What do YOU Want in a Preaching Book?

This week I want to hear from you.

I am writing a book on preaching, and before I go any further with it I want to make sure it is the best it can be. The way I know it’s the best it can be is if YOU would read it. I want to share my vision for the book with you. Then, I want to hear from you to find out what you would like to see in it.

What the book is not. Before I get into what the book will be I want to share what it isn’t.  This book is not:

•  a seminary textbook on preaching. I love my preaching text books from seminary but I have no desire to write one.
• a preaching theory book. This book will be drop dead practical. It will only present theories to the extent they can be put into use.
• a book of sermons or sample illustrations. It will be more “how to” than a resource of examples.

What the book is. I want to share the basic plan of my book with you and get your feedback. This plan may change, and I am flexible, but  I’ve broken it down into three sections.

Section One: Prepare Like a Champ. This section focuses on preparing the sermon. The sermon is its own animal and must have dedicated focus on it. Where do you begin? How do you establish sermon preparation practices that work?

You’ll discover  best practices on results-driven sermon prep. Such as understanding the importance of team preparation and how to do it. How to set a preparation schedule and stick to it. How to decide on an objective and desired response for every sermon and more.

Section Two: Get Yourself Ready for Action. In this section the focus is you. You can prepare a great sermon, but if you are not bringing your best every time you will suffer. As a communicator, you need to be on your game every time.

Learn how to assess your listeners and prepare you messages specifically for them. Begin to build balance into your life and avoid burn out.

Section Three: Deliver the Goods. This section focuses on sermon delivery. What are the essential elements of killer sermon delivery? How do you communicate in such a way that people pay attention and want to hear more? This section answers those questions.

Discover how to preach conversationally like you’re talking with each person in the room, how to get to the point and make it come across powerfully, how to make every word count, how to nail the ending of your sermon.

What do YOU want in a preaching book?

The three sections I laid out are a broad overview and somewhat vague for a reason. I want to hear your ideas  about what you would want in a preaching book. In the comments, please share what you would like to see. If it helps, consider the following questions:

• What frustrates you the most in your sermon prep?
• What kind of feedback do you get on your sermons?
• What would be some helpful things to learn about preaching?
• How long do you like your books to be?
• What is your favorite preaching book?
• What would be the best things to cover in a practical preaching book?
• What do you spend the most time trying to figure out when preparing a sermon?
• What do you feel like needs to improve in your preaching?

Any feedback you have is appreciated. I want to help and encourage pastors as much as I can. The more input I get from you the better!