* * * 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
"Energize Your Preaching!"
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http://preacherstudy.com
First Tuesday of December, 1999
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Published on the first and third Tuesday of the month.
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(The material in this Ezine is copyrighted. Reprint by author's permission
only, however, you may forward it 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" Part 3 (Final)
[3] Preacher's Study Website Updates
[4] Coming Attractions
[5] Contact Info
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[1] ***Greetings!***
If you are new to this ezine, I welcome you. You are receiving it because
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readership now stands at 1063. You can help us reach more people by
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This issue contains the final installment on the article, "WHAT'S IN A
NAME: The Art of Creatively Naming Your Sermons." If you haven't read the
earlier parts of this article, you may find them on our website at:
http://preacherstudy.com/bkissue.htm
Other back issues are available at this same location.
[2] ***Featured Article***: "WHAT'S IN A NAME: The Art of Creatively
Naming Sermons: Part 3"
<<CONTINUED FROM LAST ISSUE>>
***Additional Thoughts on Creative Titling.
---Study the Front Page Of Reader's Digest
This monthly magazine has a huge readership. That's because these people
know how to hook readers with their titles (and then deliver the goods in
their articles). In fact, in recent years they have gone to a "stick on"
sheet for newsstands and check out counters that highlights articles that
address common needs. If you can title your sermons like these folks title
their articles, you won't lack people who are interested in what you have
to say. Here are some titles printed on the cover of their October, 1999
issue:
"World's Most Wanted"
"Showdown at Sweet Water Canyon"
"Heroes for today"
"Click Here for Your Roots"
"Prince of Pork"
"World's Most Wanted"
"The Ball"
Of course, these aren't sermon titles, but notice they are concise,
descriptive, and interesting. When I read the Digest I find myself reading
the most interesting sounding article first, then coming back to finish
the others.
---Brainstorm with a Friend.
My good friend Alan Walker and I used to sit down at lunch in a restaurant
and brainstorm titles. Though I'm convinced that more than a few
waitresses thought we were kooks, this really did work. Each of us would
toss out the text and gist of his weekly sermon. Then we would fire words
and phrases back and forth that popped into our minds. Good ideas are
quickly scribbled on a napkin. Often it's a good case of "one thing leads
to another," along with a good dose of "iron sharpens iron." Try it. It
works.
---Try "Clustering".
Space prohibits my explaining this in detail but let me at least toss you
a lead or two. You begin by writing a word or phrase in the center of a
piece of paper that reflects your theme. Now circle it. Next, write down
and circle any word or phrase that comes to your mind as you consider the
word in the center of the paper. These are arranged in a circle around
your phrase in the center, connected to the center by lines you draw (like
spokes in a wheel). Don't worry about these words and phrases having much
meaning. Simply write down whatever comes to your mind. Once you have
exhausted your creativity, go to one of the circled words or phrases you
just did and concentrate on it in the same way, "clustering" related words
and phrases around it. Then do the same for the next and the next, etc. As
you do this, watch for ideas that you mind suggests for titles. (For more
on "clustering," I recommend a book called, WRITING THE NATURAL WAY: USING
RIGHT-BRAIN TECHNIQUES TO RELEASE YOUR EXPRESSIVE POWERS, by Gabriele
Lusser Rico, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons of New York.)
---Us a Good Thesaurus.
Look up words that pertain to your subject and read the synonyms. As you
go through these they will suggest word pictures. You may find just the
one you are looking for to energize your title or set your mind into
action.
---Watch Movie Titles, Commercials, And Advertising Slogans.
Advertisers spend millions of dollars "branding" us with movie titles and
slogans to hawk their wares. Often you can conceive a parallel or maybe a
spoof or parody on such titles. Your hearers will recognize them instantly
and perhaps muse to themselves, "I wonder how he is going to use that?"
I recall driving by a theater marquee awhile back and picking up a couple
of memorable titles. I don't watch very many movies so I don't know
altogether what these were about. The first one was "The Devil's Own." I
used it to title a sermon about the wicked Jezebel in the Old Testament.
As I consider that title now, it comes to my mind that I could expand it
to describe a different message: "The Devil's Own: The Three Most Wicked
Characters in the Bible." On another occasion I used "Indecent Proposal"
to title a message from Acts about the Jerusalem authorities' order to the
Apostles to stop preaching in the name of Jesus ("We must obey God rather
than men.") Why should the devil have all the good titles?
My homiletics teachers would have flunked me had they known I was going to
tell you this but I'm going to do it anyway. You will note from the above
paragraph that sometimes I write the sermon to fit a title. I know you're
supposed to do it the other way, i.e., write the sermon first. One of the
nice things about knowing the "rules" is that you can change them once in
awhile as long as you're aware of what you're doing and the result is the
same. :-) You beginning homiletics students just forget I said that!
