Preach and Deliver: Captivate Your Audience, Kill Bad Habits, and Master the Art of Sermon Delivery
Deliver Powerful Sermons
The general history of the world surely demonstrates quite plainly that the men who truly made history have been men who could speak, who could deliver a message, and who could get people to act as the result of the effect they produced upon them.
— Martyn Lloyd-Jones
I stood in terror in a musty youth room of an old church. Seventeen teenagers stared at me with blank expressions.
It was Wednesday night. I was a freshman in Bible college, invited to preach for a local youth pastor who was out of town. I wouldn’t doubt it if I was his last option after asking everyone else he could.
There I stood. All eyes on me. Sweat pouring from my forehead. My hands shook. My knees knocked. And my voice trembled as I read my sermon word-for-word from my notes.
My eyes never left the page. With white knuckles, my right hand gripped the microphone. My left hand held my manuscript as if it were my only hope of survival. My feet might as well have been cemented to the floor because they never moved.
I could not have preached worse. The message was OK, but the delivery was painful.
Preaching is both what you say, and how you say it. We often know the what but neglect the how. My first sermon sure did.
If you are like most pastors, you’ve spent years of your life learning the content for your sermon. You took classes on theology, Biblical interpretation, church history, and maybe even Greek or Hebrew. You know your Bible. We have the what.
But here’s the problem: Most preaching fails not for lack of content, but deficient delivery.
If you preach biblically-based sermons, you have the content. You know the what but haven’t mastered the how.
No matter how good your message, if your delivery is poor, your audience won’t receive the message. Even a great message with poor delivery will result in a bored, or distracted audience.
Communication is a two-way street. We must remove all roadblocks from your audience receiving the message. To do that, we need to go back to the basics of sermon delivery.
What are the essential components of good preaching? This book will answer this question and more by teaching you the most important elements of sermon delivery.
In my years of education on a bachelors and masters level from great Christian institutions, I learned the message of the Bible. But I didn’t learn how to deliver that message. It took me a decade of failure, learning from great preachers, and years of research to learn what I have written in this book for you.
My prayer is that this book helps you to think through the way you deliver a sermon—the nuances of body language, eye contact, gestures, and more—so that you can preach the gospel in a powerful way that grips the hearts and minds of your audience.
This book will help you learn about the basics of sermon delivery.
But reading alone will not make you better. That’s why at the end of every section, I have included an action step. Think of it as a challenge to apply what you learned in the chapter.
Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” taught his students: ”Get a friend to tell you your faults…. Correct yourself diligently and frequently, or you will fall into errors unawares, false tones will grow, and slovenly habits will form insensibly; therefore criticize yourself with unceasing care.“ This book will help you identify your faults and help you become a better preacher.
So I will ask you to commit to three things if you want to grow as a preacher. First, commit this next season of your life to a healthy relationship with Christ. Second, commit to taking action on what you learn by doing the action step at the end of each chapter. And third, commit to evaluating your sermons.
If you do, I guarantee that your sermon delivery will improve.
Are you in? If so, get the book and take your first step today.
Make this small investment in your preaching, and I guarantee you will see a big return.
FREE SAMPLE – Read the first 2 chapters
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I cannot wait to hear how this book has helped you become a better preacher.
– Brandon Hilgemann
Did james ever get his books. I need to know!
Hey Brandon,
I need 5 copies of Preach and Deliver. Can’t find them. Only kindle and audio book. Can you help me???
We are moving from Nuts and Bolts to this one and It’s very hard to find physical copies.
I’ve been trying to purchase this item but they are all sold out everywhere. Only Kindle copies and I don’t have a Kindle.
Hey James, I’m sorry to hear that you are having trouble finding it. I just checked on Amazon and it says that it is in stock right now. Are you outside of the United States? If so, that might be part of the problem. I’d love to find a way to make it work. Another route, the Kindle app is available for free on iPhones and Android devices if you have one of those.
I’m in Austin Texas and need at least four books as study guides for our Associate Ministers. We are also in the process of purchasing your other book Preaching Nuts & Bolts.
While I was locating the latter one at my pastor’s suggestion, I came across this one and read the first two chapters. I think we would benefit from both books as we have a minister that is out of control with no pulpit decorum about him.
That’s great to hear! Sorry you are having trouble. I just checked again, and the books are showing up as “in stock” whenever I check the Amazon store, and I was able to add four into my cart and proceed to checkout. Try this link: https://amzn.to/2O6EXho
If that doesn’t work, shoot me an email at brandon@propreacher.com and I might be able to work something out for you.
I’ve been trying to purchase this item but they are all sold out everywhere. Only Kindle copies and I don’t have a Kindle.