When analyzing the excerpts of Dr. Martin Luther King, one automatically
observes the human experience within his excerpts. King is known for using
human experience throughout his sermons. Throughout his entire excerpt we find
human experience as he expresses love for his enemies. Also, King shares his
human experiences, along with his fellow brethren, of social injustice within his
sermons. According to Benjamin K. Forrest, Kevin L. King, Bill Curtis, and Dwayne
Millioni, “King drew from a corpus of “Negro Spirituals,” songs, narratives, poetry
and testimony. Also, the themes of human dignity for all and the inherent decency
of humanity despite the evil some, were woven into King’s speeches and
sermons.”1 Moreover, King used the Persuasive Element model to appeal to his
audience and make beautiful the African American culture. Furthermore, King
exercised his voice in a unique way using the McDill’s Oratory Presentation
Model. As described by Forrest, King, Curtis and Millioni, “King argued, ‘A sermon
is not an essay to be read but a discourse to be heard. It should be a convincing
appeal to a listening congregation. Therefore, a sermon is directed toward the
listening ear rather than the reading eye’.”2 g One could assume that King almost
perfectly exhibited McDill’s Model throughout his sermons.When analyzing Adrian
Rogers, I observed McDill’s model of Preaching for Faith within his expert. Rogers
had a purpose for the outcome of his preaching. As stated by Forrest, King,Curtis,
and Millioni, “Rogers believed preaching to be more than the dissemination of
truth. It is not primarily information, but transformation. An effective sermon
moves toward effective action. If there is no call to action, there has been no
sermon preached, only a lesson rendered.”3 Also, Rogers models McDill’s Human
Experience as he believes preaching should meet the needs of his audience.
Therefore, he utilizes illustrations, explanations, and application to drive home the
truth of God’s Word. Moreover, Rogers utilizes the Persuasive Elements model to
keep his audience engaged and make sure they could easily follow along with the
outline of the text. According to Forrest, King, Curtis and Millioni, “King would
craft strong division statements and strong transitional statement so that his
readers could easily follow along.”4 g Furthermore, through his excerpt Rogers
Model’s McDill’s Natural Analogies as he uses real life illustrations to illustrate
the biblical text. As stated by Forrest, King, Curtis, and Millioni, “Rogers utilized
illustrations to help his listeners to “see” how the truth of the text connected with
their own lives.”5 g People are often moved and more willing to listen when you can
bring their issues into the biblical text. Overall, Rogers Christocentric preaching
was often imbedded into the hearts and minds of his audience.
1 Benjamin Forest, Kevin L. King, Bill Curtis, and Dwayne Milioni, “A Legacy of
Preaching, Volume Two:
Enlightenment to the Present Day: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s
Great Preachers, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2018), 472.
2 Ibid., 475.
3 Ibid., 4894 Forest, King, Curtis, and Milioni, “A Legacy of Preaching, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 491.
5 Ibid., 491
