The Shape of Preaching: Theory and Practice in Sermon Design
Overview
Many pastors are just too busy to follow the latest theories on preaching and sermon form. In The Shape of Preaching, Dennis M. Cahill seeks both to educate the working pastor on the current issues of sermon design and enable them to use this design in a way that can change their preaching.
After first laying the theoretical groundwork with discussions of the theological, cultural, and literary roots of the new approaches to sermon design, Cahill expertly guides the preacher through a practical process for designing sermons that speak to people in the world today.
The Logos edition of this work on preaching is fully searchable and easily accessible. Scripture passages link directly to your English translations and to the original language texts, and important theological concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the wealth of resources in your digital library.
- Part 1: The Theory of Sermon Design
- Introduction to Sermon Form
- The Shapes That Sermons Take
- The Theology of Design
- Literary Concerns and Sermon Form
- Culture and Sermon Form
- An Evangelical Approach
- Part 2: Designing the Sermon
- Identifying the Sermon Focus
- Designing the Basic Form
- Considering Standard Forms
- Preaching the Narrative Genre
- Expanding the Sermon Form
- Part 1: The Theory of Sermon Design
- Introduction to Sermon Form
- The Shapes That Sermons Take
- The Theology of Design
- Literary Concerns and Sermon Form
- Culture and Sermon Form
- An Evangelical Approach
- Part 2: Designing the Sermon
- Identifying the Sermon Focus
- Designing the Basic Form
- Considering Standard Forms
- Preaching the Narrative Genre
- Expanding the Sermon Form
Top Highlights
“Sermon form has to do with sequence: the order of ideas in the sermon. Which thought comes first? Which comes second? Which comes last?” (Page 19)
“The inductive sermon does not announce its thesis at the beginning of the sermon. Rather the main thought is delayed as long as possible. In the inductive sermon, instead of the preacher telling the listener conclusions, the listener is invited along on the sermonic journey.” (Page 21)
“The sermon focus consists of the exegetical idea of the sermon, the homiletical idea, and the sermon’s purpose. The exegetical idea is the central thought or proposition of the text. The exegetical idea is ‘what the biblical author was saying to his readers.” (Page 92)
“Sermon form also deals with movement. Does the sermon move from the particular to the general or the reverse” (Page 19)
“Some sermons reason inductively from the questions and struggles of life toward the biblical answers, while others begin with a biblical principle and move deductively toward specific life applications.” (Page 19)
Dennis Cahill has mined the gold from the homiletical field and gathered it with clarity and discernment. He has the scholar’s openness to the big questions and the working preacher’s hunger for answers that are useful in creating engaging and faithful sermons today.
—Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
Preaching seems more complicated than it was in days gone by. Dennis Cahill gives the reader a great introduction to the forms and functions of preaching as it is becoming and not as it used to be. Follow his advice and you will preach sermons that are not only clear but compelling.
—Kenton C. Anderson, professor of homiletics, Northwest Baptist Seminary
Dennis Cahill understands the literature of preaching and the whole art of sermon construction better than anyone I know. He has written this important book to try and pry dull sermon forms from their one-size-fits-all homilies. He wants us to see that every text is unique and deserves its own way of arguing for its particular truth. So, may all who are suffering from sermonic sameness, let this book pry them from the dull rails of their customary sermon structures. May all of us allow Cahill, like a homiletical Einstein, to put into our preaching his simple formula by which light and matter are born anew in sermons that are fascinatingly diverse.
—Calvin Miller, former research professor and distinguished writer in residence, Beeson Divinity School
- Title: The Shape of Preaching: Theory and Practice in Sermon Design
- Author: Dennis M. Cahill
- Publisher: Baker
- Print Publication Date: 2007
- Logos Release Date: 2013
- Pages: 176
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Preaching
- ISBNs: 9781441255952, 9780801066115, 9781585585847, 1441255958, 0801066115, 158558584X
- Resource ID: LLS:SHAPEPREACHING
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:58:18Z