From Text To Sermon A Guide To Sermon Preparation Part 5 of 6

From Text To SermonA Guide To Sermon Preparation

Part 5 of 6

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There is a great temptation for the preacher to say as much as can possibly be said about a passage, but our hearers do not resemble a group of Johnny Five robots who are constantly shouting ‘more input’ and who absorb information at a prodigious rate. It is unlikely that information that we have absorbed and processed over a period of weeks, months and years will be processed by our hearers in under an hour. Invariably, where there is an ‘information overload’ in a sermon, there tends to be too little, wisdom, spiritual insight, didactic illustration, mature understanding and relevant application of the truth. Young expositors are particularly guilty of ‘information overload’.

For this reason we must consider how we outline and flesh out our sermon.

Introduction

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Contents:

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Study 1: Introduction: Approach To Scripture Approach To Culture Approach To The HearerStudy 2: Selecting The Passage Understanding The PassageStudy 3: Determining The Thrust Of The Passage Formulating The Preaching IdeaStudy 4: Determining The Sermon’s Purpose How To Accomplish That PurposeStudy 5: Outlining And Fleshing Out The SermonStudy 6: Application, Conclusion And Introduction

Sermon FlowAim to develop a sense of order in your sermon. Where such developed structure exists, the sermon becomes more memorable and it provides the sermon with momentum which flows to a natural conclusion.

The order which you develop your sermon will often be determined by the type of material you are preaching on; greater freedom of arrangement exists in gospel narrative than in the closely reasoned linear argument of a Pauline epistle.

Outlining & Fleshing Out The Sermon

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An sermon outline serves at least four purposes:

First, it clarifies, in the speaker's eye and mind, the relationships between the parts of a sermon. Secondly, the speaker views his sermon as a whole and thereby heightens its sense of unity. Thirdly, an outline crystallises the order of ideas so that the listener is given them in the appropriate sequence. Finally, the preacher sees the places in the outline that require more supporting material to develop his points.

If the sermon outline is the skeleton, work must be done to cover it with flesh. A congregation does not respond to abstract ideas. A number of means can be used to put flesh on the skeleton.


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1. Restatement. This is often done for the sake of clarity. Why? Listeners, unlike readers, cannot go back to the beginning of a sentence which they have not fully grasped.

Say something once and it can be ignored but repeat it in a variety of ways and it will impress itself upon the hearer’s thoughts and feelings.


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2. Explanation and Definition. It is necessary for people clearly to understand the terms and ideas we employ. Words like propitiation, justification, sanctification and sin are either, not in current usage or, have a different meaning from that found in scripture. If we are unsure whether or not our hearers understand the word ‘holy’ we might ask,

"What do we mean when we say a thing is holy? Look at your Bible and it says, ‘Holy Bible.’ What makes it holy? The land of Israel is called, ‘The Holy Land' and the city of Jerusalem, is called, ‘The Holy City.' Why?”


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2. Explanation and Definition. All three share a quality in common. They all ‘belong to’ or are ‘separated to’ God. The Bible is God's book, Israel is God's land, Jerusalem is God's city! They are all God's property!

Having dealt with the idea of something being separated to God, the moral dimension of holiness can then be unpacked.

The more familiar the preacher may be with his subject the less aware he may be of his hearers’ ignorance of it. It is better to explain too many biblical terms than too few.


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3. Factual information. Someone has said, ‘Every man has a right to his own opinion but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts’. Much of what parades as fact is often opinion in disguise. To say that the greatest cause of moral decline in the U.K. is the television, is not a matter of fact but of opinion. The opinion may or may not be valid but should not be presented as ‘a well known fact’.

Authentic facts not only help the listener understand they will secure respect for the speaker.


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4. Quotations. We may use quotations to support or expand a point. If someone else has said what we are trying to say in a more helpful or pithy manner then it can be helpful to quote them.

To this end many preachers read with a pen in their hand, marking interesting comments that are later transferred into a workbook or quotations database. Others make use of preachers books of quotations. The internet has become another helpful source.

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4. Quotations. We may also use quotations to point to what those who are ‘recognised authorities’ in their field, have to say on a particular matter. Paul quoted a heathen Poet to support his gospel presentation Acts 17v28.

