How Reinhard Bonnke Preached: One Detail, One Picture, a Call to Act Now
Reinhard Bonnke preached to some of the largest crowds ever gathered for a sermon, first in Africa and later in America, Europe and Australia. We studied six of his sermons, from Lagos in 2000 to conferences in the 2010s. By his own account he had “only one sermon,” and he preached it as pictures: pull one detail from the text, turn it into something you can hold, then call for action now.
Who Reinhard Bonnke was
Bonnke was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, went to Africa as a missionary in 1967, and founded Christ for all Nations (CfaN) in 1974. He began in a tent that seated 800. In 1984 he commissioned a 34,000-seat tent, and his open-air meetings later outgrew it. At a single meeting in Lagos in November 2000 an estimated 1.6 million people attended.
By the time of his death, CfaN had counted more than 78 million salvation decision cards. He wrote some 40 books, including his autobiography Living a Life of Fire (2009), named Daniel Kolenda as his successor in 2009, and preached his farewell crusade in Lagos in 2017. In later years he lived in Florida.
The shape of a Bonnke sermon
He reads the text early, then takes one small detail from it, like “one sat upon each of them” or “carry up my bones.” He says the Holy Spirit showed him something he had never heard preached, and he builds the message around that detail.
Every doctrine becomes a picture: soap that only works when you apply it, a spacesuit, power steering, an electric cable lying in the street. Coined, rhyming one-liners carry the point, and the room shouts them back. “Jesus doesn’t sit with sitters.”
Self-deprecating German humor keeps it light, and he regularly tells the room to say something aloud or repeat after him. He usually turns explicitly to the blood or the cross.
In the last third comes a long story from an African crusade or an answered prayer. Then he asks the room to do something right away: stand, lift their hands, pray, receive.
What made his preaching different
Doctrine as pictures
Soap, a spacesuit and power steering carry the theology. Each doctrine becomes something the crowd can picture and hold.
Coined one-liners
Rhyming lines the room shouts back, like his “sitters and goers.” The crowd leaves able to repeat the point.
Big story late
A long crusade story lands in the last third, just before the call. It proves the message and builds the moment for a response.
What others said
“He will go down as the greatest mass evangelist of all time.”
— H. Vinson Synan, Christianity Today, 2013
“His ministry was inspired and sustained by his rich prayer life, his deep understanding of the Word.”
— Daniel Kolenda, president, Christ for all Nations, 2019 (Christianity Today)
What to take into your own pulpit
Look for the overlooked detail
One small phrase in a text can carry a whole message. Read slowly enough to notice it.
Give every doctrine an object
If people can picture it, they can remember it. Bonnke turned theology into soap and cables.
Ask for a response in the room
He didn’t leave the decision for later. Give people something to do before the service ends.
Those are the ideas. The guide turns them into ten steps you can follow this week, plus the sermons we studied and a fill-in outline in his shape.
Free PDF · Preach Like the Greats
Learn to preach like Reinhard Bonnke.
This post is the overview. The guide has the research and the method.
- The 6 sermons we studied, start to finish
- Ten steps to preach the way he did
- His sermon outline, movement by movement
- A fill-in template for your own text, 9 pages
Common questions
What was Reinhard Bonnke’s preaching style?
Simple, visual and urgent. He pulled one detail from the text, turned each doctrine into an everyday picture, coined rhyming one-liners the crowd shouted back, told a long crusade story late, and called for an immediate response.
How did Reinhard Bonnke structure a sermon?
He read the text early, built the message on one detail he said the Holy Spirit had shown him, illustrated it with pictures and one-liners, turned to the blood or the cross, told a big story in the last third, and ended with a call to act.
How many people did Reinhard Bonnke preach to?
An estimated 1.6 million people attended a single meeting in Lagos in November 2000, and Christ for all Nations counted more than 78 million salvation decision cards by the time of his death.