Studying the Text and Crafting the Sermon
DMN Expository Preaching Lectures • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsWhat are the initial observations that we should make when it comes to Christocentric and expository preaching?
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Let’s dive into week 2 of our deep dive into Christocentric and expository preaching. What I want us to look at today are the steps leading up to our development and delivery of the sermon. No one simply goes up and preaches. You are not more spiritual if you go stand on holy ground and just zoom through a sermon on the fly. Good preaching is prepared preaching. Great preaching comes from hearts that are humble and from hearts and minds that accept that prayer and the Holy Spirit are critical to the preaching event. Humble submission means that we accept that none of us have arrived yet. I’ve never preached a perfect sermon. Ken has never preached a perfect sermon. Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Piper, have never preached a perfect sermon. Before we even grab the text, we need to bow down at the throne. James writes in James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” There is a seriousness at becoming proclaimers and teachers of the Gospel. I know that there will be a day in my future where every word that I have said from this pulpit or any pulpit will be laid before the Judge of the Universe. That’s pressure. I don’t care what people think when I preach. I don’t care if people are offended by the Word of truth. But I care greatly about how I represent my Savior. I care greatly about the way the Lord views my ministry and my teaching. I want to be faithful and my hope is that every single person in this room desires to be faithful. We have a lot to go through this afternoon so I am hoping to get through 5 major topics in our time today. If we run out of time, we can maybe move one or two to the next time that we are together but let me tell you what we will be covering today: 1. The importance of prayer. 2. Selecting a Text. 3. How should we approach the text? 4. Finding Christ in the Text. 5. The Use of Commentaries and Study Tools. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and then we will talk about prayer.
The Importance of Prayer from Initial Preparation to Sermon
The Importance of Prayer from Initial Preparation to Sermon
A good sermon doesn’t start on a piece of paper, it starts from the knees. A man that is faithfully seeking God in prayer will be a man that wants to faithfully declare His glory from His Word. Prayer is not a one and done event when it comes to Christocentric, expository preaching. The entire process from beginning to end needs to be shrouded in prayer and I don’t just mean from the moment you start writing to the moment that you finish. The entire sermon event needs to be saturated in prayer and lifted up to God. We need to be seeking our Heavenly Father as we are getting ready to start preparation. We should be seeking the Lord’s guidance as we select a text. We should be asking what God wants His people to know. We should ask the Lord to guide us as we begin to study the text and as we begin consulting commentaries and other resources. We should ask that God would direct us to faithful teachers that faithfully represent what God says in His Word. We should ask that as we begin writing our sermons that we would not add anything in that is not there and not take anything out that is there. We should pray that God would keep ourselves humble as we continue to craft the sermon.
Selecting a Text
Selecting a Text
How Should We Approach the Text?
How Should We Approach the Text?
John Stott wrote, “Whether it [the text] is long or short, our responsibility as expositors is to open it up in such a way that it speaks its message clearly, plainly, accurately, relevantly, without addition, subtraction or falsification. In expository preaching the biblical text is neither a conventional introduction to a sermon on a largely different theme, nor a convenient peg on which to hang a ragbag of miscellaneous thoughts, but a master which dictates and controls what is said.”
Finding Christ in the Text
Finding Christ in the Text
Commentaries and Study Tools
Commentaries and Study Tools
