Developing Topical Evangelistic Sermons That Are Audience-Driven
The twenty-first
century did not begin well, nor did it bode well, for the human race. Terrorism,
wars, viruses, and tsunamis dominated news headlines worldwide. The entire world
of opinion leaders, my audience, was troubled by thoughts on the problem of
evil. However, God was opening up an annual global audience for me on primetime
secular television. What would I say to them? How could I link their experience
and questions to a presentation, and possibly a proclamation, of the Lord Jesus
Christ? Would I pursue a textual or topical message?
That last issue
was not a real question at all, for most of my audience did not hold to the
Bible in personal authority or to Jesus as a plausible Savior. Would I be text-driven
or audience — driven in my choice of topic? I chose the latter option, since
most of my audience would not share my Christian worldview. I would have to
incorporate pre-evangelistic subject matter and assume a pre-evangelistic style
of delivery.
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Audience-driven
choices of topics arise from the needs of your audience — contemporary people
who need Jesus' salvation. These are audience-driven needs, but the only preaching
solution, of course, is text-based — the Lord Jesus Christ!
|
Text-Driven
or Audience-Driven Topics
|
| Factors |
Text-Driven |
Audience-Driven |
| Need |
Shared
worldview between preacher and audience |
Worldview
distance and dissonance between preacher and audience |
| Sources |
The
text as source: Bible-driven topics that apply to nonbelievers by
way of embracing Jesus |
The
audience as source: some audience-driven topics addressed and anticipated
in the Bible but only resolved by embracing Jesus |
| Sermon
Development – multiple thrusts to a single theme |
Determined
and/or developed by biblical texts available on a particular topic |
Shaped
to meet their issues – developed in view of audience’s needs, values,
beliefs, experiences, and behavior |
|
Here's the distinguishing
feature of audience-driven topical preaching: your choice of the topic and
the development of the sermon (your structure) are not text-driven.