First, I hope you’ve seen the Princess Bride. But, that’s not important right now.

If you’re an expositor, you spend a lot of sermon time defining key terms in your preaching portion. For instance, how many times over the years have you explained that grace is God’s unmerited favor? That is a good starter-definition, but it needs some fleshing out.

For instance, what is the “favor” part? We probably do a better job explaining the “unmerited” part. But the “favor” part is very important. Especially since the word, “grace,” to most of our listeners doesn’t do anything to them. Grace does something for them (even though they might not know exactly what that is).

So, I try to be careful to define my definitions as much as possible/needed. In the case of grace, for instance, I want to make sure everyone in the house knows that the unmerited “favor includes things like God’s forgiveness and cleansing and supernatural assistance to live for Him. Stuff like that.

Carefully defining our definitions is especially helpful with very familiar Christian terms like grace, mercy,  and salvation.

Before Sunday, see if your sermon contains key terms that needed extra special attention. Look for those terms that you keep using in the sermon and make sure your definitions are defined. This will add another layer of theological depth and clarity to your preaching. Plus, you may find there are some well-known definitions that could use a makeover.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal