HOMILETICS
LECTURE 32
STYLES OF DELIVERY II
LOUD
Down south this is the norm; it is almost expected if you are a ‘good preacher’.
This style of ‘loud’ is beyond just raising your voice some above normal conversation tone.
In the ‘pre-amplification’ days, everyone almost was a ‘loud preacher’…they had to be in order to be heard.
Loud preaching seems to ‘command attention’.
It can keep the listeners awake. Though, if consistantly loud in a monotonous way, it can lull them to sleep.
There are some that are termed ‘Yellers’; they yell the sermon to you; it all is one big long yelling fit.
CONTRASTING
Contrasting between loud and soft, highs and lows, building up to the climax and then calming down.
Seems to be a fairly popular style.
Many will try to ‘plan’ this out in a sermon; but, most, I believe, just kind of ‘ad lib’ it.
Political candidates give speeched like this; they try to have the big applause line every minute or so. Preachers will try and have the big ‘Amen’ line…and build up to it with a resounding Amen from everyone and then calm everything down again.
Using extremes can help people pay attention
Overall it can be very effective; but also can be somewhat forced and fake sounding; practice is needed for this one.
EXPLOSIVE
A sudden onset of fist-pounding, yelling, jumping, waving of arms, stomping, and pacing the platform; unexpected.
Done to put an exclamation point to a powerful statement that was just made.
It can be very effective to make the point, motivate for a decision, and to wake people up who are drifting.
Can keep people on their toes as they wait for the next explosion.
This is somewhat similar to the ‘contrasting’ style except that it doesn’t build over 30 seconds to 3 minutes.
This can sound ‘staged’ and to be ‘gimmickry’; so care needs to be made to show that it is from the heart, if it is.
ENERGETIC
This preacher is everywhere but behind the pulpit; back and forth across the stage; always moving.
He is talking a mile a minute; there almost never is a pause; often is like a machine gun in approach.
This style probably helps him to think (pacing), calms the nerves, keeps him moving at a certain rhythm
This differs from a loud/yellar style in that it isn’t ‘yelling’ usually, though some do.
The trademark of this style is the ‘handkerchief’; it is taken out and is used in preparation for the inevitable sweat; it is often unfolded and folded ad nauseum in a 45 minute sermon; it even is played with and thrown around; it is the focal point. It appears to me to be more of a ‘prop’ or a ‘security blanket’ than an actual needed item because of all the dripping sweat.
This style can get mesmorizing if it doesn’t vary much; monotonous.
There needs to be ‘rest periods’ for both the preacher ‘and’ the listeners/gazers.
EXHORTIVE
It is based upon being an encourager; like a motivational speaker; like a coach saying ‘go team go’… ‘you can do it!’
This style has way less teaching (content, doctrine, verses, etc.) and a whole bunch of ‘preaching’ (make a decision!).
There is a spiritual gift for this (exhortation). The preachers that have this gift, ‘need’ to use it…a lot.
Some folks want a lot of teaching and not quite so much preaching; a balance here is important.
REBUKING
This style is used often for ‘street preaching’ venues.
John The Baptist used more of a ‘rebuking’ style of preaching.
It is viewed as negative, angry, intense, offensive, in-your-face, unsympathetic, etc..
Many of these styled preachers are generally frustrated with the world, the government, the schools, the weather, the city, their family, themselves.
This style is necessary ‘at times’, but the big danger is that folks will ‘knee-jerk’ feel that you don’t love them.
POLISHED
Not ‘Polish’ (country); it is very popular, professional sounding, proper, eloquent, impressive to the sophisticated.
This was the main style in the 1800’s and early 1900’s.
Today, it is the main style among ‘famous preachers’.
Apollos used this style, apparently. Look at Joel Osteen…
This style is known for zero errors, memorized speeches, staged gesturing, cautious delivery, programmed.
It is much like a presidential address: very formal; predictable; not daring or extreme; ‘politically correct’.
There is little, or no, room for varying anything in this sermon; it must follow exactly as carefully planned.
It can appear too ‘proper’, ‘fake’, ‘staged’, generic, ‘easy listening’…
There is usually never any rebuking, off the cuff humor, yelling, pacing, ‘toe stepping on’….
They will often use a patented ‘religious voice’ and stand perfectly balanced behind the impressive oak pulpit.
This is a sleepy, generic style of preaching that is very common, and needs to get polished up a bit…
DEEP
The sermon content is complex, difficult to grasp, somewhat unfamiliar, technical, multi-faceted.
The many varied parts of the sermon are carefully woven together to bring about a deep truth.
It is very meaty, with little or no milk. So, not appropriate for the young, lost, simple-minded, tired, or immature.
It may be that the preacher uses this style to try and impress others of their intelligence.
