From Text To SermonA Guide To Sermon Preparation

Part 1 of 6

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IntroductionI suspect that my principal qualification for teaching on this subject is that I have preached my share of very forgettable sermons. I find that I am constantly struggling to be a better communicator of God’s Word.

I rate the task of preaching the gospel among the highest that God can confer upon us. To be His spokesman! That is a thought that should take our breath away. And for this reason the requirement to work at being effective communicators is not something that can be overemphasised.

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IntroductionPreaching has a goal in view.

The Westminster Catechism asks, “How is the Word of God made effectual to salvation?” And the answer it gives is, “The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation”.

These words can help keep us on target as we prepare ourselves for ministering God’s Word.

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Contents:

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Study 1: Introduction: Approach To Scripture Approach To Culture Approach To The Hearer

Study 2: Selecting The Passage Understanding The Passage

Study 3: Determining The Thrust Of The Passage Formulating The Preaching Idea

Study 4: Determining The Sermon’s Purpose How To Accomplish That Purpose

Study 5: Outlining And Fleshing Out The Sermon

Study 6: Application, Conclusion And Introduction

IntroductionFollowing the decisive blow to Napoleon in 1815, a Morse-like message (delivered with powerful light beams), was flashedacross the English Channel. It read, "Wellington defeated"!Panic swept through the British nation and its Board of Trade collapsed. The cause of the terror? Much of the intended message - "Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo" – had been obliterated by fog.Failure to communicate clearly can leave our hearers in a spiritual fog. What is intended to be glorious good news can create unnecessary anxiety and fail to lead people into the glorious liberty of the children of God. With good reason Paul exhorted Timothy to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” 2 Tim.2v15

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IntroductionThe correct handling of scripture is the first task of the preacher. And all that is meant by a biblical ministry springs from this. Sadly, some either bypass scripture - their sermons sound like newspaper editorials or, the text of scripture becomes a launch-pad for the preacher’s personal hobby horse. But the preacher is not entitled to preach his own opinions or convictions. He is called upon to declare the mind of God as it is revealed in Scripture. The text ought not to be a pretext for the preacher’s own ideas.

There are a number of styles of biblical preaching, all of which are equally valid. e.g. Spurgeon’s preaching was textual, while that of Martin Lloyd Jones followed a consecutive expository pattern. Whatever method you plan to adopt, and the one I favour is a consecutive expository one, much of what I plan to say is equally valid.

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Introduction“The preacher creates the sermon, he does not create the message. Rather he proclaims and explains the message he has received. His message is not original; it is given to him [2Cor. 5v19]. Consequently, whether he preaches a topical, doctrinal, textual sermon; whether he deals with a passage, or preaches systematically through a book, the exegetical principle will always be present: he is explaining and expounding the message that has already been given. Therein lies his authority and his confidence in the promise of God's help and blessing. The sermon is not the preacher's word; it is God's Word”. Sinclair Ferguson

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The word ‘exegesis’ comes from the Greek ἐξηγεῖσθαι ‘to lead out’. The task of the preacher is to lead or, draw out the truth from the text. The preacher is primarily concerned with the explanation of scripture and this forms, not only a dominant feature, it becomes the organising principle of his message.

The preacher/teacher’s fundamental task is;

a. the explanation of the text in its wider context,

b. the identification of the biblical principles that it contains,

c. and only then the application of those principles to modern man, in a modern setting.

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Introduction

In his preparation the preacher is constantly moving between contexts, between two different worlds and asking first, “How was the passage received by its original hearers?” Only then does he ask, “How can this truth be applied to my hearers today?” The task of the preacher is to build a bridge between the then and there of scripture and the here and now of his hearers.

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Introduction

Clearly, our attitude to scripture is of fundamental importance in constructing this bridge and shaping our sermon .

1. Some approach the Bible as the means God uses to speak to us now without any reference to its first audience. This approach effectively bypasses both its historical context and original meaning. No bridge is constructed!

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Attitude To Scripture

This non-contextual, non-historical approach has encouraged people to think of scripture as a C20th document into which C20th

meanings can be read. This has disastrous consequences.

Among these is the development of an unhealthy literalism so that the text, “Saul said to his armour-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through”” 1Sam 31v4 has been foolishly used by some to promote euthanasia.

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Attitude To Scripture

To discover the text's meaning is of purely academic interest unless we go on to discern its message for today, or (as some theologians prefer to say) its 'significance'. But to search for its contemporary message without first wrestling with its original meaning is to attempt a forbidden short cut. It dishonours God (disregarding his chosen way of revealing himself in particular historical and cultural contexts), it misuses his Word (treating it like an almanac or book of magic spells) and it misleads his people (confusing them about how to interpret Scripture). JOHN STOTT

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Attitude To Scripture

2. On the other hand there are those who treat scripture exclusively as a historical document. And so the text, “Abraham rose early and saddled his ass…” Gen.22v3 has been used to emphasise; the value of early rising in the ancient world, and the importance of saddles in a bygone age! To view the text as a mere historical document reduces the sermon to little more than a lecture in the life and times of the biblical characters in the ancient world. Again no bridge is constructed.

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Attitude To Scripture

3. A third danger involves spiritualising the text. This invariably involves treating the text as allegory. This approach assumes that the authors of scripture intended something other than what is literally expressed. There is a hidden meaning behind their words that needs to be unlocked. This practice can be traced back to Philo of Alexandria and was later developed by Origen.

So that for example, the two coins given by the Good Samaritan to the innkeeper are said to convey the hidden meanings of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. This bridge will quickly collapse.