One preacher quotes the historian Dr. T. R. Glover to demonstrate that early Christians had an intellectual quality in their faith. Glover comments that one reason why Christianity made an impact was because it did better thinking than the rest of the world. It not only knew better how to live and how to die: it also knew better how to think. It "out-thought" the world.


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4. Quotations. “The Christian read the best books, assimilated them, and lived the freest intellectual life the world had. Jesus had set him free to be true to fact. There is no place for an ignorant Christian. From the very start every Christian had to know and to understand, and he had to read the Gospels, he had to be able to give a reason for his faith. They read about Jesus, and they knew him, and they knew where they stood.... Who did the thinking in that ancient world? Again and again it was the Christian. He out-thought the world.” Dr. T. R. Glover


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5. Narration. The Lord Jesus used a particular kind of narration to describe spiritual/theological ideas… “the kingdom of God is like…”

Narration can supply background to a sermon by filling in the setting, history or personalities involved. It can paint pictures, particularly when preaching on non-narrative passages.

E.g. when preaching on the opening chapters of Romans it is possible to paint a law court scene with one group of accused after another being paraded in the dock.


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5. Narration. The accused are lined up, the godless heathen, the good moral man, the Jew/good religious man, and then Paul, the counsel for the prosecution shows that each group falls short of God’s standard of perfection.

Notice that it is only once a watertight case has been made against the accused and every mouth is stopped that Paul begins to unpack the good news of the gospel.


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6. Illustration. The Puritans spoke of screwing home the truth or of nailing a truth into the mind. The latter requires us to hit it several times. An illustration can help make the truth stick. Illustrations can aid memory, stir emotions, identify need, hold attention and establish rapport between speaker and hearer.

The choice of material is important. Sometimes people can remember the illustration but not the truth it was intended to illustrate!


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6. Illustration. The Bible itself provides us with an invaluable supply of illustrations. E.g. when preaching on the federal headship of both Adam and Christ [Rom.5], a concept that some have difficulty in grasping, then the idea of the one representing a body of people and his victory or defeat having consequences for those he represents can be illustrated from the story of David and Goliath [1Sam.17v1ff].

When using illustration is sometimes necessary to point out that illustrations are limited and do not adequately illustrate every aspect of the truth we are teaching.


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6. Illustration. A story, told for its own sake may entertain or amuse, but it can get in the way of the sermon, if it fails to illustrate truth. “The pastor is called upon to feed the sheep ... He is certainly not to become an entertainer of goats.” WILLIAM G. HUGHESHuman interest stories that deal with issues that touch the lives of the hearers will readily gain attention. But guard against using, as an illustration, something that a member of the congregation has told you in confidence or, which might embarrass them. This also applies to the preacher’s family who are often unnecessarily embarrassed from the pulpit.


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ReviewWhat does your sermon look like? Have you produced food to feed the soul or, have you concerned yourself more with presentation than with substance?

“Some sermons are all garnish, with not enough meat and potatoes to feed one soul for one day.” VANCE HAVNERPreach the sermon to yourself and ask, “Has what I have prepared nourished my own heart”? If not then it will not nourish the hearts of your hearers.No man preaches his sermon well to others if he does not first preach it to his own heart. JOHN OWEN


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ReviewIt is possible to shy away from preaching doctrinally because it is perceived to be too weighty for our people. It is the preacher’s task as he fleshes out his material to make the doctrines he is unpacking not only digestible but desirable not to produce encyclopaedic knowledge but growth in grace. In addition, we ‘adorn the doctrine’ by seeking to ensure that it is enfleshed first in our own lives. Jesus admonition to his disciples was “these things do and teach”. Note the order!“Preach doctrine, preach all the doctrine that you know, and learn forever more and more; but preach it always not that men may believe it, but that men may be saved by believing it”. PHILLIPS BROOKS


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In all of our communication it is of vital importance to have confidence in the word of God to do its work in men’s hearts. We are responsible for teaching the truths of scripture and not for the results. This lifts an enormous burden from the preacher. It is the inscripturated truth that persuades men both of their need and of Christ’s unique qualification to meet that need.“We must persuade by teaching; we must never teach by persuasion.” WILLIAM GURNALL

Conclusion

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Documents

From Text To Sermon A Guide To Sermon Preparation Part 5 of 6