The more traditional approach to preaching was apparently to do all the explanation and then ask where the truth might connect to listeners’ lives at the end.  Actually, good preachers have always made their listeners feel connected to the message much earlier than that.  There is one point of early connection between listeners and Bible text that is usually fairly obvious.

Ever since Genesis 3 we have all lived in a fallen world.  Abram did.  David did.  Paul did.  You do.

This means it shouldn’t be too hard to find a connection between text and world.  The people in the text are fallen people in a fallen world.  So are we.  So unless your study and preparation is taking you down a fruitful pathway other than this, it is probably worth asking what is the fallen world issue in the text?  Is it rebellion?  Is it doubt?  Is it suffering?  Is it fear?  Is it self-love?

Once you can see what the tension is in the text, brought about by the Fall, then you can probably make a connection to today.  So far, so good.  But don’t miss the next step.

Make that connection overt.

It is no good knowing it and assuming others spot it.  Make it clear.  Evident.  Stated.  It is easy to have this kind of “fallen condition focus” (as Bryan Chapell calls it) in our minds, but then fail to say so in our sermons.  You start into the context, tell a bit of historical background, explain a bit culturally, dive into the text, explain freely and before you know it you are almost out of time and start to make some sort of application.  Oops.  You just did what we said it was better to avoid.  Why?  Because if a sermon feels like a historical lecture, your listeners won’t, well, listen.

Look for point of connection.  Make clear point of connection.  And do it early.