When you speak on a subject, rather than preaching an assigned text, you have the choice of which text to preach.  In many cases there are obvious texts to preach.  Asked to preach on the church, you might be drawn to Ephesians, or Matthew 16.  Preaching on marriage?  Ephesians 5 or Colossians 3.  Preaching on missions?  Matthew 28 or Acts 1.

There are advantages to preaching the more obvious texts.  First, they are obvious because they address the issue clearly.  Second, people will often feel a sense of an expectation being satisfied, like watching a good movie for a second or third time.

But you might like to go with a less obvious text.  Perhaps a narrative.  Perhaps a text people don’t know so well.  Interest may rise, impact may be deeper, perspective may be enriched.  Preaching on church?  How about the last section of John 17 . . . that’s my choice for today.  The other subjects?  I’ll think about them another time, my mind is captivated by John 17:20-22.