Steps to the Sermon: An Eight-Step Plan For Preaching With Confidence

by H.C. Brown Jr., H. Gordon Clinard, Jesse J. Northcutt

In the years since the original publication of Steps To The Sermon in 1963, audiences have become more sophisticated, preachers have learned to adjust their styles to reach today's media saturated mindset, and sermon style have shifted from deductive to inductive.

Genres: Christian

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 1996

Reviews

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent guide for writing a sermon, with a lot of practical helps. It seems to focus more on topical sermons, rather than exegetical, and it tends to be a bit wordy, but otherwise it's helpful.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steps to the Sermon was an assigned book for my Preparation and Delivery of Sermons course at school. The book presented many useful ideas about the role and work of a preacher as well as the process by which he prepares and delivers his messages to the congregation. The primary strength of this this book was the ability of the authors to express their ideas concisely. No flowery language was used, nor was any superfluous rambling employed. It relayed the information succinctly and in outlined format. It could hardly be called a book of literature, but it made for a great textbook in an academic setting.

As easy as it was to read, it didn't reveal an astonishing amount of new information to me. It basically covers elementary principles of language composition and speech communication. Because I have had courses in both of these areas, much of the material was redundant. Even parts of the book that specifically addressed the spiritual applications of these skills were not all that enlightening. It is also written by four Baptist scholars, so some denominational prejudices are scattered throughout the book.

For a student considering a life of ministry, this book may very well prove to be a good resource. From what I understand it is commonly assigned by religious universities and institutions. The language and terminology it uses (while in my opinion largely unnecessary) does have the advantage of putting readers on common footing with others in the field, which enhances communication and the exchange of ideas about preaching. Ultimately, though, I believe the skills this book discusses are best learned from individual instruction from an experienced preacher. I benefited most from the lecture component of my course, less so from the reading.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I try to rate the books I read based on how well they accomplish the purpose for which they were written, not necessarily how much I enjoyed them. The purpose of the book is to give clear instruction on the best way to structure the preparation, writing and delivery of a sermon. While it is not necessarily a fun read, it accomplishes its purpose very well and would be profitable for anyone wanting to learn more of the mechanics of sermon preparation.