It may be that the preacher uses this style because he is bored with standard sermons, and wants to challenge himself.
If you don’t pay close attention to this style sermon, you’re a gonner; it won’t come together and make sense.
CLEVER
Ther sermon follows an interesting path; intrigues the listener; it can even be entertaining.
Usually uses provacative illustrations, quotes, poems, and stats.
Often has an unexpected introduction and/or conclusion
It can be too clever for its own good, after all it is a sermon, not a tv show.
Allow cleverness to be in the sermon, just don’t allow it to be ‘the sermon’.
SOFT
This is usually the ‘older folks’’ favorite style.
Gary Prisk, Jonathan Edwards were known for this style. (Sinners in the hand of an angry God)
You can still put a punch into the sermon and deliver it softly.
It is more conversational, inviting, pleasant sounding. Like they are your friend in your living room.
This how most people speak to one another; people are use to this.
Some tend to wander off into daydreaming or sleep with this style for 45 minutes.
It is hard to demand a decision with a soft spoken voice, but it can be done…but only by those with the gift for it.
POSITIVE
Every point of the sermon is in a positive slant; there is no negativity left standing by itself.
Robert Schuller, Joel Osteen are well known ‘positive preachers’.
Main goal is to encourage, make happy, give warm fuzzies.
Focuses on blessings, joy, love, Heaven, victory, etc..
People generally prefer this style vs. a more ‘rebuking’ style. For who wants to have their toes stepped on?....
People’s biggest problem is sin, not not being positive enough. Sin needs to be preached on, Hell needs to be warned of, and the Devil needs to be resisted… there is a huge positive to this…Jesus Christ gives you the victory over all of this!
COMPASSIONATE
This preacher’s style might be much like Jeremiah’s…the weeping prophet.
Jesus Christ was very compassionate when He preached: Oh Jerusalem,
Jerusalem…
Every sermon should be soaked in compassion. Compassion shows that this means something to you; it’s not a lecture.
Compassion in the voice, in the words, and even on the face.
One of the biggest negatives said about preachers is that they aren’t very compassionate.
Compassion could be seen as a sign of weakness; there needs to be strength and power behind the emotionality.
Compassion used as one makes their ‘plea’ in the sermon, is very effective.
Some use tears as a gimmick; they may write in their sermon to ‘cry’ at a certain point.
SIMPLE
The children, lost, immature Christian can all benefit greatly from this.
Goal often is to get one basic point across.
Maybe the preacher is a simple-minded man from the country.
Some would complain: “Where’s the beef?!”
These sermons are often easy to put together.
How will the church members mature greatly with these sermons all the time?
FRIENDLY
It is usually very positive, down-home style, conversational; easily acceptable to most.
The church members are your friends, so this is viewed as a rather appropriate style.
You can say some ‘hard’ and ‘challenging’ things, but you say them as a friend, not as a rebuking fist-pounder.Sometimes friendly chats aren’t enough to get someone to get saved or repent of their wickedness.
HUMOROUS
The classic insertion of this style into a sermon is the ‘opening one-liners’ to ‘break the ice’; then its down to business.
Dr. Johnny Pope uses this style often: he said “humor is the anesthetic that I use to cut into the heart”.
People tend to give you a lot more liberty when you use some humor; it opens them up, settles them
down.
When folks are sleepy in the midst of a ‘deep’, long message, some humor can activate the senses again.
There is nothing funny about Heaven and Hell, sin and death, etc.. So great care must be employed in using this style.
There aren’t too many ‘jokes’ that don’t have something inappropriate about them; again, great care needs to be used.
The danger is that the people remember the jokes and not the sermon points.
A preacher can end up being a stand-up comic and do his little routine, instead a preacher of the sobering Word of God!
It can make light of things that need to be hard and difficult.
Some preachers would say that there should never be any humor used behind the pulpit…it is a sacred place.
The point of the sermon is what? Too have the hearers learn and respond. Do this with any and all styles that you can think of; just make sure to do it ‘appropriately’ (whatever that is….).
It would be best, in my opinion, to use a wide variety of styles as one preaches or teaches. Every preacher has a certain favorite style that seems to be a part of their personality; but it is important that they don’t just figure that that is the only style that they have to use. But, be careful as you try to employ different styles; you don’t want to do it for the wrong reasons, and you don’t want to appear as a ‘performer’…you are a preacher. So, why not try and ‘morph’ all of these styles into one, with different amounts of each used in any given sermon, as the Lord leads you?... Use a clever introduction, be somewhat energetic in places, use much exhortation, but not too much, be friendly and compassionate, be loud at times and soft at other times, use humor in many places, have times where there is an explosion, be simple in some places, and very very deep in others, sometimes you will have some rebuking and other times mostly positive remarks, have some polishness to it, but don’t look like you are putting on a religious performance.
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