I noticed rhetoric being implemented in a sermon given by a young man from Freedom Village while our basketball team was at the Ross Corners tournament in Vestal, New York. Freedom Village is a small school in New York where young men are sent to be introduced to God after they get involved in dark actions. The boy's name was Christian, and he stood up during chapel and gave a message about how he came to find God after falling into some undesirable things earlier in his life. He spoke about how he became distanced from God and that Freedom Village had helped him get his life centered back to Christ. He mentioned how the comaradary with the boys helped him become less selfish and that basketball had especially helped him express himself in a positive way. He emphasized that everyone deserves a second chance and that he has learned to accept the challenges that will present themselves in his life, as they are all a part of God's plan for him. In this sermon, Christian used rhetoric by connecting with the audience and appealing to their feelings. He used a personal story to establish credibility and keep the members of the crowd engaged and interested. Pathos and ethos were prevalent in his testimony, but there was not much logos that I noticed. I think that when it comes to a sermon, ethos and pathos are most important in this setting. Logos could be used to further explain what the speaker is trying to communicate, but I don't believe it is always necessary depending on the topic of the testimony.
In Mr. Cline's class a few weeks ago. We took the day off in a way from our normal classes. Instead of continuing to read the books we were assigned and discussing them, he read us the sermon by C.S Lewis "The Weight of Glory." Its a long sermon, but one worth reading. It is about the confusion many people have on the topic of what we desire the most. He explains after much background information, that we all desire true happiness. And through that happiness, we long for heaven, our true home that we were designed for. He explains that glory is not what many people think of as being "famous" in heaven. But more that we are honored by our Lord and Father. For it to be like the scripture passage "Well done, good and faithful servant." C.S Lewis does a fantastic job at being persuasive here, and if read by the right person aloud, can have an excellent effect. He clears up lots of points that people bring up that are not true. Such as the point of glory...
This is a really cool story. I think it's a great thing that sports in general can help release a lot of the stress people feel in their lives. It's great that Christian'school life was turned around because of Freedom Village.
ReplyDelete