Cutting It Straight
The Key To Dynamic Expository Preaching and Powerful Biblical Presentations
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Chapter 12 Getting a Jump Start Here are some ideas from this five-part manual that you may use for immediate improvement in your sermon preparation and delivery. 1) Stay Plugged In One of the things that may happen to the busy preacher in preparing sermons is spiritual dullness. This spiritual dullness, or worldly attitude, is brought about because of the lack of prayer and devotion in his or her personal life. The preacher must set aside time for prayer and devotion on a daily basis. A good devotional commentary will provide the preacher with variety for his or her daily devotions. If the preacher spends time with God on a consistent basis, he or she will find himself or herself becoming more spiritually minded. Being spiritually minded helps us to be in step with the Holy Spirit and more sensitive to the Word of God. The apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3:16 (KJV) that we must “Let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly in all wisdom”; when the Word of God indwells us, we are able to live the Word. Therefore, we walk the talk not just talk the walk. 2) The Whole Nine Yards Using a conservative exegetical commentary to select the scriptural unit or the preaching text may reduce the time used for selecting a complete scriptural unit. However, this method will be only as good as the exegetical commentary you select. Beware of theological bias by the author and do not use exegetical commentaries for exposition of the scriptural unit at this point in your research of the text. 3) What’s This? When interpreting the message, quickly identify the genre of the Old Testament Bible book that you have selected. Examine the Bible book to see if its genre is Hebrew narrative, prophetic, law, wisdom, or psalms. This quick overview may give immediate insight into the genre of the scriptural unit and aid in your interpretation of the scriptural unit. 4) Sounding Your Trumpet Here are some helpful hints to improve your delivery: a) Be yourself; it’s not worth being anyone else! Don’t be pretentious in mannerisms or voice. Be yourself. Your holiness should be lived not just acted and talked. b) Interact with the audience by maintaining eye contact. This will give the audience the sense that you are speaking to them individually. You want to be up close and personal. c) Speak from the heart and not from the head d) Speak from a sincere heart. You must believe what you are saying if you want others to believe.
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About the Book
If three points and a poem no longer keeps listeners from snoozing during your preaching, teaching, or Biblical presentations, Cutting It Straight will help you fine-tune your lessons. Evangelist Dr. James A. Byrd explores how to develop dynamic expository sermons or powerful Biblical presentations that will be remembered by those who hear you in this resource guide for preachers, Bible teachers, church leaders, and Bible presenters. He explains that “cutting it straight” means rightly dividing the word of truth by preaching the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27 NKJV) that requires expository preaching from the Old Testament canon that is uniquely Christian. If preachers desire to accomplish that which God proposes, they must perform expository preaching from the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. They must “rightly [divide] the word of truth.” They must perform their duties while cutting it straight. Find God’s divine solution to the human problem in Scripture and preach, teach, or present it in a powerful, relevant way by applying the lessons in this guide.
About the Author
Dr. James A. Byrd is an evangelist who lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan and preaches for the Church of Christ. He has been a presenter on the South West Michigan Lectureship, the Michigan State Lectureship, and the National Lectureship for the Churches of Christ. He earned doctorate and master’s degrees from the Theological University of America. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and is a certified satellite Bible school administrator of the Sunset International Bible Institute.