* * * T H E P R E A C H E R ' S S T U D Y * * *
U P D A T E & E Z I N E
"Helping Busy Preachers Become Better Preachers"
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http://preacherstudy.com
First Tuesday of November, 1999
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Published on the first and third Tuesday of the month.
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(Please feel free to forward this ezine in its entirety to friends and
associates)
In This Issue:
[1] Greetings!
[2] Featured Article: "WHAT'S IN A NAME?: The Art of Creatively Naming
Your Sermons"
[3] Preacher's Study Website Updates
[4] Coming Attractions
[5] Contact Info
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[1] ***Greetings!***
Welcome to our third edition. A special welcome to new subscribers. Our
subscriber list for this ezine continues to grow. As of my last check with
our server, the number stood at 944 souls. My hope and prayer is that many
more will join. If you know a friend who could benefit, please forward
them a copy. It's free and will continue to be so. The signup page is at:
http://preacherstudy.com/maillist.htm
Our two previous issues are at:
http://preacherstudy.com/ezine1.htm
and
http://preacherstudy.com/ezine2.htm
In this issue you will find Part One of an article on the very pertinent
topic of naming your sermons. Watch future issues for parts Two and Three.
I've discovered how much difference a good title can make in getting my
messages across. I'd like to share the things I've learned with you. I
welcome your comments, questions, and good ideas. I might even publish
some of them in a future edition. Send your input to:
editor@preacherstudy.com
You'll also find notes of updates of our website, The Preacher's Study
below. If you've never visited The Preacher's Study, please, click on over.
http://preacherstudy.com
God bless.
Dave Redick
[2] ***Featured Article: "WHAT'S IN A NAME: The Art of Creatively Naming
Your Sermons" (Part One)
***WHAT'S IN A NAME?
A high school in Virginia offered a course called "Home Economics for
Boys." Needless to say, it got little attention. So the following year it
was renamed "Bachelor Living." You guessed it - the effect was
overwhelming. 120 boys promptly signed up. The curriculum didn't change.
It still offered traditional instruction in cooking, sewing, laundry, and
money management. But it needed the right image before the students would
give the class a second look.
When you name your sermon, you give it an image. If that image "connects"
with your hearers, they will be more likely to listen to its message. Said
another way, the name of your sermon is the package it is wrapped in. It
can be plain or it can be attractive. Make it attractive. While a good
name surely doesn't make a good sermon, a good name can cause people to
want to listen to a good sermon.
A good title draws attention to what is going to be said in the sermon. It
can do this by 1) Provoking curiosity; 2) Promising answers; 3) Providing
Explanations. We'll look at the first of these in this issue and complete
them in future ezine issues.
1. PROVOKING CURIOSITY.
Most of us have heard sermon titles that caused us to want to hear what
the speaker was going to say about "that".
I recently put out a request for special sermon names to a couple of email
lists I frequent. I asked for "memorable sermons" and "catchy titles."
Many on these lists were part time and full time preachers. Here are some
of the ones I received, along with a few of my own. See if they don't
provoke some curiosity in your own mind:
"Running All the Red Lights" (The high cost of disregarding the
commandments of God)
"Going to the Dogs" (2 Peter 2:22 - apostasy)
"Acts: The Book of Non-conversions" (A look at those in Acts who were
*not* converted.)
"Nearsighted People Can't Add" (2 Peter 1:3-10)
"The Little Red Devil Behind the Pearly White Gates" (The tongue)
"Forty Thousand Pounds of Deviled Ham Lost At Sea" (An expository sermon
on the two demoniacs in Gergasa - Mat 8:28-34)
"One Meal You Can't Eat in the Kitchen" - (The story of Mary and Martha)
"The Church of the Living Dead" (An exposition of the account of the
church at Sardis in Revelation)
"Don't Bite the Apple Until You Check for Worms" (On finding a mate)
"Eighty Words of Terror From the Depths of Hades" (A sermon on Hell from
Luke 16)
Titles like these can catch the attention of even uninterested people.
They can provoke curiosity and cause people to want to hear what you have
to say. The problem is that they are not easy to devise. Most of us can
come up with one occasionally but doing it consistently is quite another
thing.
Assuming that you as a preacher can turn out a good sermon (so as to
deliver on what is promised in a good title, right?) how can you come up
with a good title?
<<<TO BE CONTINUED>>>
(c) Dave Redick, The Preacher's Study, 1999. All Rights Reserved. Reprint
by permission only.(However, you may forward his entire Ezine to friends
freely.)
[3] ***Recent Website Updates***
Two sermons were added to the Premium section of The Preacher's Study
since the last edition of this ezine. Both were authored by the editor,
Dave Redick.
The first is called "Seven Sure Ways to Promote Christian Unity." Here is
an excerpt: "It is much easier to think and speak of the big things that
are "out there" than the sticky, difficult little ones that occur right
here among us. Yet unity really starts in the individual congregation...
it only takes one cantankerous church member to shatter the unity of an
entire body."
The second sermon is called "The Miracle and the Word." Again, an excerpt:
"The generation that craved for a sign in the time of Christ but rejected
His Word is gone, but their descendants live on today, still craving
miracles, but rejecting the Word. They are attracted by claims of miracles
today, but they quickly fade away when the Word comes to bear on their
lives."
The free section again didn't receive any new material due to the time
crunch. I have new things to add. They just need to be formatted. Watch
for updates.
[4] ***Coming Attractions***
The next two issues will be devoted to completing the topic of sermon
naming begun in this issue. Beyond that, watch for an article on STAGING
which has to do with spreading the work of your sermon over a greater part
of the week, giving adequate time and attention to each preparation step.
See you next time, Lord willing.
[5] ***Contact Info***
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The Preacher's Study Website & Ezine
http://preacherstudy.com
"Helping Busy Preachers Become Better Preachers"
Owner: Dave Redick
Email: editor@preacherstudy.com
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Copyright 1999. The Preacher's Study.
The material in this ezine is copyrighted. You may, however, forward it in
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