Short courses you can take from anywhere, with a certificate at the end.
From the text to the pulpit: preparing, delivering and evaluating sermons
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This course is for pastors, evangelists, local preachers and lay leaders who already know the basics of sermon preparation and want to become more able and confident preachers. It moves from exegesis to message, and then into the pulpit: how to structure a sermon, which methods and types of preaching to use, and how voice, gesture and attitude carry the message.
You will learn to preach on special occasions such as funerals, weddings, baptisms and the great festivals with pastoral sensitivity in an African and Zimbabwean setting, to speak in language ordinary hearers understand, and to evaluate sermons honestly and charitably using a practical evaluation scheme. The course closes with the preacher's own spiritual life.
What you will learn
- Move from careful exegesis of a biblical text to a clear sermon theme
- Build sermons with strong introductions, clear outlines and short, fortifying conclusions
- Choose a suitable method and type of preaching for the text, the occasion and the hearers
- Use voice, gesture, posture and eye contact to support the message
- Preach with pastoral sensitivity at funerals, weddings, festivals and other special occasions
- Evaluate sermons, your own and others', using a structured evaluation scheme
Course outline
Unit 1: From Text to Sermon: Exegesis to Message (2)
- From Text to Sermon: Exegesis to Message 10 min
- Unit 1 quiz 10 min
Unit 2: Sermon Structure: Introductions, Outlines and Conclusions (2)
- Sermon Structure: Introductions, Outlines and Conclusions 10 min
- Unit 2 quiz 10 min
Unit 3: Sermon Methods and Different Outlines (2)
- Sermon Methods and Different Outlines 10 min
- Unit 3 quiz 10 min
Unit 4: Types of Preaching (2)
- Types of Preaching 10 min
- Unit 4 quiz 10 min
Unit 5: The Visible and Invisible Code: Delivery (2)
- The Visible and Invisible Code: Delivery 10 min
- Unit 5 quiz 10 min
Unit 6: Intelligibility: Language and Illustrations for Every-day Hearers (2)
- Intelligibility: Language and Illustrations for Every-day Hearers 10 min
- Unit 6 quiz 10 min
Unit 7: Preaching on Special Occasions (2)
- Preaching on Special Occasions 10 min
- Unit 7 quiz 10 min
Unit 8: The Sermon Evaluation Scheme (2)
- The Sermon Evaluation Scheme 10 min
- Unit 8 quiz 10 min
Unit 9: Peer Evaluation Practice and the Preacher's Spiritual Life (2)
- Peer Evaluation Practice and the Preacher's Spiritual Life 10 min
- Unit 9 quiz 10 min