 |  A special theme section on how to have an inviting and healthy biblical community.
Winter 1999
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Preaching that Connects
Craig Brian Larson
January 1, 1999
Recently I watched ESPN preview the Cowboys-Giants football game. Troy Aikman had broken his collar bone the week before, so ESPN interviewed players and coaches on his backup Jason Garrett and gave a history of big games by backup quarterbacks. Another segment let us eavesdrop on Giants coach Jim Fassel on the sidelines the week before. They showed comparative statistics and profiled legendary coach Tom Landry. Then the analysts offered their predictions.
Though I am a Bears fan, the pregame told me what to watch for and caused me to care about the outcome. I actually wanted to watch.
Many sermon elements, such as scripture readings, illustrations, and quotations, can benefit from such context. Your "pregame" can be one sentence, one paragraph, or five-minutes worth, and it can come at any point during the sermon. Its purpose: to prepare hearers to receive maximum benefit and cause them to care.
Note this effective pregame in a sermon by Robert Bakke, director of the National Prayer Advance of the Evangelical Free Church of America: "Turn with me to John 3, one of the most familiar chapters in the Bible. A man named Nicodemus comes to meet Jesus at night, and he receives some extraordinary words. If you are familiar with this passage, be careful because familiarity breeds contempt.
"Nicodemus was at the top of the pyramid of Israelite society. He has been sifted and tested and voted on and scrutinized. He has a resume as long as your arm. He is powerful, knowledgeable—an extraordinary man in a culture devoted to God.
"In his day if you asked an Israelite, 'Is Nicodemus going to heaven?' he'd likely respond, 'If Nicodemus isn't going to heaven, nobody's going to heaven.' He is a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin. He is ...
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