The range of his rhetoric was anticipated and encompassed within "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life," which he preached as his trial sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in 1954 and every year thereafter for the rest of his life.
Omfanget af hans retoriske begavelse kom allerede til udtryk i talen The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life, som han holdt ved sin prøveprædiken ved Dexter Avenue Baptist Church i 1954, og siden holdt hvert år resten af sit liv.