Tag Archives: purpose

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What Do You Do to the Bible To Create A Sermon? (part 2)

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In this series I’m exploring what I consider to be the most neglected part of my own teaching of Homiletics, how sermons are created. In order to create sermons, we all perform a variety of operations on the Bible (unless, of course, you simply read the Text and pronounce the benediction!). I expect that even radically different kinds of sermons on the same Text use similar rhetorical devises.

Part 1 listed explanation as the bread and butter or meat and potatoes of expository preaching. I want to spend a moment talking about preaching on purpose, announcing to our congregants the shape worship takes as we respond to God’s revelation in our preaching portion.

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Sermonic purpose is similar to application, maybe the second step of application (the first step being to urge Believers to believe the Gospel or, what I call, faith-first application; you can see this explained in earlier posts). Preaching on purpose means letting everyone know how your preaching portion generally functions for the Church. As a result of hearing God’s Word, those with ears to hear will think, feel, and act in ways determined by the preaching portion.

Lately, immediately after the corporate reading of God’s Word, I’ll begin my sermon by saying something like, “This is God’s Word. The shape of our worship this morning will be putting into practice Jesus’ instructions concerning handling our own sins and also the sins of others (from Luke 17:1-6).” At that moment, everyone in the house hears how this preaching portion functions in life. Throughout the sermon and, certainly near the end, I’ll restate this purpose. Other rhetorical devices such as illustration and explanation contribute to preaching on purpose. It’s difficult to overestimate its importance for soul-watchers.

Before Sunday see how God displays His intention (what your preaching portion is intended to do to the church) and clearly write out the broad shape worship will take.

Preach well for the sake of His reputation in the Church and in the world.

Randal

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Does Worship Stop When Your Preaching Starts?

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We have our work cut out for us if we are going to keep congregants worshiping when the sermon starts. Think about it.

Who leads worship in your church? When people hear the term, worship leader, who do they think of? In most churches, most people now equate worship with the singing, not the preaching. In most churches, the sermon follows the music and singing. If parishioners equate worship with singing, what do they think is happening during the sermon? Years ago congregants were asked what segment of the worship service made them feel closest to God. The number one answer was moments of silence. Last place went to the sermon. As I said, we have our work cut out for us.

Several months ago I decided, in light of this reality, to tweak my approach to sermon introductions. My goal was to help people realize that the teaching time is a time for worship, too. Actually, I started with my prayers that I say prior to our public reading of Scripture. In that prayer I ask God to help us worship during the sermon. I ask Him to help us move from knowledge to appropriate response. Worship is, after all, the Believer’s response to the revelation of God. Then, I decided that most Sundays, after the public reading of the preaching portion, my introductions would begin with some variation of: “This is God’s Word. We worship this morning by responding to (fill in the blank with a summary of the scene in Luke’s Gospel, for instance).” At the end of the introduction, I’ll state the response that the preaching portion is intended to create.

For instance, in Luke 9:1-9 we read Jesus’ ministry description He gave to the original Twelve. So my introduction might begin with: “This is God’s Word. We worship this morning by responding to Luke’s record of when Jesus sent out His first official disciple-makers.” (Note that responding is different from learning about.) Then, my intro might end with: “This is a time for us to evaluate whether Jesus is accomplishing His mission in the world through you and me.” Throughout the sermon and especially at the end, we’ll talk about the small, but vital part we’re playing in God’s disciple-making program. We’ll make sure everyone is urged to join this ongoing mission.

I don’t want worship to stop when the preaching begins. I know you don’t, either.

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Preaching That Matches Jesus’ Sense Of Urgency

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I learned from Jesus’ application of His own parable of the four soils that every teaching time in church is urgent. He teaches us in Luke 8:18 “Take care then how you hear…” This is Jesus’ primary application, after He showed us four kinds of hearing of the Gospel. This means that every sermon requires immediate action or attention. I’ve identified four kinds of hearing that take place in faith-families (I’m sure you can add to this): Congregants can

  1. hear and not understand.
  2. hear and don’t care.
  3. hear, understand, care, but not change.
  4. hear, understand, care, and change.

Jesus’ stern warning in v. 18 has helped me realize how important it is each Sunday to explain why it’s important to hear and respond to God’s Word. In an earlier post I mentioned how Jesus continually divides us all into two categories. In this case, we have the have’s (“…for to the one who has, more will be given…”) and the have not’s (“and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”). Your theology will probably dictate how severe the warning is (loss of rewards–demotion, versus loss of spiritual life–destruction). Either way, I want to be sure my preaching matches Jesus’ sense of urgency. I do not want to be guilty of allowing parishioners to “think” they have what they don’t have.

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Application As Implementation

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I have been playing the cello since March, 2013. My problem is not understanding what my teacher is telling me; my problem is implementing or executing properly. God and my family know I’m trying. My teacher isn’t satisfied with my understanding what to do; my teacher wants to know if I can play the piece, if I can execute properly. Our Teacher feels the same way. In Luke 6:46 Jesus says to His disciples, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Jesus’ sermon on the level place ends with a strong call to hearing His words and doing them (cf. Luke 6:46-49). That reminds me that sermons must urge people to implement God’s Word. In David Wenham’s chapter, Preaching the Sermon on the Mount, he writes, “we must not preach generalizations but need to preach practically” (p. 84 in Preaching the New Testament). Years ago, my dear preaching professor at DTS, John Reed, taught us to apply the Bible at three levels: What do I want them to know (the one expositors are usually best at)? What do I want them to feel (the one I’m worst at!)? What do I want them to do? (the one I want to get better at). Many of our Sunday preaching portions afford an opportunity for us to graciously urge parishioners to do the things Jesus says to do.

P.S. This blog was intended to go out back in July, but got lost in the draft folder. I’m still learning how to execute WordPress!

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Purpose: the Forgotten Aspect of Exposition

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In order for exposition to occur, it’s not enough to have purpose. I must make sure the purpose of my sermon matches the purpose of the preaching portion. In an earlier post I mentioned reading, Saving Eutychus, while on vacation. One excellent part of the book is the discussion of what it takes to preach to the heart. The author’s answer: “Where God is explaining something, we need to help people understand. Where God is warning us, we need to help people feel the urgency and weight of that. Where God is wooing us, we need to help people feel the pull of his love. Where God is correcting us, we need to show people that they are going the wrong way and to help them get back on track. Where God is comforting his people, we want people to feel the security and warmth of his comfort. And that, in a nutshell, is expository preaching.” (pp. 30-31).

Normally, when we think about expository preaching we often focus on the content of the sermon. Let’s also be sure the purpose of our sermon matches the purpose of the Scripture. This means asking and answering: How does your upcoming, Sunday preaching portion function for the Church?