Lecture 11 – Conclusion Construction

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3) Some practical directives concerning the construction of the conclusion

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a) Positive directives

1- Construct a conclusion that truly concludes the sermon.

2- Labor under the restraint of the discipline of exclusion.

William G. T. Shedd, Homiletics & Pastoral Theology, (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), p. 183.

3- Choose a method of conclusion which assumes a state of heightened emotion and passion.

Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), pp. 176-177.

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b) Negative directives

1- Do not skimp on the labor connected with a well-prepared conclusion.

John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005), pp. 300-301.

Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), p. 175.

John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005), p. 299.

2- Do not be too long in your conclusion.

William G. T. Shedd, Homiletics & Pastoral Theology, (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), pp. 178-179.

Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), p. 178.

John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005), pp. 303-304.

3- Do not be bound by one method or pattern of conclusion.

Austin Phelps, The Theory of Preaching, (New York: CharlesScribner’s Sons, 1882), p. 520.

(a) Vary the placement of the elements of conclusion.

(b) Vary the focal point of the conclusion.

William G. T. Shedd, Homiletics & Pastoral Theology, (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), p. 180.

(c) Vary the emotional pattern of the conclusion.

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c) Final exhortation:

Grasp this fundamental principle: Perhaps in no division of the sermon is the true spiritual state of the preacher’s soul more patent than in the conclusion.

Gardiner Spring, The Power of the Pulpit, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986), pp. 126-127.

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