table of contents
- Section 1: Preaching and Preachers
1. Why Keep Preaching?
2. You know You're Called to Preach If...
3. Theology Matters
4. Science or Art?
5. Pitfalls to Avoid
6. Healthy Preachers S.H.E.D.
7. Overcoming the Monday Morning Blues - Section 2: People and Place
8. Context is Everything...Almost
9. The Best Preachers are the Best Listeners
10. Diversity Awareness Training
11. Listener Listening Styles
12. Preaching to Community Needs
13. Preaching Dress and Sermon Length
14. Introducing Your Congregation - Section 3: Preparation and Presentation
15. Developing a Sermon Preparation Process
16. Exegesis 101
17. Preaching As a Spiritual Discipline
18. The Preacher's Two Best Friends
19. The Metaphor and the Mantra
20. Re-Imagining Imagination
21. Artistic Touches
22. Textual or Topical
23. Linear or Narrative
24. Beginning and Ending Well
25. Illuminating Illustrations
26. Appropriate Applications
27. Voice and Body
28. Practice What You Preach
29. Mind Mapping
30. No Cloning
31. Use of Humor
- Section 4: Planning and Progress
32. A Well-Balanced Diet
33. The Sermon Planning Retreat
34. The Sermon Planning Team
35. Ask the Flock
36. Soliciting Sermon Feedback
37. Developing a Personal Growth Plan
- Section 5: Postscript
38. Tips for Building Rapport
39. Preaching on Hard Topics
40. Dealing with Surprises
41. Weddings and Funerals
42. Fresh Insights and New Practices
book introduction
Reading this book reveals two things about you. First, it evidences your commitment to learn how to preach or how to preach better. Second, it demonstrates you are crazy or, to put it more mildly, daring enough to believe that the God of the universe might show up through the preacher's sacrament of words to transform people to transform the world. You are committed and courageous. A fruitful preaching life is impossible without this crucial combination of characteristics.
about the author
Lenny Luchetti is associate professor of proclamation and Christian ministries at Wesley Seminary of Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Luchetti is an ordained minister in The Wesleyan Church and has been involved in pastoral ministry more than fifteen years.
Here is what preachers, leaders, and professors are saying about Preaching Essentials:
The Church is in desperate need of a few good people who do one thing well, in one place, long enough to move that place toward heaven. For Lenny, that place is the pulpit. He's a gifted communicator with a pastor's heart but, as he shows in this book, this is not all talent. It involves a lot of hard work, most of it unseen and, sadly, untried by those who simply enjoy preaching. Here are the disciplines, the regiment, the character and devotion that goes into preparing, not just the kind sermon that people will hear, but the kind of person that people can trust. Lenny has given us a practical, useful guide for shaping the next generation of preachers.
Steve Deneff, Senior Pastor - College Wesleyan Church
Amidst the ever shifting opinions as to how to effectively communicate the Bible, it is refreshing to read about the never changing essentials that help steady our thinking and anchor our preaching. In this book, Lenny Luchetti helps us foster the skills and habits necessary for quality faithful preaching!
Benji Kelley, Lead Pastor - NewHope Church
Preaching Essentials: A Practical Guide, by Lenny Luchetti, is filled with the kind of practical insights a preacher needs to consider in assessing the faithfulness of his or her work in the ministry of the Word. Thankfully, this is not another "how to" book, but rather is the expression of the author's love for God, for the Word, and for the church; a love that has been tested and deepened through years of experience and reflection. Perhaps the most important benefit of this book is the manner in which Luchetti "thinks out loud" about the church's calling to hear, believe, and obey the Word, thus allowing us to overhear a preacher who understands the intimate connection between prayer and work.
Michael Pasquarello III, Granger E. and Anna A. Fisher Professor of Preaching - Asbury Theological Seminary
What a delightful book Lenny Luchetti has given us on the art and craft of preaching! Like kissing, preaching is personal in style and everyone assumes we are good at it. But we all know we can improve. Lenny writes in a lively and practical style and this book is packed with realistic down-to-earth ideas every preacher can use to be a better proclaimer of the word of God.
Keith Drury, Professor of Christian Ministries - Indiana Wesleyan University
Dr. Luchetti has promised by his title to deal with the essentials of preaching in a practical way, and he has fulfilled his promise. He has compiled a long list of the every-week issues of preaching -- more than most of us would be likely to bring together -- and has dealt with them in a series of short, pointed chapters, always with an emphasis on the practical side. Those who look for that kind of help will be grateful to him.
J. Ellsworth Kalas, Senior Professor of Homiletics - Asbury Theological Seminary
Lenny preaches and lives the transformational power of the Gospel. Now he shares how preachers can continue to grow in their preaching skills within the rhythm of ministry. I'll open Preaching Essentials each time I prepare a message, so that I can continue my development as a messenger even as I plan my messages. The frequency of preaching threatens its freshness; Lenny's breadth of insights provides practical inspiration that will restore it!
Wayne Schmidt, Vice President - Wesley Seminary
Lenny Luchetti is right to say that preaching is an organic art, more like painting a landscape than mixing a chemistry formula. In this book Luchetti has given the church a practical, accessible, and useful guide to the essentials of the preaching life, the life of a skilled and devoted artist. It is a worshipful art Lenny Luchetti still loves to learn, even as he teaches.
Dave Ward, Assistant Professor of Religion - Indiana Wesleyan University
