I suspect somewhere in more than a thousand posts on here, I have mentioned once or twice about the importance of unity in a message. Order is often present, if only by virtue of the progression of the text. Progress is sort of present, inasmuch as the number of verses are running out, as is the available time. But all too often, in preaching in some circles, the sense of unity is negligible or just plain vague.
Too many messages are essentially a series of points united by a common textual source and a title. This is not the inherent unity that is there in the text. Often messages are essentially a vague-subject completed. Three things about our title. Four aspects of such and such. This is not really reflecting the unity that is present in a unit of thought. Sometimes I wonder if we might be forcing texts into sermonic structures, rather than structuring sermons in such a way as to effectively communicate the texts.
Exactly, Peter — good reminder. If we do our research properly, we have far too many ideas to cram into a sermon, and it can become a beehive of ideas without enough of a unifying thread. Even expository preaching of a verse or pericope can lead to that. I try to wrap things up by asking “What’s the Big Idea” after doing all my own background work; but if I get several different thoughts as the one Big Idea, then I realize I haven’t focused enough. The Lord will always get across what he wants said; I don’t have to say everything in one sermon or even one year, so it’s better to make one point clear than to fuzz several ideas.