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Attitude To Scripture

There are many other equally unhelpful approaches all of which we must lay to one side in favour of pursuing a historical/grammatical interpretation of scripture from which the preacher builds a bridge between the then and there of scripture and the here and now of his hearers.

While the particular methodology used in achieving this goal may vary from preacher to preacher it is important to see one’s task in sermon preparation in the context of bridge-building.

E.M. Bounds was right to teach that it is not methods but men that God blesses, nevertheless, it is helpful to have a checklist against which to test our sermon preparation.

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Attitude To Scripture

Not only is our attitude to scripture of fundamental importance but in order for the preacher to make the text relevant to his hearer he must be aware of his hearer’s ‘world view’ and what has shaped it. This is particularly the case if our preaching is to contain a meaningful apologetic. World views are not static but are constantly changing. The bridge built 50 years ago will have limited contemporary significance.

“To preach is to relate God's never changing word to man's ever changing world”.

JOHN STOTT

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Attitude To Culture And Society

Biblical preaching demands sensitivity to the modern world. Although God spoke to the ancient world in its own languages and cultures, he intends his Word to be for everybody. This means that the expositor is more than an exegete. The exegete explains the original meaning of the text; the expositor goes further and applies it to the contemporary world. We have then to struggle to understand the rapidly changing world in which God has called us to live; to grasp the main movements of thought which have shaped it; to listen to its many discordant voices, its questions, its protests and its cries of pain; and to feel a measure of its disorientation and despair. For all this is part of our Christian sensitivity. JOHN STOTT

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Attitude To Culture And Society

We must become aware of what shapes the hopes and aspirations of those around us, just as Paul sought to be informed of the alien culture of Athens by walking around the city Acts 17v23. Think of it this way Paul was looking for the spot to start his bridge-building! So too we must ask what shapes the thinking of men and women today?

Books like Michael Medved’s, “Hollywood vs. America: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values” can offer valuable insights into how the media are subliminally influencing western thought and morality.

Become aware of the way in which philosophical trends begin to shape popular culture and modern theological thought albeit with a fixed time delay.

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Attitude To Culture And Society

Culture may be likened to a tapestry, intricate and often beautiful, which is woven by a given society to express its corporate identity. The colours and patterns of the tapestry are the community's common beliefs and common customs, inherited from the past, enriched by contemporary art and binding the community together. Each of us, without exception, has been born and bred in a particular culture. Being part of our upbringing and environment, it is also part of ourselves, and we find it very difficult to stand outside it and evaluate it Christianly. Yet this we must learn to do. For if Jesus Christ is to be Lord of all, our cultural heritage cannot be excluded from his lordship. And this applies to churches as well as individuals. JOHN STOTT

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Attitude To Culture And Society

We must be mindful of the impact that the media can have upon our hearers who are increasingly in danger of losing touch with ‘the significant’. The media throws out sound-bytes or visual images at such a rate that we are robbed of the faculty of meaningful reflection. Indeed, ours is a generation that refuses to give their minds the opportunity to reflect. Our ears are constantly in touch with earphones and we go to sleep at night with the TV on, albeit set to snooze control and we waken in the morning with a music alarm!

“We are swamped by the inconsequential, bombarded by images and sounds that rob us of the opportunity of refection and contemplation that are necessary to reacquaint ourselves with what is significant.” David Gordon.

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Attitude To Culture And Society

Our attitude to our hearers is important. Will they know that you are for them? Can you communicate your desire to see God richly bless them - so that even if your preaching wounds it is in order to heal? Are you a soul surgeon? In the Anglican church, the term ‘curate’ is an illuminating job description - ‘one responsible for the care or cure of souls’.

Some preachers are like officious headmasters intent upon scolding and punishing their hearers! They fail to demonstrate a concern to introduce their hearers to a gracious and a pardoning God. Ask, will your sermon at one and the same time reveal the hopelessness of the human condition apart from Christ, and also demonstrate the supreme competence of Christ to minister to that need?

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Attitude To The Hearer

Fundamental to effective preaching is a knowledge both of our own hearts and of the hearts of our hearers. S. L. Brengle wrote with this in mind.

“Oh for more teachers amongst us, leaders who know how to read hearts and apply truth to the needs of the people as a good physician reads his patients and applies remedies to their ills. There are soul sickness' open and obscure, acute and chronic, superficial and deep seated which the truth as it is in Jesus will heal. But it is not the same truth for each need, any more than the same medicine for any disease. That is why we should more diligently study the Bible and pray for the constant and powerful illumination of the Holy Spirit”.

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Attitude To The Hearer

On one occasion Richard Cecil made the following observation:“To love to preach is one thing-to love those to whom we preach, quite another”. As a student I had the opportunity to attend a missionary conference where the grand-daughter of Hudson Taylor, herself a seasoned China missionary, was a guest. I determined to seek her out and pick her brains on how best to prepare myself for missionary service. Words like ‘contextualization’ were buzzing around in my head. I wondered what great advice she might give. In response to my request she spoke only 3 words, “Love the people”.

A lot of preaching misses the mark because it proceeds from the love of preaching, not love of people. VANCE HAVNER

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Attitude To The Hearer

It seemed appropriate to finish this first session by reflecting upon what above all else we should be pursuing in our quest to be better preachers, and teachers. John Stott sums it up in this way;

“It seems to me that one might well single out freshness of spiritual experience as the first indispensable quality of the effective preacher. No amount of homiletical technique can compensate for the absence of a close personal walk with God. Unless he puts a new song in our mouth, even the most polished sermons will lack the sparkle of authenticity.”

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Conclusion