Of course if you publish your messages you might need to be concerned with
copyrights when using such things as movie titles. I'll leave you to
figure that out.
---Think About Your Title Over Several Days.
Creativity is seldom forced (at least it isn't with me). If you sit down
late Saturday night to title your message, don't be surprised if the well
is dry when you start pumping. It always seems to me that I am the most
creative when I'm not particularly trying to be. I start early in the week
(or even a few weeks ahead) thinking about titles, themes, and texts. I
let these interact in my conscious and subconscious mind. I carry a
micro-cassette recorder with me at all times. A small notebook would work,
except I'm often walking when my best ideas come. (My most creative time
of the day is my 3-mile morning walk. Something about the fresh air and
the blood pumping...)
Some suggest that you do your creative work on a different day than you do
your exegesis. The theory is that one is a "right brain" activity and one
is a "left brain" activity. I find I have to be in the mood when I'm in my
"right (creative) mind" and not grunting out the facts in the left brain
realm.
---Words from a Master.
My friend, Victor Knowles, is always in demand for speaking because of his
quick wit and riveting presentations. Here are some helpful words he wrote
to me when I asked him about titling:
"Use alliteration (but not to seed). Shorter is better. Words are like
music, let the good times (words) roll. Do they roll off the tongue and
make music, sweet music, to the ears? I like word play. (Instead of Rage
of Angels I preach Rage for Angels). Fatal Attraction becomes Fetal
Attraction (why I am drawn to the cause of the unborn). Dead Man Walking
becomes Dead Men Walking. Some can even stay the same, i.e., Sleeping With
the Enemy (Satan)."
In a later message on the same subject, Victor suggested some titles from
the late Archie Word (one of my teachers many years ago) for whom he
served as biographer:
"What Kind of Church Would I Be Afraid of If I were the Devil?"
"One Mile to Hell"
"Shaking Out Snakes"
"The One Word America Hates"
"When I Was a Thief"
"Blockades on the Road to Hell"
Finally, here are some titles from Vic himself:
"Excuse Me, But Did You Accuse Me?"
"Adultery: Running the Red Lights"
"God's 4 Appointments"
"5 Things God Cannot Do"
"The World's Largest Cemetery" (where unused talents lie buried)
"4 Great Certainties" (Heb. 9:27ff)
"Why Christianity Has Lost Its Sunday Punch"
"I'm Dreaming of a Right Christmas"
"Dead Men Walking"
"Missing Heaven by 18 Inches" (distance from head to heart)
"Lessons in Evangelism from a Little Leper Colony"
As you can see, Vic is a master of naming sermons. With some stimulation
of your creative juices, you can be, too.
As an experiment, set aside some time to go back through some of the
messages you have already preached. Since you are already familiar with
their content, see if you can give each one a creative title. It's a great
place to start.
(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] ***Preacher's Study Website Updates***
Two new messages were added to the Premium section of the website since
our last Ezine. The first was a Thanksgiving message (Why not use a
message like this for a special "Thanksgiving in February" focus?) called,
"Thinking About Thanks." It was based on Luke 17:11-19. Here is an
excerpt: "One of my own unscientific observations since I became a
Christian is that newer congregations sometimes tend to live in better
harmony with one another than older ones. Have any of you noticed that?
Among churches that divide and split, many have been in existence twenty
or more years. If the observation is valid, there may be several reasons
for it. One of them may be that the farther church members get from the
realization of their former desperate condition outside of Christ, the
less they are willing to tolerate those who are just coming into Christ.
Of course, that could be said another way: The farther we get from
gratitude for our salvation, the less tolerant we become. My reason from
bringing it up? Thanksgiving could be the antidote!"
The second message was called, "Rekindling a Missionary Spirit at the
Beginning of the New Millennium." Here is a borrowed quote from the
sermon: "A missionary is one who never gets used to the sound of heathen
footbeats on their way to a Christless eternity."
If you are a Premium subscriber, you may view either of these messages at
the following addresses:
http://preacherstudy.com/premium/thanks.html
http://preacherstudy.com/premium/mission.html
If you are looking for a Christmas message, be sure to check the premium
section under Special Occasion Messages at:
http://preacherstudy.com/premium/specialo.htm
Some of the titles you'll find there are:
"Christmas: Where Did It Come From - How Should I Deal With It?"
"Faking the Fa-la-la"
"Jet-skiing the Galilee"
"The 'Foolishness' of the Birth of Christ"
"Christmas or Not?"
[4] ***Coming Attractions***
Lord willing, we will feature an article next time on STAGING which has to
do with spreading the work of your sermon preparation over a greater part
of the week, giving adequate time and attention to each preparation step.
[5] ***Contact Info***
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The Preacher's Study Website & Ezine
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"Energize Your Preaching"
Owner: Dave Redick
Email: editor@preacherstudy.com
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Back issues available at:
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