Shaping the Claim
Marvin A. McMickle, Fortress Press, 2008. Paper, 86 pages.
Marvin McMickle is an effective preacher and frequent writer for Preaching magazine. In his newest book, he talks about developing the “sermonic claim” (what others might call the central idea, proposition, or Big Idea) and how to move from the biblical text to that key concept.
The sermonic claim, he explains, is a “clear, compelling, biblically-centered and contextually relevant claim that sets some aspect of God’s will and God’s Word before some specific segment of God’s people. This is done with the hope that those people will be challenged, informed, corrected or encouraged as a result of the Word set before them that day.
After a discussion of various models for planning the preaching calendar, he discusses how to identify the claim for a specific sermon, then explains the exegetical process for studying the passage and clarifying the one-sentence claim for the message. He talks about taking and holding the attention of the listeners, then moving them toward a response.
McMickle offers helpful insights for preachers drawn from years of experience as a pastor and teacher of preachers. Readers will benefit from this brief analysis of the preaching craft.
