AY Honors/Christian Art of Preaching

Christian Art of Preaching
Spiritual Growth, Outreach and Heritage
Skill Level 123
Approval authority General Conference	Year of Introduction 2012
See also Spiritual Growth and Ministries Master Award Christian Art of Preaching - Advanced

• Overview
• Requirements
• Answer Key
• Lesson Plans

AY Honors/Christian Art of Preaching/Overview

The most challenging requirement of this honor is probably this:

9. Participate (or have participated) in the preaching at your church (or a district church) at least four times in the period of a year.

1. Discuss the reasons / benefits of earning a Christian Art of Preaching honor.

2. Define homiletic and cite your resources.

3. Define exegesis and cite your resources.

4. Investigate the meaning and history of oratory.

a. Define oratory

b. Research a few of the great speakers of Adventist history, making a brief report of:

A speaker from our early beginnings

A speaker from our modern history

A distinguished speaker in your country

c. Cite your sources.

5. Briefly describe the following, in terms of a Christian sermon:

Characteristics:

a. Thematic sermon

b. Expository sermon

c. Textual sermon

Parts:

d. Introduction

e. Body

f. Illustration

g. Call

h. Conclusion

6. Show the appropriate use of these tools:

a. Biblical dictionary

b. Biblical concordance

c. Thematic Study Bibles

d. Online sources (Bibles, dictionaries, concordances, study aids, illustrations)

7. Prepare and present a detailed outline of a sermon in writing.

8. Do one of the following activities:

a. Participate in a course on Christian preaching (obtain a certificate)

b. Preach for a church worship (turn in the sermon outline)

c. Present a brief summary on an event that the Club or the church participated in

d. Have the outline of at least ten Christian sermons

9. Participate (or have participated) in the preaching at your church (or a district church) at least four times in the period of a year.

10. Obtain, for your personal collection, a book of sermon illustrations.

Edit Answer Key

1

Discuss the reasons / benefits of earning a Christian Art of Preaching honor.

The primary reason for earning the Christian Art of Preaching honor can be found in Matthew 28:19-20:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
— Matthew 28:19,20 (NKJV)

One of the most effective ways to accomplish the Lord's command in this verse is by preaching, and by earning this honor, you will learn how to preach well. Remember that God will prepare the hearts of those who hear you - your job is to present His message. It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict those who hear of the truth of His message.

A benefit of earning this honor is that it will give you confidence when you step into a pulpit to deliver God's Word. You might even become comfortable with public speaking in general (or God may choose to make you comfortable only with preaching - that is up to Him!)

2

Define homiletic and cite your resources.

From Wikipedia

Homiletics means the art of preaching. Homiletics comprises the study of the composition and delivery of religious discourses. It includes all forms of preaching: sermons, homilies and catechetical instruction. It may be further defined as the study of the analysis, classification, preparation, composition and delivery of sermons.

The formation of lectureships like the Lyman Beecher course at Yale University resulted in increased emphasis on homiletics. The published volumes of this series are a useful source of information regarding the history and practice of the discipline.

From Merriam Webster

homeletics: the art of preaching

3

Define exegesis and cite your resources.

4

Investigate the meaning and history of oratory.

4a

Define oratory

From Wikipedia

Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delivered over great distance by means of technology.

From Merriam Webster

oratory: the art of speaking in public eloquently or effectively

4b

Research a few of the great speakers of Adventist history, making a brief report of:

A speaker from our early beginnings

A speaker from our modern history

A distinguished speaker in your country

You must do the research to earn this honor, but this answer key can provide a few search terms to get you started:

• William Miller
• Ellen G White
• Joseph Bates
• J.N. Andrews
• George Vandeman
• Mark Finley
• Kenneth Cox

Note that all of these individuals are from the United States, as that was the cradle of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. If you do not know of a distinguished speaker from your country, ask your Pathfinder instructor, pastor, or a church elder. Once you have the name, you can then do the research (which should include listening to a sermon delivered by this person).

4c

Cite your sources.

As you do the research while fulfilling requirement 4b above, take notes about where you found information. Turn that into a list showing where you found the information, and what the topic was.

5

Briefly describe the following, in terms of a Christian sermon:

5a

Thematic sermon

5b

Expository sermon

5c

Textual sermon

5d

Introduction

5e

Body

5f

Illustration

5g

Call

5h

Conclusion

6

Show the appropriate use of these tools:

6a

Biblical dictionary

6b

Biblical concordance

6c

Thematic Study Bibles

6d

Online sources (Bibles, dictionaries, concordances, study aids, illustrations)

7

Prepare and present a detailed outline of a sermon in writing.

8

Do one of the following activities:

8a

Participate in a course on Christian preaching (obtain a certificate)

8b

Preach for a church worship (turn in the sermon outline)

8c

Present a brief summary on an event that the Club or the church participated in

8d

Have the outline of at least ten Christian sermons

9

Participate (or have participated) in the preaching at your church (or a district church) at least four times in the period of a year.

10

Obtain, for your personal collection, a book of sermon illustrations.

References

Content on this wiki is generated by people like you, and no one has created a lesson plan for this honor yet. You could do that and make the world a better place.

See AY Honors/Model Lesson Plan if you need ideas for creating one.