The international airport in Louisville, KY was quite still on the night I bid my mother farewell before she departed for her home in Jacksonville, FL. I watched as she left the terminal with the other passengers and decided to wait and watch her plane taxi out before screaming down the runway. Several minutes went by and her plane never moved an inch. Delays are not uncommon at airports, so there was little cause for alarm. That state of mind instantly changed, however, when her plane suddenly became surrounded by all manner of fire-trucks and rescue personnel! Frantically trying to determine what the problem was, I was informed a component in the plane’s engine had malfunctioned and caught on fire. Believe it or not, I was told not to worry because this was evidently a "common and very fixable problem." Such words, though meant to be helpful, do not inspire passenger confidence. Yet, those words were true. After having a mechanic summoned to the plane, the fire was subdued, the component replaced and the plane departed. By the grace of God, the flight proceeded and arrived at Jacksonville without further incident.
The preaching of sermons share some characteristics of the story above, particularly as it pertains to a sermon’s introduction. This is a subject I feel I can speak upon with some authority, for I doubt fewer preachers than I have taken to the pulpit like a ship setting sail only to quickly run into reef and sink beyond repair. Sometimes my sermonic plane finds a faulty component that has set flame to the engine, but I’ve no mechanic to repair it that I might get on my way. Yet, in the course of a long a varied history of failures with sermonic introductions, I have learned a few useful points as well. I desire to share them in this blog so that others might be benefited as I hope to be benefited by others.
In general there are three primary needs for the preparation and proclamation of a sermonic introduction. These three include the identification of the sermon’s theme, the application of the sermon’s theme and the direction of the sermon’s theme.
Identifying a Sermon’s Theme
When a preacher is developing his sermon, his first and primary task is to identify the textual theme of his Scripture. As the name suggests, the textual theme of the Scripture to be proclaimed is the sole truth to which the Scripture speaks. Deriving the textual theme is the process by which a preacher applies proper interpretation to his text so as to arrive at the key command, exhortation, warning, etc. which the Scripture conveys. James Cox offers the following from his book, Preaching- A Comprehensive Approach to the Design and Delivery of Sermons states, "The central idea of the sermon is a statement of the truth that emerges from a study of the text and that determines the content of the sermon. Every sermon has a central idea or at least a constellation of related ideas…The central idea is a theological or theologically shaped statement. It generates and controls the conceptual development of the sermon."
Let’s use Revelation 11:12 as an example. The text reads, Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." They went up into heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. The raw, textual theme of the Scripture is that "God’s Vindication of Righteousness Over Evil is Revealed in the Ascension of His Two Witnesses."
The identification of this textual theme is the bedrock for all that will follow in the sermon. Every development will stem from it and all application will pertain to it. In no occasion may any part of the sermon depart from this theme. Quoting Cox again, "The central idea will come from a careful effort to put into a brief statement or a subject that which the text seems to want said in a particular sermon." Nevertheless, the preacher who approaches his sermon with only this theme will ultimately end up giving a book report of the text instead of heralding the gospel of Christ through the text. Therefore, the textual theme must be brought to a sermonic theme. This brings us to the second pillar of sermon introductions.
Applying the Sermon’s Theme
A sermon’s introduction can typically involve manifold methods that best suite the theme at hand. A preacher is at liberty to use personal stories, historic stories, Scriptural stories, the stating of rhetorical questions, the statement of open ended questions, etc. In general, the application of the theme will entice the listener to hear what is being said. In his book, Rhetoric, Aristotle states "The appeal to the hearer aims at securing his goodwill, or at arousing his resentment, or sometimes at gaining his serious attention to the case, or even at distracting it- for gaining it is not always an advantage, and speakers will often for that reason try to make him laugh."
