8/19/2023 0 Comments Eloquent words for a front porch![]() Don't spend too much time setting up the message of the text. Then they get to a point where they say, "I wish I had more time to deal with this." You did! But you spent it in the introduction. It seems they are sticking all the material they could not find another place for into the introduction. Too often preachers spend a major chunk of their allotted time in the introduction. It welcomes guest to your home and leads them to the front door to enter the house. You do not hang a big-screen TV on the porch. But you do not arrange the living room furniture on the porch. The front porch welcomes guests to your home. The introduction is the front porch of the sermon. Next, I proceed to the formal introduction of the sermon. The title is intended to be an encapsulated preview of the message. After praying and reading the text, I state the title of the sermon. I believe this practice of beginning the sermon by reading the text affirms the authority of scripture. I will have the rest of the sermon to explain and exhort. Then I read the sermon text without comment. I pray publicly to express dependence on God to help us speak faithfully and hear clearly. I typically begin my sermons with a word of prayer. They also do not ramble through their introduction, manipulate in their illustrations, or crash-land during their conclusions. Faithful preachers do not impose their own ideas on the text. It is about preaching the Word faithfully and clearly to the glory of God and for the salvation and sanctification of those who hear.Ĭhrist-exalting preaching is text driven. It is not about being creative, eloquent, or impressive in the pulpit. It is for this reason that introductions, illustrations, and conclusions should matter to the expositor. True expository preaching strives to be both faithful to the text and clear in the presentation. This all-consuming duty shaped the herald's message and the presentation of that message. The ancient herald was under orders to proclaim the message of the king to the people. But the burden for truth that drives the expositor to study hard should also drive him to prepare well. When the craft of the sermon overrides the message of the text, it is performance, not preaching. Or, the various elements of the sermon fail to make the biblical message clear. But the divine message of the text is not preached. It is obvious the preacher knows a lot about the text. The problem with some expository preaching is that it is exposition but it is not preaching. ![]() But zombie preachers should be indicted, not expository preaching. Careful study became sloppy preaching because the preacher did not craft his introduction, choose his illustrations, or plan his conclusion.Įxpositional preaching often gets a bad rap for being dry, boring, and lifeless. But there is a heavy fog in the pulpit, because diligent research was not fleshed out in sermon preparation. The preacher does his best to rightly divide the Word of truth. The doctrinal themes and theological significance of the passage are unearthed. ![]() The best commentaries on the text are reviewed. The literary and historical context is considered. ![]() The meaning and grammar of the words are carefully studied. The process is saturated in prayer for illumination (Ps 119:18, 34). Other preachers rightly focus on the God-intended meaning of the text. But they fail to preach the Word, to the spiritual detriment of the large crowds that sit under their preaching. These craft-first preachers are lauded as great communicators. And the congregation enjoyed the ride so much that it never noticed they did not actually go anywhere. The important homiletical policies and procedure were followed. Then they land smoothly at the same airport from which they took off. They get to a cruising altitude and pilot the sermon without running into turbulence. Some preachers build the sermon using the homiletical elements, neglecting the priority of the text. There are two extremes preachers fall into when it comes to introductions, illustrations, and conclusions.
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