Thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This is the sixth issue of Man of God since we began this occasional newsletter about preaching in March of 2010.  Particularly we send out this newsletter from Oklahoma Christian University to encourage young men to preach and to help them prepare to do that.  While we have programs at OC to train preachers, we do not use this newsletter to promote OC.  We send these articles out to all we can find who might have an interest in preaching to encourage and teach

If you wish to see the articles in previous issues, go to www.oc.edu/manofgod and when the site comes up, click on articles.  Then you can click on the various issues and read the articles sent on that newsletter.  There are some very good articles there.

Here are three things you can do to help prepare yourself to preach:

1. Take some leading part in worship—lead a song or a prayer, read the scripture, help with the Lord’s Supper, or give a talk.
2. Take part in Leadership Training for Christ or Lads to Leaders.  Especially participate in the speaking events.
3. Observe carefully the sermons you hear.  Take notes, follow the organizational pattern of the …
   
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by Stafford North

The question of whether to preach or not to preach is in the minds of many young men in the church today.  They feel a tug in that direction but, at the same time, see other needs and see other opportunities.  They sometimes hear about the difficult situations in which preachers find themselves and wonder if they want to fill a role that is so high profile.

These are important questions.  We need young men and women to prepare to fill a wide variety of roles in the church—missionaries, working with youth, assisting with Bible school programs, and others.  And, in fact, for some people, these are the very best ways to serve God and use their talents.

There are, on the other hand, some important reasons why many should choose to fill the pulpit.  Here are some thoughts to consider as you ponder this question.

1. Do I want to give myself to full-time Christian service?  Many wonderful Christians serve God in great ways as they work at other jobs but make a great contribution to God’s kingdom.  They put in many hours each week by working with youth, teaching Bible classes, helping with prison work, …
   
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Take the following quiz and see how you can do. 

All the questions ask, “Who was the mother.”

1. Who was the mother of Moses?
a. Esther
b. Hannah
c. Jochebed
d. Jezebel

2. Who was the mother of John the Baptist?
a. Elizabeth
b. Mary
c. Priscilla
d. Sapphira

3. Who was the mother of Timothy?
a. Lois
b. Ruth
c. Mary Magdalene
d. Eunice

4. Who was the mother of Samuel?
a. Ruth
b. Hannah
c. Elkanah
d. Elilah

5. Who was the mother of Solomon?
a. Michal
b. Abigail
c. Bathsheba
d. Tamar

Answers:
1, c; 2, a; 3,d; 4,b; 5,c.

Our minds naturally like to think in organized ways.  When we think of football, we look at offense and defense.  If we are buying a car, we naturally ask certain questions about “looks,” “gas mileage,” “comfort,” and “cost.”  When we go to eat, we have an appetizer, drink, entrée, and dessert.  Doctors look at symptoms and reason to the cause.  And a newscaster might look at local, state, and national news.

Since people’s minds tend to look for the information in a sermon to be built around some organizing principle, preachers need to learn how to build sermons in a way that allows them easily to grasp the structure of the message.  One of the ways of doing this is to build around the “space” principle.  Such a sermon is structured around the places where things have happened—thus, a “space based” sermon.

“Space based” sermons deal with different places, with different geographical locations.  A sermon on the last hours of Jesus’ life, for example, might be organized around the places where he was:  the garden, the house of the high priest, Pilate’s hall, the hill of Calvary, and finally the tomb.  Or, a sermon on how Paul faced persecution might …

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by Stafford North

In the five previous articles in this series, we have said that young men can prepare to preach by learning to be a good example, by learning to work with people, by learning to lead, by learning to “preach the word,” and by learning to serve.  To see these earlier articles go to www.oc.edu/manofgod.  In this article, we want to add another important quality to this list.

A sixth way a young man can work toward being an effective pulpit minister is to learn to speak well in public.  While the message itself is more important, the manner in which it is delivered makes a very important difference in how it is received.  An obvious example of this would be a person who has a very biblical and practical message but who speaks in such a low volume that no one can understand what he is saying.  Another example would be a person whose message is important but who wanders along without a clear structure or who distracts people by his voice and gestures. 

So, one who wants to preach needs to develop good skills of oral communication.  Here are a few suggestions about …

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Oklahoma Christian University has developed a new program of scholarships for students who choose to major in preaching at the University.  These scholarships offer from half to full tuition which, over four years, could amount to more than $60,000.  The final auditions for current high school seniors will be on Friday and Saturday, March 2-3.  To indicate your interest and to get more information, email Dr. Alan Martin, Dean of the College of Biblical Studies at alan.martin@oc.edu.  The first auditions for next year’s seniors will be on Friday, September 21, 2012.