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by
Tony Merida
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January 1 - January 15, 2020
Finally, bring some creative people into the study process.
Our goal is to explain and apply biblical truth, not tell a bunch of stories. When you do this, you lose credibility from many hearers, and you end up diluting the thrust of the message.
Remember to illustrate humbly, as well. Do not make yourself the hero in every story.
Finally, use illustrations respectfully.
The key functional elements are explanation, application, and illustration. Explanation and application are the two essential elements because expository preaching purposes to present and apply biblical truth. Illustrations are servants of explanation and application.
A good introduction serves two purposes. First, it arouses interest, stimulates curiosity, and whets the appetite for more. Secondly, it genuinely “introduces” the theme by leading the hearers to it. . . . Conclusions are more difficult than introductions. Some preachers seem to be constitutionally incapable of concluding anything, let alone their sermons.269
Though the MPT and MPS are developed early in the process, you still should consider developing the “opener” or “sermon starter” (what some refer to as the introduction) last because you cannot introduce something that you know nothing about.
The conclusion should not only summarize the material but also include a call for response.
The introduction first should incite interest for both the believer and unbeliever.
The problem that I have with those who do not see the point to introductions is that they assume interest on the part of the hearer.
Finally, open up with variety.
Personal stories are useful as well. Andy Stanley puts forward the Me-We-God-You-We approach, illustrating the flow of the introduction and sermon.272
This progressive journey is a natural way to communicate. Long-time pastor Adrian Rogers provided a similar formula: Hey! You! Look! Do!273
A conclusion generally has two important parts: a summation and a response.
The summation, as I prefer to call it, reinforces the MPS and recaps the content of the message. It should never include new information, though some summaries may employ a story or quote or some added dimension.
Clarity. It is essential that we are clear during the response time. Tell your hearers exactly what you want them to do. Make the necessary preparations for specific response times. Anticipate response.
We usually say something like this, “If you are not a Christian, the Table is not for you. But we offer you something greater. We offer you Christ himself. We would love to talk with you during this time, as people move to get the elements, or we can talk after the service about what it means to become a Christian.”
In the delivery portion of the book, I will discuss more matters pertaining to communication ideas, but the final word to mention is to remember that the entire sermon process is a prayerful event.
One preacher quipped, “First I reads myself full, next I thinks myself clear, next I prays myself hot, and then I lets go.”277
Exposition is not complete until the sermon is preached. The preaching event culminates in the actual presentation of the exposition.278
Bombast and oratorical flourishes remind one of pulpit caricatures; they do not stimulate pastoral respect. At the same time, staid, unenthusiastic solemnity communicates irrelevant tedium rather than sincere seriousness.
He taught that the speaker should seek to teach, please, and persuade.281
Clarity is a moral issue, not a stylistic issue. It is an eternal issue. We should want to be clear because of what is at stake!
It is important to remember that while we may not add to the power of the message with impressive speaking skills, because the power is in the Word and Spirit, we can hinder the power of the Word coming through us by poor, distracting speaking habits.
Be able to teach so that people can follow you. Have a good sense of humor. Be able to speak well. Have a good voice. Have a good memory. Know when to stop. Be sure of one’s doctrine. Be ready to venture body and blood, wealth and honor, for the word of God. Suffer oneself to be mocked and jeered at by all. Be ready to accept patiently the fact that nothing is seen more quickly in preachers than their faults.283
Simplicity and clarity are essential for expounding the Word effectively.
Cursed are all preachers that in the church aim at high and hard things, and neglecting the saving health of the poor unlearned people, seek their own honor and praise. . . .
Calvin also advocated a simple approach, saying, “I have not corrupted one single passage of Scripture, nor twisted it as far as I know. . . . I have always studied to be simple.”287
And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 ESV).
The early Christians prayed for boldness instead of the removal of persecution.
When Paul spoke to the Jewish audience, he began with the Scriptures, and when he spoke to the Greeks, he referenced their philosophers. With both audiences, he preached the resurrected Christ (Acts 17:3–5, 22–34).
language. Eye contact is always quite important.
Next, pursue a natural, conversational tone like you would normally speak to another person.
Do not transform into a different species when you preach. Speak clearly and relationally, as a pastor who loves his people.
laugh. Some types of humor include anecdotes, witticisms, satire, hyperbole, irony, quips, examples, parables, sarcasm, sanctified imagination, understatement, metaphor, anticlimax, fables, mispronunciation, puns, or spoonerism (e.g., “tips of the slung!”).
The text demands a response. These responses may differ, but there should always be a Christ-centered response. So how do you persuade the hearers?
What are you saying without words?
The fact is more ministers are dismissed from congregations because of their lifestyle and relationship qualities than by the content of their sermons.
debate. I could simply call this chapter “How to preach the Word both faithfully and effectively” because good contextualization is simply about expounding the Word well within a given context.
The “old-fashioned Bible people” cannot understand why the newer generation has little regard for traditional beliefs. Meanwhile, the newer generation is perplexed by the rigidity of their old-fashioned predecessors. What is needed today perhaps more than ever are effective bridge builders.
In order to think through these contextualization issues, let us work through three categories: clarifications, foundations, and exhortations.
Our challenge involves crossing theological barriers rather than dialect barriers.
In the world of preaching, contextualization has to do with audience sensitivity.
We do not make the gospel relevant; we show people why and how it is relevant.
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake
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We need to understand and value those whom we are addressing if we also desire effectiveness in exposition.
While Paul preached the same message (the resurrection!), his approach varied among Jews and non-Jews.
He wanted to make sure the message made sense, and that unbelievers would be drawn into the fellowship as they observed God’s people worshipping and as they considered the gospel. We should desire this as well.
First, we should see contextualization as an act of love.
And every good pastor-teacher will seek to make the message understandable to various types of people, if he truly loves them.