However, without a short, succinct statement of what the preacher is actually preaching about, the best of stories and illustrations are to no avail. This statement is what I refer to as the "sermonic theme." I suppose you could consider the sermonic theme to be the bridge a preacher attempts to make between raw biblical facts and the hopeful reception of spiritual truth. It bears the relation and the difference of the two following statements: Jesus died on a cross (textual theme) and Jesus died on the cross for you (sermonic theme).
In shaping the sermonic theme the preacher is identifying to his audience what it is he desires to say from God’s Word with the aim of seeing spiritual transformation in his hearers. According to Haddon Robinson in his book Biblical Preaching (which is an absolute must read for preachers desiring to excel in sermon introductions), the sermonic theme will contain both a subject and a complement. A complement poses the question "what am I talking about?" The subject answers the question "what am I talking about?"
It is at this point that the preacher can use considerable imagination. And, yes, in case you're wondering, imagination is most certainly allowable in the preparation of sermons. The preacher needs to imagine and envision how he desires to promote his text to his people; he needs to consider the ways in which he can be assured he keeps his message Christ centered and yet offer application for the saints to be strengthened and sinners to be saved through the gospel of Christ. All of these matters will be represented in the sermonic theme.
As mentioned earlier the raw, textual theme of Revelation 11:12 was "God’s Vindication of Righteousness Over Evil is Revealed in the Ascension of His Two Witnesses." When I preached the text of Revelation 11:12, considering both the issues mentioned above as well as the textual theme, I arrived with the following sermonic theme: "The Day Comes Soon When God Will Beckon His Own to Come Home." In this case the complement is "who will God beckon home" and the answer is "His own." By this sermonic theme I am able to relate personally and directly the event and the truth of Revelation 11:12 to my congregation. (There are other themes one could make from the text, this is simply the one I chose)
It should be noted that arriving at the sermonic theme is possibly the longest, hardest and certainly most fruitful effort of sermon preparation. It is also vital to a sermon’s introduction. Without it there is no aim, there is no information shared to the congregation of precisely where the preacher desires to take them. And without having this direction, one can rest assured that even the biblical content of the sermon will fall on confused (not deaf) ears. Yet, having the sermonic theme prepared, the preacher is now ready to come to the third portion of his sermon’s introduction.
Directing the Sermonic Theme
Once a preacher has his sermonic theme in tow, he can begin to direct his sermon to his audience. In this step of the sermon’s introduction, the preacher is stating point blank what he hopes to actually achieve in the preaching of his message. If he desires his people to learn something particular about God, it is here that he will tell them. If he desire to see the lost saved in Christ through the preaching of the gospel, it is here that he will tell them his hope for their souls. Having stated the sermonic theme, the preacher can then relate the event of his Scripture directly to his people.
One major way in which the preacher can benefit the directing of the sermonic theme is to write out the goal of his sermon, detailing what he hopes to see happen in it and how he will seek to accomplish it. The following was my goal when I preached Revelation 11:12: "My goal in this sermon is to lead my listeners to an understanding of the ascension of the two witnesses of God. I desire to lay particular emphasis on not only their resurrection, but the resurrection of all God’s people and our common ascension into Heaven. Likewise, I want to magnify the grace of God that He would beckon us to do so and the spiritual hope we have to live in righteousness despite living in a corrupt world in light of His promise. Finally, I desire to draw a distinction between those who have heard and heeded that call and those who have not. I pray that God would use this message to reveal the gospel of Christ that His people might be strengthened by it and the lost be saved."
The preacher will not read his goal for the sermon verbatim to his people, but the general thrust and principles of his goal will be contained in the introduction.
Concluding Thoughts
The introduction of sermon is very much like a porch to a house- the more inviting the porch, the more desire and aptness we have to enter the home. So it is with preachers and those in those in the pews. As John Broadus said in his book On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, "In all preaching let there be a good introduction or none at all. "Well begun is half done." And ill begun is apt to be wholly ruined."
