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The Preaching Ezine (the newsletter of Preachology.com)


Issue #016, October 26, 2009

What's in this Issue:

  • Broadus on "Requisits To Effective Preaching" #4-Part 2.
  • Sermon on "Revival".
  • New sermons, outlines, and illustrations link to preachology.com!
  • You could have your own sermon web page on Preachology.com!!


Hello,

Mark Hollingsworth here. Hope you are having a great week in the Lord. I certainly hope you preached powerfully yesterday for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Tim. 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

I would like to continue to discuss what Broadus said about the prerequisites of effective preaching. He said there were four requisites. The first is "piety." The second is "Natural Gifts." The third is "Knowledge." And the fourth is "Skill."

(4) "Skill." (Part 2). Any one whose good fortune it has been to be intimate with some of those noble preachers, who beginning with hardly any education have worked their way up to the highest excellence in their calling, will have seen ample proofs, particularly in their unrestrained private conversation, that their power of clear and precise expression, and of forcible and attractive delivery, is the result of sharp, critical attention, of earnest and long-continued labor.

The difference between skill and the lack of it in speaking, is almost as great as in handling tools, those, for example, of the carpenter or the blacksmith. And while no real skill can be acquired without practice - according to the true saying, "The only way to learn to preach is to preach" - yet mere practice will never bring the highest skill; it must be heedful, thoughtful practice, with close observation of others and sharp watching of ourselves, and controlled by good sense and good taste.

Now in respect of skill, preaching is an "art"; and while art cannot create the requisite powers of mind or body, nor supply their place if really absent, it can develop and improve them, and aid in using them to the best advantage. To gain skill, then, is the object of rhetorical studies, skill in the construction and in the delivery of discourse.

I certainly agree with Broadus that skill in preaching comes with not just practice, but heedful practice. The preacher needs concentrated and diligent practice to preach well.

Read the sermons of other preachers to learn to develop sermons and listen to the sermons of other preachers to learn to deliver sermons. Then practice if you want to improve and be God's best preacher for God's glory!

2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;


Sermon Notes:

REVIVAL

Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2

Introduction: The entire book of Jonah is devoted to the revival of one city, preached by one preacher who preached one sermon. The result was the greatest revival of all time (120,000 people, Jonah 4:11)

I. What does this Revival Story Reveal?

  • The tragic unconcern a saved person can have for lost souls.

    Illustration: In a great school explosion in Texas, 400 children and teachers were killed. One family lost all of their 5 kids. One investigator was talking to a construction worker's wife who confessed that her husband had said before the blast that there were faulty gas lines under the building. Did he report it? No. Then he is a criminal said the investigator. But the fact is, we know about hell and we don't report it!

  • The backslider gets into trouble. (v.4ff)
    Why did Jonah get into trouble? Drinking? Murder? No. It was for disobeying God.
  • The lost will be destroyed if they do not repent.
  • God is using every means to turn men from sin.
    A boat, waves, a big fish, but the best method is men...Jonah.

II. What did Jonah Preach?

He preached repentance. John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus preached repentance.

Matt. 12:38-41 Mat 12:38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: Mat 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

Jonah preached repentance...and Nineveh repented.

III. What is Repentance?

  • It's not conviction only.
  • It's not crying.
  • It is a change of attitude:
    1. Toward Sin.

    Illustration: A little girl found a stray puppy and took it home. Her mom said she could keep it if no ads in the paper listed it as lost. None were found so she kept it and loved it and held it. But one day it bit her on the arm. He mother washed it and dressed it. But after a few days the little girl got sick and the doctor put her in the hospital and tests were run but when they found out it was rabies it was too late for the girl. She died a horrible death. That which she loved, killed her. The sin which we love will kill us.

    2. Toward the Devil (He is our enemy.).
    3. Toward the Lord.

Conclusion: Nineveh was ignorant in spiritual matters but they new they were sinners and they turned to the Lord because someone finally preached repentance.


What's New at Preachology.com?

Let me remind you again preachers and teachers that you can now have your own Preachology sermon web page. If you submit 15 or more sermons on the "Your Sermons" page, I will then move your sermons to a page of your own where you can continue to add sermons and invite your family, friends, and followers to view your work. When they visit your page, they can make comments about each of your sermons.

Several preachers have now submitted 15 sermons and have their own sermon web page. They have submitted some great sermons. Check them out and then get your own page!

There are more outlines at the "Bible Study Outlines" page where I share my skeleton outlines and there are more outlines at the "Your Skeleton Outline Page" where you can share your great skeleton outlines with all of us.

I also just recently added some more material at preachology.com on the FREE SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS page. There is also new material at the YOUR SERMONS page. There are new sermons there from several different preachers.

Go to the... Free Sermons ...page to get the new sermons and come often because we will soon add more. Take a look. There are some new sermons there now.

Subscribe to my free newsletter and receive even more sermons, outlines, notes, and ideas on a regular basis emailed directly to you. If you subscribe, you will also be able to access "The Preaching Ezine" archives where you will find even more sermon material (not on the website), sent out in the past. I'll also give you a free copy of E. M. Bounds book "Power Through Prayer."

Click here to subscribe to...The Preaching Ezine.


YOUR SERMONS, OUTLINES, and ILLUSTRATIONS:
Preachers, let's be an encouragement to other preachers by sharing our sermons and outlines and commenting positively about other preacher's sermons.

I love to read other preacher's sermons as devotionals for my own personal spiritual growth and also to get ideas for developing sermons of my own.

Go to the... Your Sermons ...page to submit your sermons and outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Skeleton Outlines ...page to submit your skeleton outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new skeleton sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Illustrations ...page to submit your sermon illustrations and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new illustrations there right now!


Until next time... here, there, or in the air!

Well, that's about it for now.

Do you have any comments, ideas, or feedback? I'd love to hear from you personally. You can either reply to this ezine or go to the form on the "Contact Me" page on my website and tell me what you think.

Yours for Powerful Preaching,



Mark Hollingsworth

Preachology Home Page