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Sermon: The Call | Amber Livermore

Preacher: Amber Livermore
Sermon Title: The Call

Direct-link to sermon video


Pastor Amber LivermoreAmber Livermore is the lead pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Princeton, Indiana. This sermon, however, was given as a part of Brookhaven Wesleyan’s “On Mission” series, where she spoke about the call of God on our lives.

Below are some of her preaching patterns that caused us to highlight this sermon.

Great vocal inflection is fine-tuned passion.

One of the primary reasons that Pastor Amber has great vocal inflection is because she is passionate about what she is communicating. That does not mean she maintains a consistently loud volume. She varies her tone, conveying truth with tone in a way that fits what she is trying to say in that moment. Good vocal inflection often starts with passion, but must be fine-tuned as we gain experience as preachers. Her vocal inflection used during her introduction plays a major role in engaging her audience well. She hooks them early and this vocal inflection certainly helped grab our attention, which she maintained with continued inflection.

She helps us find our place.

During the sermon, Pastor Amber sets up a list of ways in which the congregation might fit into the puzzle she describes that sweeps each listener up into the sermon. All are asked to respond to the call of God at the end. In doing both of these things she helps us find our place in this message. Throughout this sermon, she compels people to find their place in the story of God and describes how we can do so. If our congregation is unsure where they fit into the story we tell, unsure of how they might respond or unsure if this sermon is relevant to their lives, they will likely forget it. The most unfortunate thing is not that they forget our words (which are just tools used to bring a message) but that they have missed an opportunity to hear from God and respond back to Him.

She preaches from conviction to conviction

Anointing is a word that we should not throw around lightly. It cannot be earned, and is not easily discerned. Young preachers in particular often label the passionate or the powerful personality “anointed” only to be disappointed deeply by the flaws and clay feet of the real preacher over time. Something much easier to sense, to experience, and to name is conviction. This is a sense of conviction that something is true and that the truth bears weight upon the preacher and the listener. The preacher stands under the conviction of the sermon, yet speaks with authority to all in such a way that there are only two choices: respond with conviction, or harden against conviction. Amber presses forward with conviction in a way that does not leave the preacher behind, and refuses to leave a listener behind either.

We can learn much from Amber’s preaching, but here are a few things we can practice this week to hone our preaching effectiveness.

  1. Do you pray for the conviction of God? Conviction is the precursor to anointing. And there is nothing we can do that will match the Holy Spirit’s power moving in our churches. This does not negate our roles or efforts. Rather, we give our best offering to God and trust the Holy Spirit for the results.
  1. Does your conviction reach your voice? When someone tells you a story, you’re far more likely to listen well if they show excitement and some range of emotion. That makes for a good story! Preaching is no different. This week, get online and listen to last week’s sermon, listening specifically for points of good vocal inflection. Where did you do this well, so that it served the purpose of what you were saying? Where did you not do this well, and did it hinder what you were trying to communicate? Then mark your manuscript or outline with points where you plan to add inflection for this week. Perhaps down the road this will come naturally, but for now, script it. There’s nothing disingenous about doing this; hopefully, the passion is already there. It just needs to find the right places to let itself out!
  1. In what ways will you help the congregation find their place in this sermon? In what ways do you encourage people to begin reflecting even while they are listening? Do you ask them to place themselves in the Scripture text? Do you encourage them to use their imagination or engage their intellect? Do they understand why this message matters and how they can respond to it? Consider how you will help people find their place in this message. Over time, if we continually help people find their place in the message, they will grow also in conviction that they have a place in God’s kingdom.