note -- For the homiletics class we had to analyze five sermons, three live, two written.  This gave us a chance to learn to listen, learn to analyze, and learn what works and doesn't.  It also gave us practice for our analysis of fellow students.  For practice we had two sermons in this class, two in a practicum, and two more in a second practicum.  Each of these we had to preach to about eight others, and listen to their sermons, then analyze and discuss each other's work.  Very helpful process.  Unfortunately, while I never minded public speaking, after college I didn't have much chance to practice.  That's a key... doing it.   

 

Sermon Evaluation #1

Foothill Vineyard Christian Fellowship – preacher:  Pastor Ron Hall

1. What is the focus of this sermon?  The focus of this sermon was understanding the importance of community as modeled by the Trinity.

2. How did the sermon use the text to address the contemporary situation?  The text of Ephesians 4:1-6 was applied as mostly a contemporary text, with very little discussion of the original setting or context.  The text was used to symbolize the oneness which defines community, and current illustrations of the broader disunity of the church to intra-church factions were discussed. 

3. How did the sermon offer hope or the message of God’s promise to the listener?  The preacher discussed the fruits of a community relationship with each other, and especially with the reaching of God, who in his Triune community is seeking to include us in his relationships.  Community is truly found in a divinely empowered setting.

4. How was the sermon transformative?  How might we be changed from hearing this message?    The sermon prompted thought about how we are thinking about and actually engaging in the reality of true Christian community.  Indirectly, and then at the end more directly, the preacher prompted thoughts about the lack of, and the need for, this higher understanding of God and the church, helping us to see what may be blocks or hindrances of finding this in our lives.

5. Were the logic and structure of the sermon clear?  Did it flow smoothly and coherently?

It was smooth and coherent, with the logic and structure very clear for the most part, except a few seemingly unconnected stories and illustrations thrown in which seemed to be ploys to get attention but were not needed.

6.  What was most memorable about this sermon?  The most memorable part of the sermon was a point at the end when he called up four volunteers, three to symbolize the 3 persons of the Trinity, and one to symbolize a person being invited in to share the community.  Memorable, but not really that good.

7.  Any suggestions for improvement?  My only suggestion is to change some of the quality of stories – for the most part they were personal anecdotes, actually rather uninteresting, and tending towards bringing high, “meaty”, concepts to a banal plane.