first used the term in reference to the perambulations of an invertebrate sea animal. Halford Luccock saw it as a fit…

How can commitment be defined? Commitment can be defined as the decision to do what needs to be done, whatever the cost— a definition that characterizes countless heroes throughout history.

Christian commitment,…

In recent months I have heard a great deal about the cross of Christ. I have been told again and again of its all-sufficiency for my salvation. Now, I have no question about its all-sufficiency for accomplishing what God intended,…