Recently, I completed a series through Isaiah 1-40 and have begun the latter part of Romans (chapters 12-16).  It’s been a while since I was in an epistle and I had forgotten how important the transitions are.  The logical connections within and between verses often create meaning.  That means, for instance, that when you’re preaching on 12:3 and the subject of humility, the character traits means something in relation to understanding the will of God (v. 2).  Having an accurate or proper assessment of yourself serves the larger thought of living out God’s will.  Of course, in a relatively short section like the first few verses of chapter 12, you can keep allowing the connections and transitions to flesh out meaning.  Work your way back up through the paragraph so that you see every connection.  Then decide how far back to you have to take your congregants in order to allow v. 3 and humility to mean what God intended through all those connections and transitions.  This is easier at the beginning of a section like chapter 12, but gets more difficult to remember and implement the further you get into a lengthy section of epistolary instructions.