Preaching to Be Heard: Delivering Sermons That Command Attention

＂If a sermon is preached in a church and no one is listening, does it make a difference?＂

There are many expository preachers who forego dynamic delivery and many dynamic preachers who lose sight of faithfully communicating the biblical text. Too often preachers feel they have to choose one or the other. But dynamic delivery and faithful exposition are not mutually exclusive.

In Preaching to Be Heard, Lucas O’Neill shows pastors that presenting engaging sermons that are biblically focused is not an impossibility. In fact, the key to commanding attention lies in the text itself. Rather than relying on tricks or gimmicks, his approach to sermon writing focuses on maintaining tension throughout while sticking close to the biblical text. Using practical examples and a step-by-step method, O’Neill shows pastors how relying on the inherent anticipation within Scripture can lead to sermons that are powerful-and heard.

Lucas O’Neill (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is clinical associate professor of homiletics at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL). He has pastored Christian Fellowship Church (Itasca, IL) for over ten years, and is the executive director of the Chicagoland Gospel Network. He has also taught preaching courses at Moody Bible Institute, in Novi Sad, Serbia, and in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He is married to Tina, and they have four children.