Building Sermons to Meet People’s Needs, Book Review Example

I selected to examine Building Sermons to Meet People’s Needs because I have always been fascinated with the relevancy of the sermons I have listened to at church. They are always able to capture my attention, and while telling a story, they teach a moral lesson as well. I am always strongly interested in the opinions of the religious professionals in my community, and these sermons typically linger with me for days and allow me to consider how to best incorporate the lessons that I have been taught into my daily practice. Ultimately, an effective sermon is one that is orated well in addition to one that is topically relevant.

According to advice presented in the book in addition to my personal experience, I believe strongly that an effective sermon ties closely into the Bible reading for the week and to current events. Even when recent events do not tie into the particular reading, although they can in most situations, it is important to ensure that it ties into the lives of the listeners in order to ensure that they are able to integrate the biblical message into their ways of thinking. Thus, when writing a sermon, it is important to determine how to be engaging first and foremost and then to consider the struggles and essential events that occur to the listeners.

Writing sermons, just as with writing anything requires a process of thinking and drafting. In order to ensure that a topic ties in with the lives of the listeners, it is essential to consider how they may feel about various situations from their point of view. Since a preacher’s sole devotion is to God and spreading His love, the daily life of preachers are extremely different than the lives of parishioners. While they are told to love God more than anything and more than likely do so in their hearts, they are occasionally side tracked by their relationships with their friends and families. It is important for the preacher to consider these relationships and remind the parishioners that their love for God must come before all and in the sermons teach them how to improve their relationship with Him.

The first chapter of the book deals with thinking about one’s self, their relationship with God, and the Bible. An effective sermon is derived from knowledge of the Bible and how it should effectively guide a faithful and devoted individual to live a Godly life. Although many preachers have studied the Bible for years, it is advisable to never finish reading. Reading and re-reading cause’s familiarity that is expected of a preacher. While the parishioners are expected to be familiar with God’s work as well, it is the job of the preacher to interpret these words in new and meaningful ways that apply to their lives. Thus, effective preachers are able to draw connections between different books in the Bible and apply these relationships to everyday situations.

The second chapter of the book involves information advising preachers to become more familiar with their audience. This includes not just learning about them and talking to them but loving them, and through this love delivering God’s message. To be an effective preacher, there must be an extreme desire for these individuals to follow God’s path and to act as a teacher to help them find their way when they get lost. Sermons are a constant reminder that people can improve and become better and that they should strive for perfection. Loving requires recognizing flaws and helping them get past their times of trouble. Furthermore, it requires reminding them of not just the preacher’s love but of God’s love and that when they sin they can ask him for forgiveness and He will always return the love they have for Him.

Later chapters of the book discuss particular methods that can be used for building sermons. The ones of interest that are mentioned include the historical perspective, the analytical perspective, and the exegetical perspective. The historical perspective helps provide background material for the sermons, which can include reading excerpts of material from the Bible. It could also include retellings of biblical stories and then lead into a discussion of how this historical tale is relevant to modern life. Next, the analytical perspective can be used to provide an interpretation of text that had been written in the Bible. It is the responsibility of the preacher to draw inferences between what the words actually say and how it can be applied to achieving morality and oneness with God. Last, the exegetical perspective focuses on the understanding of biblical language and this language can be used to teach lessons to the listeners.

The next section of the book discusses manners in which the preacher could connect to his audience. Even though preachers live to spread God’s message, they are human and can draw from their own personal experiences to connect with their listeners. Furthermore, these personal experiences can be simple observations of life. They can draw connections from not only their own lives, but of those around them as well. A major way that the preacher can connect with the audience is by ensuring to engage in conversation with them. By getting to know the audience better, the preacher is able to gain a greater understanding of their thoughts and concerns, which can be integrated into sermons.

The most useful section of this entire book in my opinion was the “definition of terms” section at the very beginning. Providing the reader with relevant background material before explaining important concepts was a useful way to ensure that every word read would provide the reader with some level of understanding. Although I felt that I was aware of a vast majority of the background material provided due to my previous studies, it was helpful to understand the connections that each chapter would be drawing to history before beginning my reading. Furthermore, this section broke the writing of the sermon down into several sections, which I believe would allow the actual writing to become more manageable.

In conclusion, this book is effective because it provides preachers who want to improve their ability to provide parishioners with excellent sermons the ability to improve their techniques. This process involves both the ability to speak well in addition to the ability to write efficiently in a manner that allows the audience to relate to what is being said. Drawing from both the human experience and the understanding of the Bible are useful ways to ensure that the sermon provides the audience with the support they need in life. These methods can be used to teach lessons to the audience or they can be used to strengthen their relationship with God. Ultimately, an effective preacher needs to remain in close association with the parishioners in order to ensure that every word spoken is relevant, so that he may have a maximal impact on their lives.

Works Cited

Bryson, Harold T., and James C. Taylor. Building Sermons to Meet People’s Needs. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1980.