Where Do Sermons Come From?

May 20, 2008 6:32 pm admin Blogs

A sermon is an interesting thing. It’s a speech of course, but it’s always a persuasive speech. In Ephesians 4:16 the Bible calls the church a body of people who each have different gifts that work together. My gift is my mouth. As the pastor of a young, small church plant I do a lot of things, from counseling, to pre-marital sessions, to administration, to leadership development and oversight, but most importantly I preach. This entry is devoted to sharing with you all how I prepare for a sermon.

The very first thing I do is pray. I pray the words of Psalm 119:18, that God would open my eyes to see the wonderful things in His word. Then I pray 2 Timothy 2:15, that God would help to be a man who has no reason to be ashamed, but rightly divides His word of truth.

After prayer, me and text start hanging out. I read it in English and then I ask it every single question I can think of it. I try and come up with as many questions as possible and think about the text from as many different perspectives as possible. What does this mean? What is the flow here? What if this isn’t true, why do some people think it is not? Then I go looking for answers for my questions.

I begin to look for answers, first by translating the text from the original language it was written in (Greek for NT, Hebrew for OT). I try to get a feel for the mood and the flow of the passage. If there seems to be a key word or two of emphasis, or a word that really makes the whole sentence or paragraph function, then I do some in depth study on that word, usually using Kittel’s 10 Vol. TDNT, Moulton & Miligan’s Vocabulary Articfacts, Colin Brown’s 4 Vol. NIDNT, and of course the lexical standard BAGD.

The next thing I do is look into any historical or cultural backgrounds which might be inherently present in the text. Things like dress, work, objects, time of year, land, language, people group, way of life, etc. In this quest, Fergueson’s Background of Early Christianity, Joachim Jeremias’ Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, The IVB Bible Background Commentaries, and Clinton Arnold’s 4 Vol. ZIBBC are really helpful.

Third I begin to work through theological issues. I ask questions like, what does this say about God, man, man’s relationship with God, man’s relationship with each other. Are there connective conjunctive words which form arguments or give reasons for things, words like “so that” or “therefore.” I begin to ask what other passages of Scripture say that might be similar to the verse I am working with. I ask how it would have sounded upon it’s first reading. I ask what will be the most hard for people in San Diego to hear, for non-Christians and Christians, I try to estimate what the knee jerk reactions will be. I also like to use systematic theologies at this point to see what they might say about my text. I particularly like Louis Berkoff’s, William G.T. Shedd’s, and Wayne Grudem’s.

The most important theological question however, is asking how the passage finds it’s fulfillment in Jesus. In this last endeavor, which is perhaps the most important, I strive to avoid both the errors of dispensationalism (people saved different ways at different times) and typism (reading Jesus types into things he wasn’t intended to be, like Rahab’s red cloth). Geerhardus Vos, Ed Clowney, and Tim Keller have all been excellent aids and examples for me in that.

Then, lastly I go to the commentaries. Commentaries are like checking the answers at the end of a math book. Once I’ve already done my own personal study I generally have some opinions and can converse with the commentators one way or another, to agree or disagree and often see things I didn’t see before on my own study. I usually read about 10 commentaries on a given text.

Once my study is done, I begin to try and figure out what the movements will be in the sermon, whether they be in a strict outline form or more of a story form. Once I have a general feel for how the sermon should go, I begin to think of connecting points for the hearers, whether story illustrations from the Bible, my personal life, or from something else. I take a distinctly missional perspective on this point and try and think of some things either from the news or pop culture to connect with people on.

The very last thing I do is write out a manuscript. My manuscripts are usually about 7, single spaced, typed pages. That makes for a 35-45 minute sermon. Once printed, I read through the sermon at least twice, mark or underline or circle certain key words or phrases, and then I go pray by myself over the sermon a for awhile. The whole process usually takes about 20 hours at least.

I’ll save my preaching techniques for another entry. But that is where my sermons come from. The preaching of a sermon is a whole different task with it’s own techniques and challenges. But it’s all worth it and hopefully this entry gives you a better idea of what I go through each week so that those I shepherd get a good meal.

Much love,
-Pastor Duane