2005-07-14

Crafting a Message - Rick Warren

What is crafting a message?

CRAFT Step 1: Collect and Categorize
Success is the management of good ideas. Everybody has good ideas-the issue is what you do with them. Preachers must be in the habit of gathering materials and ideas for their messages. Learn four ways to collect material, including how to find relevant Bible Study verses, and how to create a simple system for collecting, filing, preserving, and retrieving information.

CRAFT Step 2: Research and Reflect
Researching is studying with your mind, the technical part of the sermon. Reflection is listening with your heart, the devotional part of the sermon. Discover resources to help you with your exegesis and learn six ways to meditate and what to do while you are meditating.

CRAFT Step 3: Apply and Arrange
The biggest question on person's mind when listening to a sermon is, 'how does this apply to me?' Application answers two questions: So What? And Now What? If your preaching does not answer these two questions, you are not leading your members toward application. Scripture should determine the substance of your message but the way people hear and learn should determine the style of your message. Learn the three ways to apply scripture, how to challenge the congregation and the individual, how to turn your messages from information to application, and nine ideas how to arrange a message outline for maximum impact.

CRAFT Step 4: Fashion and Flavor
How do you choose just the right words? The key is to become a wordsmith, one who is constantly looking at how specific words turn truth into applicable life-changing concepts. Learn about three 'flavor enhances' as well as how to season your messages with illustrations, quotes, humor, Video clips, testimonies, drama, and interviews.

CRAFT Step 5: Trim and Tie Together
There's an art to trimming content to make your messages most effective. Preaching is like flying a plane. The flight may be smooth but unless you know how to take off and land, you're in trouble. Learn how to cut content and tie together the introduction, conclusion, and transitions to the purpose of your message. You'll also learn new ways to make a call for commitment and how to give an invitation."

posted by Peter Wierenga @ 11:02