The Use of PowerPoint Application to Expository Preaching Seminars / local small group work-shops
in PowerPoint can help enormously at the Exegesis stage of Expository Sermon
Expository Preaching Seminars
From Blackboard to PowerPoint
In a single lifetime we have seen communication in classroom, lecture hall and
business seminar evolve from the humble Blackboard through White-Board,
Flip Charts and Over-Head Projection to PowerPoint.
The Use & Abuse of PowerPoint
PP as a communication medium has its fans in all three fields of information
communication. But it also has its detractors (see a recent Times feature:
PowerPointless, 18/04/07). It can indeed be “a waste of time” in the hands of
inept communicators, and merely a “prop” for lazy speakers.
It is, however, like any tool, neutral in its potential for boredom – or for lasting
impact.
Intelligent and creative presentations using pictures and images, when well
constructed, can make a huge impression, even without audio or video clips
incorporated, as was shown when PP presentations of relief work were
disseminated after the recent Pakistan earthquake.
Its Use as a Teaching Tool
PP is not only “powerful” as a means of portraying a situation. It also has
potentially a unique role to play as a medium of teaching. More “professional”
in feel than the old trusty Over-Head Projector, it can enhance both the teacher’s
clarity of expression and the learner’s sense of achievement when used inter-
actively. (Edit mode has to be entered for the latter use.)
The Universality of PowerPoint
PP has three advantages over its previous competitors. Its content is:
• recordable, (only Flip Charts and over-heads can provide some kind of
record; the former is very bulky to carry around)
• reproducible
• transferable, whether by CD Rom, Memory Stick or even E-mail.
It shares with the printed hand-out the further advantage of providing some:
• control over what is taught. (Verbal tradition via a series of “trained”
trainers can dilute and change the content and method of teaching
along the way!)
preparation by:
• Providing an easy format for manipulation of the text in exegetical
analysis, enabling the learner to discern the Structure shape clearly
• Setting forth clearly the essential steps / stages of the exegetical process
• Providing a sense of producing something worthwhile and satisfying to
the learner at the end of the exercise. Students respond positively to hands-
on involvement in producing a technical product at the end of the day.
• Giving considerable impact to the total learning experience
It is especially helpful for small groups of three or four persons who can follow the
PP course instructions recorded on a CD Rom using a desk-top computer in the
privacy of a home.
Disadvantages of PowerPoint
Like all modern technology there are inbuilt disadvantages, including:
• Hardware is expensive (though software is cheap to copy)
• Dependency upon uninterrupted power supply
NOTE: PowerPoint is not recommended for preaching itself, since it very much
restricts rhetorical skills and the “passion” element in actual pulpit exposition.
A Vision for a Grass-roots Expository Preaching Movement in Pakistan
The Iranian Revolution spread through the deployment of revolutionary messages
disseminated via audio cassettes.
Today’s equivalent technology is CD Roms. Hence government embargos on
sending CD Roms through the post!
We can spread a fresh approach to preaching among young pastors who are keen
to use computer technology and ready to learn from creditable courses taught via
CD Roms. (Our seminary students are always asking for TE material on CDs.)
For examples of student-originated expositions and their exegetical preparation
using the Langham Seminar approach to exegesis, see:
• Family Priorities: putting God’s agenda first (Luke 2:39-40)
• Dealing with Temptation: resisting sexual seduction (Genesis 36:6-8)
Sound exegesis is the key to good biblical exposition.
Working with PowerPoint can promote and facilitate sound exegesis