Some preaching books advise the formation of a sermon’s introduction to be completed after a sermon is written. I believe this is some of the very worst advice in the preaching world. My own personal method of sermon preparation, excluding those things such as walking in Christian disciplines and prayer, include the following: 1) Textual Selection, 2) Textual Interpretation, 3) Textual Theme, 4) Sermonic Theme, 5) Goal, 6) Arrangement and Division, 7) Manuscript.
May our Lord richly bless you who labor in His Word.
In Christ,
TJ
TJ
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12 comments:
TJ,
Sorry for my absence from the blog world. Happy to be back and at a more regular interval.
I appreciate your words of wisdom, clearly spoken from one who has been through the experience. These words are of great benefit especially to me, as I do not preach as regularly as I would like, so I need help with these sorts of things.
Two questions:
1) At what point do you interact with the Hebrew or Greek text in your prep?
2) For those of us without background in the original languages, what advice can you give in the prep process that may be different than what you outlined?
Thanks!
Brother Hottel
Brother Hottel,
No apology necessary, my friend. I myself was without power for a few days and thus "blogless." By the grace of God we are back in the electric world.
Now to the blog.
To address your first question, I interact with the original languages immediately after text selection. It is really from my work with the original languages that I arrive at the textual theme.
For your second question, I can offer the following. The absolute best way to become conversant with the original languages is to take classes. This can be accomplished easily now via distance education courses without leaving home, assuming one has the funds to take the class. After this, the single best tool one can have is Bibleworks.
But assuming one may not take this route, I offer the following.
1) Utilize expositional commentaries that use the original languages in their exegesis, but not overly so. Commentaries in this class include almost everything in the NAC and NIC/OT/NT series. Generally speaking, these commentaries will address the critical portions of the original languages so that one who has little or no background in them can obtain a grasp on it. Stay away from critical commentaries such as the ICC and the Word Biblical series, as one really needs an operating level of original language knowledge to even understand the commentary.
2) If one can obtain an older English dictionary that sources words to their founding languages such as Greek, this can be of benefit. In fact, truly studying not only the definition of English words but also their tenses can yield much.
3)If one has a very literal Bible translation, some light from the original languages can be shed on interpretation (there are exceptions, of course). There is probably no more literal translation available than the NAS. When paired beside other dynamic translations, such as the HCSB (which I use for preaching), the ESV, the NIV and so forth, subtle differences will sometimes be shown. These differences come from the strict nature of the NAS to literally go word for word (it is also why it is a very choppy translation).
As a closing note, the only danger with this advice is that one might be tempted to run to commentaries first without attempting to translate, interpret, understand and apply the text to their sermon on their own (which, is a definite must in preaching). Also, not to disdain those in love with the language that is Hebrew, but I think any first efforts to gain knowledge of the original languages should be focused upon Greek. This will typically mine much more understanding and sermon coal than the Hebrew.
Berakah and Eulogia,
TJ
Thanks for the help here. A couple of thoughts.
First, did you mean the HCSB, ESV, and NIV are more dynamic than NASB, or that these are dynamic equivalent versions? I would consider NASB, ESV, NKJV, KJV essentially literal and NIV, NLT, the Message dynamic equivalent.
Second, when you advise on getting to know Greek first, did you mean this only for NT study, or that it would help also with the Septuagint, thereby doing your OT study in Greek rather than Hebrew? Thanks!
Brother Hottel
Brother Hottel,
Great questions- hopefully I can give great answers.
My wording was poor, I did mean these translations are more dynamic, not dynamic equivalents(thought-for-thought, functional equivalents)such as The Message and the NLT. The NAS and the KJV are the only truly literal translations (formal equivalents) mentioned so far. And, after all, the KJV must be literal as it was the Bible Paul used- right?:)The ESV and the HCSB are optimal equivalent translations- which simply means they honor formal equivalent translation philosophy save in cases were idiomatic interpretation brings clarity and readability. These types of interpretation differences can be clearly scene when compared to a truly literal translation, thus allowing one with little knowledge of the original languages to get a sense of what they say. Sometimes, at least in the HCSB, this point is clarified in a "LIT" (literal) footnote.
