Stage 2 – Passage Study

Multiply the Fruit of Your Study

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

To really study a text takes time and effort. It involves a lot of thinking, reading, original language work for those that can, note taking, diagramming, plot analysis, word studies and so on. If you’ve really studied a passage well, let the fruit be multiplied. Here are some ideas:

1. Preach more than one sermon. As a pastor it is possible to preach the sermon on Sunday morning, then come at the passage again in the evening. Perhaps the evening could focus less on explanation, and more on fleshing out the possible relevance and applications of the idea. If we’re honest, how much do people grasp on a “once-only” schedule? Why not double up the dose, more will stick!

2. Produce study notes. Perhaps for a home group study, but not just for that. Why not produce a sheet of notes that will help your listeners think through the passage again during the week? The fruit of your study can be a guide for them in exegeting the passage, arriving at the main idea and points of application.

3. Participate in a forum. Some preachers would run a mile from this idea, and some probably should. However, if you have the mind and the grace to handle this, consider offering a forum, a Q&A time on the passage. Let people ask questions and interact with the subject or passage, you be the resource to help people think clearly. This may be more appropriate on some subjects than others, but if a group of people would come and benefit from your study, why not?

4. Publish it in some way. Perhaps your study would yield a magazine article? Maybe this would just go in the church newssheet, a denominational publication or maybe one of the big Christian magazines. Perhaps your work has what it takes for a journal article, or for a one-page handout you can make available at the back for the next few weeks. Publishing doesn’t have to involve contracts and massive time commitments. If you’ve done the work, perhaps there are ways others can benefit. How about the recorded message? Then there’s the wild world of the internet. It is full of all sorts of stuff (who am I to talk?), so if you think your notes or article will help, then add them to the mix. However, remember your goal is to bless and help others, not drain away your own time for the benefit of none (easy to do with internet or self-publishing).

5. Preach it again. If the sermon is still fresh as you re-work it, preach it again. Perhaps to the same people after a significant delay. You’ll be both excited and disappointed by the fact they may not even notice! Or you could preach it somewhere else. Switch pulpits with a pastor friend and both preach an old message – less preparation, but possibly great blessing for the two churches.

The Message and the Text

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

The relationship of a message to the Bible text is clear. We are to begin with the text, derive the message from the text and bring it to our people today. Van Harn emphasizes the importance of the “from” in the following quote:

“Preaching is from Bible texts. Not on Bible texts – although some sermons stay right there and never seem to leave the text. Not about Bible texts – although some sermons seem that distant and detached. Not around Bible texts – although some sermons seem to move in circles. Not above Bible texts – although some sermons travel in thin air. Not under Bible texts – although some sermons seem to be hiding. The word is from.”

Van Harn, Preacher, Can You Hear Us Listening, 61.

How Being a Preacher Can Kill Your Bible Study

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

The stages of sermon preparation are not a hard and fast series of steps. It is possible to have a useful thought for the introduction, conclusion, illustrations, and so on, very early in the process. Yet these are all stage 7 elements – message details. So even though it is possible to have thoughts at any time, it is usually better to note them and leave them until later. This is especially important in stage 2 – passage study. A commitment to expository preaching requires that we keep stage 2 unpolluted by stages 5-7.

1. As you are studying your passage you are not looking for a sermon. If you collapse stage 6 – sermon shape, into stage 2 – passage study, you will undermine the whole process. It is critical to study the passage first, to understand it, rather than to form it into a sermon.

2. If your mind creeps ahead, make a note and get back to stage 2. We’re all tempted to see our points as we study. Write them down and put them aside. That is not yet. We easily look for our sermon structure, will there be two points, or three? Inductive or deductive? Don’t. Write down any thoughts and then put that aside.

3. Be clear on your goal in studying a passage. What is the goal of studying the passage? It is not to find the sermon. It is not to determine the points of the sermon. It is not to utilize our Greek or Hebrew until we feel we have fulfilled some sense of duty. It is not to parse verbs endlessly, or do word study after word study. The goal of studying the passage is to find, with some degree of confidence, the passage idea. The goal of stage 2 is stage 3 (and part of stage 4). The goal of studying the passage is to know what the author’s idea was, and why he wrote it. Seems obvious, but we easily forget. In fact, many of us have never been told that. I don’t recall my seminary profs training me to exegete a passage so that I grasp the author’s main idea. But that is the goal. All the Bible study skills we have are there to work towards that.

Determine the main idea of the passage, with as much confidence as you can achieve in the time you have. Then you are ready to start considering the purpose of your sermon, your sermon idea and your sermon outline. Do these things too soon and you may abort your Bible study.

