Transcript

Hello and welcome back to our masterclass

My name is Ian White and right now we’re going to take our next step towards crafting a sermon and start to think about the main idea your sermon will contain.

We’re likening the crafting of a sermon to creating a bridge

(here’s our bridge)

On one side we have the world of the Bible and on the other we have the world of today

• and the way I’m recommending you work on a bible passage is like this …

• let’s assume that our work on the Bible’s text is complete,

So, armed all this stuff, let’s assume that we’ve settled on the heartbeat – the spiritual and emotional impact we want our sermon to have

Now how do we go about putting that down in such a way that it will have the same impact on our hearers that it’s had on us.

What will be the structure or skeleton of your sermon?

Now, as with all of the insights in the masterclass, you may have your own way of doing this; especially if you’re a regular preacher.

I’d really like to hear about it in the comments section below so we can share our journey together.

In our last segment I encouraged you to “say one thing and say it well!”

So now let’s take that main idea and consider a few different ways we could get it across

The main idea comes from the text itself

(Exegetical approach)

So our big idea comes straight out of the passage – the structure of your sermon is the same as the structure of the passage

I’m assuming we’ve already done the background work on context, content and framework of the text – and you’ve go some sort of record, or notes with all that info

So now we’re going to craft a sermon whose structure fairly closely mirrors that of the text.

For me, this is the most common way I find myself preaching from the Bible

The style of the sermon

What will this sermon sound like?

You will (probably) have some key things in your sermon or Bible Study

1. We explain the text

Based on our study – especially highlighting the context, because that is often the key to being inspired by the text itself

2. The passage provides the different sections and the flow of the sermon

So the ideas will come one after the other, even if it’s not a unified whole. We are communicating the text.

3. We may use cross-references or examples from elsewhere in the Bible

I believe this implicitly helps people to see the coherence of the scriptures and gives us confidence we’re handling it wisely.

4. We just proclaim the message of the text

We just say it like it is! The Word has spoken to our hearts and we let that word ignite / catch fire in the congregation’s hearts.

And you will be surprised (I hope) at how easily this happens – after all it’s God’s word and therefore it has power of itself to inspire people!

We use contemporary / today’s language – and as simply as clearly as we can. Trying to avoid theobabble.

You will present your words with as much depth / history / grammar / vocabulary

The study you bring to this is not just what you’ve done in the last few days of preparation, but you can draw on the experiences of your whole life to make God’s word clear and simple!

Our goal it to bring our people a deeper understanding of God’s word that will inspire them to follow Christ more wholeheartedly.

In these moments you are being inspired by the same Holy Spirit as wrote the Bible!

Allow me to illustrate this with an example

1 Kings 19 and Elijah

From the preceding chapter (the textual context) we can easily see he was physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted after the conflict on mount Carmel

This left him so depleted he was on the verge of suicide (v4)

The angel of the Lord (aka God himself) intervened and lifted the prophet from his despair.

… all that is in the text!

So when I preach this, as I did recently, I started by describing Elijah’s perfect storm of exhaustion, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Then I talked about how he contemplated suicide (and this is a point at which people in your congregation might be able to identify) and how God met him when he was a rock bottom

Then, thirdly I described (again sticking closely to the passage) how God helped him to recover – with food, with sleep and with reassurance.

The passage speaks for itself!

the main idea is a theme you’ve chosen from the text

We are exposing its message to our hearers

This is where you select the theme, even if it’s not the big idea of the text itself.

The style of the sermon

What will this sermon sound like?

Our overall aim is to turn this text from the Bible and turn it into a spiritually uplifting sermon for today by identifying a main thought that runs through the passage, but may not be explicitly stated there.

If, for example, you’re preaching on a character attribute of God, that attribute (his compassion, his justice for example) may not be explicitly referenced in the text, but it should be clear from it.

So not all of the detailed truths from verses you studied will feed into your Big Idea, and the ones that don’t fit I usually just leave out. (This is different from above)

Here’s a thing

With this kind of preaching I find I need to work on my introduction and conclusion rather more, so that that both contain the Big Idea.

• Remember people concentrate most at the beginning and at the end of a sermon, so make sure the Big Idea and really Big at these moments! (graph?)

So you choose/ select which parts to include or exclude according to what fits with your theme, (the Big Idea) the best.

We often find that stories and quotations fit in here – so put them in – Jesus always put in lots!