As to the Greek question, I did refer it to only New Testament study. The Septuagint plays a role in this only when it is quoted in the New Testament when referring to an Old Testament reference. For Old Testament study, stay with Hebrew. Not only will this aid your sermon preparation, it will also spar you the seemingly endless debates on why the Greek was used as it was to translate some portions of Hebrew. But, speaking practically, most preaching is done from the New Testament. And, if I am being blunt, knowledge of the Greek will have a far greater impact on those sermons than knowledge of Hebrew will have on sermons from the Old Testament.
I guess I should note that this opinion may vary with pastors. Most people find either Hebrew or Greek to be very learnable, therefore, they prefer their efforts to be directed in that direction. A pastor that excelled at Hebrew and barely passed Greek will tell you to go with Hebrew. The converse is the reality in my case.
Blessings,
TJ
Brother,
I certainly am no expert in sermon prep by any means, but I do agree with you that I can't write my introduction last either. I always write it first. Once in a while I go back to edit some of it, but the bulk of it is written before I move on to the points of the sermon.
As for my process, it is quite a bit different. But by God's grace it somehow works! 1) Textual Selection. This is easy for me because 99% of the time I am preaching through a book. I'm not that much into series except book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse! 2) Textual Interpretation. I start by writing my own thoughts down and them praying through the passage. I then go into a few trusted commentaries and also do lots of language work (usually it's Greek just like you said). 3) Cross References. I always use cross references for my text and I always read them after I dig in deep into the truths of the text. I want to bring to bear the whole context of the Word. Sometimes I do this while I am trying to figure out the meaning and so points two and three sort of mesh together at times. 4) Themes. It's at this point that I have the meaning of the Scripture and I figure out the mega themes of the surrounding context of a passage and decide which of those themes would be most useful for preaching. Those get the main point status and what I have left might be supporting points. 5) Arrangement and Division. This is where I take my themes and decide how to preach them. Sometimes there are too many and so it gets relocated to multiple sermons. I am currently in Ephesians 6:10-20 and just finished the first sermon in that portion. There are so many things to say that one fifty minute sermon couldn't do it all. So I preached part one on Sunday and then for the next four Sundays I'll preach the rest. This is also the stage where alliterations get created or some other literary devise for organization. 6) Manuscript. This is the last step for me and also the longest. I write down exactly what I want to say and separate paragraphs with bullets. This just aids me in preaching better. It's a personal quirk. I carry my notes in my Bible in a folded 8.5x11 paper format. And I normally carry about 10 pages of half sheets for my sermon. I preach about 50 minutes on the dot most Sundays. I really believe that to be committed to exposition, it takes a significant length of time to dive deep in the text. That's personal opinion and I know other Godly men who disagree.
That's how I do it. It's probably not the best way, but my congregation keeps me around and hasn't fired me yet!
One other thought: e-Sword is an invaluable resource for my Greek work. Lots of free tools on there if you can't afford Bible Works (like me).
Blessings,
Michael Wilhite
www.michaelwilhite.net
Brother Michael,
Thanks for your insights as well as the e-sword resource. I've never been to that site myself, so I can't comment, but any help is better than no help and free help is always good (if it's good).
Just for clarity, I too generally preach through books of the Bible, though I am starting my very first series this coming Sunday. Yet, even for guys like us that preach through books, textual selection is required for which portion of the book or upcoming text we are preaching.
I have to say I am really amazed that your sermons end about the 50 minute mark every Sunday. That fascinates me, really.
Blessings,
TJ
Michael,
I have E-sword on every computer I use. It is a great resource. How do you do your Greek work on it?
TJ,
Check it out at e-sword.net. However, if after looking at it, you decide you might like to have it, let one of us know so we can get a copy of it on CD for you, since it could take a while for you to download it.
