Franklin Graham on invitations: Place 'hooks' throughout sermon

By Greg Carpenter

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--Too often, preachers sabotage an inspirational sermon by concluding with a confusing call for decision, Franklin Graham told a capacity crowd in Binkley Chapel Feb. 2 on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

"I've heard some of the great preachers in our country, and when they get to the invitation, they lose it," said Graham, son of renowned international evangelist Billy Graham.

Many pastors are prone to confuse people by broadening the invitation to include a call for re-commitment, prayer requests or transfer of church membership, Graham said.

"I never mix the invitation with anything else," he said. "If they feel that they need to rededicate their life, they'll get up and come. I'm talking about salvation."

Graham, 46, is president of Samaritan's Purse, a nonprofit evangelistic ministry based in Boone, N.C., with a stated mission of helping "alleviate suffering and earn a hearing for the Gospel."

In November, Samaritan's Purse responded within days of Hurricane Mitch's assault on Central America by providing Honduras and Nicaragua with two C-130 cargo planes loaded with 25 tons of food and plastic sheeting for emergency shelter. Over the next two weeks, Samaritan's Purse dispatched another 150 tons of food and blankets, along with a disaster relief unit -- a tractor-trailer rig specially equipped to serve as a mobile command center.

Graham also serves as first vice chairman of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and leads several national and international evangelistic crusades each year. His son, Will, is a student in the master of divinity program at Southeastern in Wake Forest, N.C.

Many preachers are uncomfortable giving an invitation because they fear that no one will respond, Graham said.

Preachers should begin their sermon with an invitation that challenges people to make a decision to either accept or reject the gospel and then continue providing "little hooks" throughout the message aimed at calling people to decide what they are going to do with Christ, he said.

Describing the "hooks" as illustrations from Scripture that encourage people in the pews to respond, Graham said the audience needs to be reminded repeatedly they will be given a chance to accept Christ in the invitation at the end of the message.

"Little hooks, we've got to have them," Graham said. "Hey, (Jesus) called us to be fishers of men".

Graham cited several elements necessary for every sermon that calls for a response from the hearer. "First, you've got to let them know that they are sinners and have broken God's law," he said.

The sermon and invitation, Graham said, must publicly acknowledge Jesus' atoning death on the cross for mankind's sin; Christ's resurrection from the dead; and the sinner's need for repentance and acceptance of Christ for salvation through faith, not works. "That has to be in every message, and it has to be repeated," he said.

Graham encouraged preachers to not avoid well-known Scripture passages in an effort to sound "fresh."

"When you give the gospel, just stay with the basics because the person that is sitting there who has never heard the gospel has never heard John 3:16," Graham said. "Don't be afraid to use John 3:16 every time. Every time you quote the Scripture, you're hitting them in the head with a spiritual claw hammer."

Ultimately, Graham said, giving an effective invitation following a sermon comes with practice.

Graham said when he asked his father once to give him preaching tips, he responded: "'Franklin, you learn how to preach by preaching. So every opportunity you get to preach, preach.'"

Franklin Graham said that one thing he has learned over the course of his ministry is to no longer be concerned with the response to the invitation. "That's not my responsibility. It's the responsibility of the Holy Spirit of God."

[Baptist Press 6 Feb. 1999]