“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching
everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in
Christ. To this end I labor,
struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” - Colossians 1:28-29
a.
Pray that God will draw your
heart to Himself.
b.
Pray that God will pull away your
distractions.
c.
Pray that God will open your eyes
to what He wants you to see.
d.
Pray for the people you will be
preaching too.
2.
Confess!
a.
Confess your Pride.
b.
Confess your Fears.
c.
Confess you the idols of your
heart.
ü Comfort
– Approval – Security
ü Money
– Sex – Power
3.
Rejoice! Be careful not to hang out too long in
confession without rejoicing in Gospel!
4.
Never
Listen to someone else’s sermon – yet! I don’t recommend listening to other people’s
sermons before you have worked on your sermon.
When we listen to our preacher hero’s we have a hard time being aware of
what the Holy Spirit may have us to preach.
In addition, it often causes us to cut the hard work of getting into the
passages ourselves. If you feel
obligated to listen, wait until you have completed your exegetical work.
5.
Read
Not Exegete: Before you get to the exegesis take time to
simple read the passage over slowly and reflectively. Unless you are highly proficient in Greek
and Hebrew, do this is your favorite translation. I would encourage you to do this several
times.
6.
Listen:
Take some time to reflect and pray about the passage. Let it sink in devotionally. Pray and listen to the leading of the Holy
Spirit. How is He speaking to your
personally through this passage?
7.
Exegete
the Scriptures carefully and prayerfully: This is the
fun part! Enjoy the exegesis. Be thorough and don’t skimp on this. As you draw conclusions in regard to the
passage be sure to keep in balance three areas:
1) what have theologians from the past written on this passage, 2) what does
your present community (for me this is the Presbyterian Church in America) believe
concerning the passage, 3) and what are your personal conclusions. Be careful you don’t get pulled to far in
any one of the three directions.
8.
Context: This is an area many preachers often neglect
to the harm of the people they are preaching too. Always be aware of your audience. When you know your context well, the truths
of Scripture will be both taught and applied in a way that they “get it”. Using a triangle once again, be sure to keep
these three areas in mind when considering context. 1) Do thorough study and understand the context
to which the passage of Scripture was written.
I would recommend using new resources as many older commentaries, did
not have information now available.
2) Next be sure you are preaching
the sermon to the people sitting in front of you. Know their academic level, their value
system, as well as the struggles they may be facing. Remember you need to be answering the
questions they are asking, not the ones you want you want to answer. Don’t
preach to your internet audience! 3)
Know thyself! Be aware of both the
similarities and the differences between you, the original audience and the
congregation.
Original Audience
9.
The
Main Thing: Identify a single main idea (proposition) and
be able to state it in terms of a universal truth and its application to
life. Make sure it is derived from the
text and developed in the exposition. In
other words, if there is one thing they get out of the sermon, this is what I
want it to be.
10. Outline:
Construct a clear outline that develops the main idea and is clearly rooted in
the text. There are many ways to outline
a sermon, so use one that you are comfortable with. Be
sure that it flows and is easy to follow.
11. Introduction: Begin the sermon with an introduction that
captures the listener’s attention and leads them into the text. There are many ways to do this. If you use a story be careful to not use one that
is so powerful it overshadows what you will be preaching on. In addition, if you get a story from another
sermon or on line, be sure you don’t claim it as your own. Not only is not honest, but with the so many
sermons so readily available it will ruin your credibility.
12. Conclude! End the sermon with a conclusion that
ties the sermon together and presses home the application to life and that
adores Jesus. Be sure to think this
through. If you are new to preaching, I
would advise you to always write this out.
It is important, so don’t neglect it.
13. Review. Continually
evaluate your sermons for speech (“ah,” “you know”) and body mannerisms that
are distracting. Never ever, quit
working on your preaching - there will always be room to grow! In addition, ask yourself and those around
you these questions:
a. Am I truly
expounding the text and not misusing it to make a point?
b. Do your
applications fit the context?
c. Is the Gospel
clear?
ü The Bad News.
ü The Great News
d.
Does it point to Jesus?
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