TJ,
You are right, textual selection is required even in a book series. I just didn't think of it that way. What I was getting at was that at least I don't have to be like Spurgeon and struggle over what text I'll preach each week. I just take the next train of thought in the book and that sure make the selection a lot narrower!
Out of curiosity, what is so fascinating about the 50 minute mark to you?
Ben,
As for e-Sword, I use a few different things in there. I use the KJV with Strong's numbers by each word. That gets me the Greek words used. I also have Nestle-Aland's Greek text in there, but it is pure Greek with no English equivalent and no Strong's links. So I only use it after I've looked at Strong's with KJV because I'm not good enough in Greek yet. I also use Thayer's to get another perspective on the word. Robertson's Word Pictures and Vincent's Word Studies are also invaluable resources to me in Greek study in e-Sword.
Other than that, e-Sword is lacking some key things I wish it had. I'd love to have a true Lexicon in it. I'd also love for it to parse the verbs, which it doesn't. You can get Strong's with tense, voice and mood which does help somewhat.
All in all, I use it gladly because it's free and I'm used to it. I'd love to have Bibleworks, but I can't afford it and God has provided e-Sword for me and it does the job for now. After I've taken a seminary class in Greek, I might change my mind. We'll see.
Other than all of that, John Gill is one of my favorite people in church history, so since I can get his commentary free in e-Sword that is also a huge plus for me.
Michael
Brethren,
Thanks for the discussion. It's good to know there are tools like e-sword available. And, since it's come up in this discussion, I would probably recommend that no one purchase Bibleworks until they've had at least a semester in Greek. Nevertheless, unless you are a real whiz with the original languages after classes, using the original languages effectively and effeciently for preaching will nearly necessitate Bibleworks.
Having checked out e-sword now, I agree its major lack regards tense, moods, etc. Frankly, these are not just somewhat important, they are critically important. In fact, I would urge great caution in using the Greek for preaching without a real knowledge of these things.
As to Mike's question about my fascination, I am simply fascinated anytime anyone knows exactly how long they preach- especially the exact amount every Sunday. I have no idea how long I preach, in nearly a decade of preaching, I've never timed it. But, I also have no idea as to how long I take to prepare a sermon- another figure some men can give you to the exact minute. I suppose I am simply fascinated that these things fascinate others (at least enough that they would measure them) when they do not fascinate me in the least.
Blessings,
TJ
TJ,
I only really know them because I record my sermons and upload them to my website. So if I open them in Media Player it tells me how long they are. I don't really time myself while in the pulpit. I just preach until I'm through my notes and I close the service. It's just that it usually happens to be around 50 minutes. Sometimes 48, sometimes 53. But always around that mark, lately anyway.
As for tense, mood, etc. in e-Sword: there is the KJV keyed to Strong's that has tense, voice and mood in it. It is a pain to use, but it can be done. It's just not very easy or user-friendly to my opinion. So the serious student can get by with it if they have to. I'm sure Bibleworks would be much better!
Blessings,
Michael
Brother Michael,
Well, yeah, that's not so fascinating then.
I totally missed that section in e-sword. There is simply no substitute to Bibleworks that I'm aware of. But, due to its cost, I really can't recommend it to those without a working knowledge of the languages. Of course, even if you have a working knowledge of the languages, you also need a computer progam degree to figure out the nearly inch and a half thick "instruction manual"!
This is good discussion for me, the Greek illiterate. . .how can I ever be worthy to preach a sermon?!!?!?
Anyway, Michael another somewhat free resource is E4's introductory package. I say that because they do ask you to cover S/H fees. Find it at freebiblesoftware.com. Look for the Bible Study Libray Vol. 1 & 2. See if that has any more useful stuff on it with regard to the difficulties you find on e-sword. I cannot answer this for you, but you might have a look.
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