This past Sunday, my pastor decided to create a sermon based off of the idea of how God is a sanctuary for Christians. He taught from Isaiah 8:9-9:7. In chapter 8, the author describes how Israel suffered from Assyria’s attack and rejected God because they were angry. My pastor pointed out that this was Israel’s worst nightmare coming to life. He related this situation to our own lives by challenging and questioning us. He asked us if we believed that God will always remain faithful to us, restore, and rebuild us even when our worst nightmare becomes our reality. He challenged us to praise God through the trials in our lives instead of being paralyzed by fear, like Israel. They forgot that God is their sanctuary and security at all times. In chapter 9, the birth of Jesus is prophesied. Our pastor emphasized that the birth of Jesus is our hope and his birth, crucifixion, death, and resurrection is the answer to everything that has ever threatened us.
My pastor splits up his sermons into sections. This sermon was divided into two parts. One section was about chapter 8 and the other was about chapter 9. He established ethos by including himself as part of the congregation. For example, in his opening prayer, he prayed that God would allow us to set aside distractions, including himself because he claimed to be very distracted that morning. This helps the audience be more willing to listen to him because he does not think of himself as a better person than anyone else in the room. He opened his sermon very well because he immediately grabbed the attention of the audience. He asked questions like, “Who do you trust most in your life?” and, “Have they ever failed you?” He continued to ask questions throughout the sermon in order for the audience to stay engaged. While my pastor is giving his sermons, I notice he has good transitions into his next points and he uses outside sources to support his arguments such as commentaries, scripture, and history.
He delivers his sermons using many hand gestures. He holds his hands out with his palms facing upwards and downwards, raises and waves his hands, hides one hand in his pocket, points, and slightly bounces on his feet. He makes slight pauses and repeats certain points for emphasis and reflection. He speaks with emotion and passion and uses appropriate facial expressions and tone of voice. My pastor memorizes most of what he is saying because he makes eye contact with the audience 95% of the sermon. He dresses appropriately. Our church is more casual than others and; therefore, he wears a button-up shirt with black pants and semi-dressy shoes. I personally was convinced of the truth he was preaching. Because of the outside resources he used to support his arguments and because of the passion in his voice, it was obvious that what he was teaching was of God and the Holy Spirit within him.
My pastor splits up his sermons into sections. This sermon was divided into two parts. One section was about chapter 8 and the other was about chapter 9. He established ethos by including himself as part of the congregation. For example, in his opening prayer, he prayed that God would allow us to set aside distractions, including himself because he claimed to be very distracted that morning. This helps the audience be more willing to listen to him because he does not think of himself as a better person than anyone else in the room. He opened his sermon very well because he immediately grabbed the attention of the audience. He asked questions like, “Who do you trust most in your life?” and, “Have they ever failed you?” He continued to ask questions throughout the sermon in order for the audience to stay engaged. While my pastor is giving his sermons, I notice he has good transitions into his next points and he uses outside sources to support his arguments such as commentaries, scripture, and history.
He delivers his sermons using many hand gestures. He holds his hands out with his palms facing upwards and downwards, raises and waves his hands, hides one hand in his pocket, points, and slightly bounces on his feet. He makes slight pauses and repeats certain points for emphasis and reflection. He speaks with emotion and passion and uses appropriate facial expressions and tone of voice. My pastor memorizes most of what he is saying because he makes eye contact with the audience 95% of the sermon. He dresses appropriately. Our church is more casual than others and; therefore, he wears a button-up shirt with black pants and semi-dressy shoes. I personally was convinced of the truth he was preaching. Because of the outside resources he used to support his arguments and because of the passion in his voice, it was obvious that what he was teaching was of God and the Holy Spirit within him.
The questions your pastor ask at the beginning are truly though provoking. Moreover, your pastor speaks about his own personally experiences in his sermon (i.e. Being dissected that morning) which is very compelling. I especially liked how much attention your blog post gave to the rhetoric in your pastors sermon.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a really well planned and presented sermon on multiple levels. It was a really good topic that always can be addressed. The way he did it was also a fine use of rhetoric from establishing a connection to the audience to using hand gestures for emphasis.
ReplyDeleteThis sermon seems to have been very helpful and informative, since I go to a similar style church I understand the dress and sermon structure. This is a great post and summary of the sermon.
ReplyDeleteLexie, this was really well written. I've also noticed how he uses hand gestures and speaks with inflection and agree that this makes me want to really listen. I agree with his attention grabbing start as well and enjoy how you pointed out his ethos by including himself with the rest of the church, showing that he is on an equal scale with everyone. Great job!
ReplyDeleteIn my church, my priest doesn't really engage with the audience and I think I'm missing out on a more spiritual experience because of it. I think that it would really help establish ethos and pathos if there were more audience interactions.
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