All the time our aim is to proclaim – to exhort – to encourage – to inspire – sometimes to confront 2Tim 3:16

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

That’s what we want to do

Now, because it’s me who is digging out the theme, there are some pitfalls to be aware of.

a) you could choose a theme that is not genuinely seen in the passage – and in so doing we’re imposing our ideas on the text, not extracting the Bible’s ideas for our people.

Instead of exegesis, this is impogesis ( is that a word?)

b) you could miss the original meaning of the text – then we wouldn’t be handling the Bible authentically.

1 Kings 19 – How does God handle people who are burned out?

What God is like when we’re at rock bottom – How does he behave towards us?

He’s very practical

(eat / sleep / repeat)

He gets us pondering the big question v10 “what are you doing here Elijah?”

He chooses the best method of getting his message across to us

(not the dramatic, but the gentle whisper)

He can restore exhausted, troubled disciples

The Big Idea emerges from telling stories

Narrative style of preaching

Very provocative and engaging – people love it when it’s done well

Basic idea: Oral communication (like preaching) is not always heard as a set of ‘logical points’ but a collection of ‘moves’ or scenes in a play.

How to study for narrative preaching

the narrative preacher will look for relevant Bible stories that can illustrate something significant

Most of their study will be focused on the flow (how can I teach it with relevance) of the narrative and on people then and now

The narrative preacher always seeks to connect then and now in a way that is contemporary.

The Style of the sermon

Narrative preacher chooses a topic the is relevant to his people

The theme will usually be based on the preacher’s personal experience

There will usually be introduction / outline (often loose) and conclusion

He will seek and use extra-biblical stories that teach (from his life and lives of hearers) what he wants to say

He will often be very encouraging

Let’s take 1 Kings 19 again.

Main idea might be “Your life has value to God – and to us”

1^st – I would tell the story of Elijah being under pressure

tell story of someone I know (or even myself) being under pressure

2^nd – talk about Elijah considering suicide

Followed by an example of someone at rock bottom

3^rd – tell the story of Elijah being fed and sleeping

I might tell another story about sleep (or lack of it) or spin a bit of science in here.

4^th tell story of Elijah hearing God’s voice as a whisper and realising that he still had a ministry and his life still has value

I weave each story carefully – and I’m really fussy about getting the sequence of events in such a way as they build to the climax of the story.woven carefully together.

I want to make it sound as if I’m just telling the story to a few friends, over a meal, whereas in reality each step in the narrative is carefully placed – especially to avoid unnecessary details.

I have been fascinated by listening to some of the notable preachers of our time tell stories on different occasions – and I’ve noticed how similar they are from one event to another.

There are some pros and cons to this type of narrative preaching:

Pros

• non-linear approach – allowing the scripture to inform and frame the narratives of today.

• I find it connects with a post-modern mindset more readily

• When it’s done well, it’s highly engaging as a preach!

• Jesus did this extensively. He was a stunningly griping storyteller – and every time there was a punchline to his story – even if it was a fictitious parable!

Cons

• It can give the impression that truth may not be transferable – i.e. the truth for you may be different from the truth for me – it’s ‘my truth’ or ‘your truth’

• it’s message is individual not communal – so it doesn’t always connect people together. (Someone might say “I resonated with that story” another person “well I didn’t”)

• As soon as someone’s life changes to a different experience from that of the preacher, they don’t connect with God’s word any more!

Should we not use stories, then? Yes, Yes, Yes!

But our stories should always the the servant of the message, not its master!

Summary

Three approaches to putting a structure to your sermon

1. the structure comes from the text itself (exegetical preaching)

The main idea of your sermon is the same as the main idea of the text

2. the structure comes from a theme you’ve selected as the main idea. (expositional preaching)

This views the text through a lens of your choice.

3. the main idea emerges via stories you tell (narrative preaching)

The Bible’s story can then run in parallel to stories you tell.

Think about this

Consider the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-27)

If we were telling this story in 21^st Century, who would the characters be?

Who is the person attacked?

• school teacher on his way home, takes a short cut up a dark alley. Is mugged from behind.

Who are the people who walk by (or step over him in the alley?!)

• Orthodox priest? Charismatic Christian humming away in tongues? Pastor trying to work out his big idea for Sunday?!

Who is the person who comes to his assistance?

• Local gypsy? Transgender woman?

What did this person do?

• Gypsy sold his bike to pay for the doctor to see the injured man