Why Some Sermons Are Not Fresh

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

There are many reasons why a preacher may struggle to prepare a message that is really fresh and vital. Here are three to be aware of and guard against:

1. Schedule pressure – The reality for most of us is that there are not enough hours in the week. With the best intentions to give time to the sermon preparation, life continues to happen. Crises occur in the church and in the family, other tasks take more time than expected, and so on. When the walls of time are pressing in, the preacher naturally will move to “just getting a message” rather than fully preparing a message from that particular text for those people on that Sunday. Just a passing comment – if there is never enough time any week (perhaps because you are preaching five times a week), then perhaps something needs to be changed.

2. Text familiarity – After years of formal and personal Bible study, it is inevitable that the text can take on a certain level of familiarity. The temptation is to move on to hunt sermon detail material such as illustrations, rather than taking the time to study the passage again. There may be a temptation to jump from the text to a doctrine that seems both pertinent and important. The challenge is to first take the opportunity to study the text again. Often I find that my understanding at the level of doctrine may not change too much, but the literary structure of a passage usually becomes clearer each time I return. Focus on the literary structure and features of the text, look for turns in the plot, points of tension in the narrative, significant movements in the flow of thought.

3. Spiritual staleness – Being in ministry can be a lonely place. Everyone has expectations of us, many place demands on us and few understand the unique battles of the ministry on every level, not least spiritually. With high levels of output, and potentially very little input other than that which we pursue for ourselves, spiritual dryness can easily set in. There are numerous elements in a solution to this, but mention must be made of our relationship with God and our relationships with other people. Both need transparency, both need constancy. There is much more, but there can’t be less than this.

Under pressure to produce it is easy to slip into a pattern of merely creative sermon making. But as Van Harn suggests, the minister is not called first of all to be creative, but to be a faithful listener to the text. (Preacher, Can You Hear Us Listening?, 19)

That Message from That Text?

/ Peter Mead / 4 Comments

It is vital that the listener be able to see how the message comes from the text they are looking at. The credibility of the speaker matters, but the credibility of the Bible matters more. It matters that people listening to a sermon can look at the text before them and see how the message flows from that particular text. It is not good enough to preach truth, or to preach a sound idea. It matters that the truth and the idea come from the text presented to the people.

Some years ago my wife and I sat in church as the visiting preacher preached the gospel. The message was true, the gospel was clear. But the message was not true to that text, and the gospel was not clear from that text. His “clever” presentation of the gospel undermined the very credibility of the gospel he proclaimed.

Since you’re wondering, he preached the gospel using the three phrases from Job 41:8. First point was that we must identify with Christ (lay your hand on him). Second point, that we must remember what He did for us (remember the battle). Third point was that our salvation is not dependent on us, but on Him, there is no need to keep “getting saved” again (and you will do it no more). The text is not presenting the gospel, it is God telling Job to get in the squared circle and slug it out with leviathan.

May our listeners never leave saying, “Great message, but I don’t see how he got that message from that text!”

Peter has responded to comments on this post.

Using a PC in Preaching Preparation

/ Peter Mead / 6 Comments

It is so easy to take technology for granted.  Some of us have access to more tools than we know what to do with.  Others who read this may have access to relatively little.  Just for fun, here’s my top five helpful tools on the computer, in reverse order:

5. biblicalpreaching.wordpress.com – not a shameless plug, but a pointless plug since you are here already!  I hope this site is useful to preachers as they prepare to preach, that is the point of it.

4. Google – the internet is an incredible thing.  If I want to use the Challenger disaster as an illustration, I can use google and have as much detail as I want almost instantly.  There are dangers though.  The internet can be more effective than an Oreck Excel vacuum cleaner at sucking away your time.  Be disciplined, tread carefully, filter wisely.  In the spiritual battle of sermon preparation, the internet can be an easy tool for the enemy too.

3. Good reference software – I have Libronix on my computer.  This is a huge help, especially when traveling away from my bookshelves.  It is possible to quickly skim through numerous commentaries helpfully turned to the right page at the click of a mouse button.  I say Good reference software for a reason.  There is a lot of filler material on reference software.  Learn what is quality, up-to-date material and generally don’t give too much time or attention to the tools that aren’t. There are some real exceptions, but a lot of free software is free for a reason.  While some titles may have been cutting-edge in their day, public domain status now is not without cause (generally they won’t sell).  Use the best tools available to you, but they are tools – you still have to do the thinking work!

2. Good Bible software – I use Bibleworks for Bible software.  I hear great things about Accordance and Gramcord, and Logos is also in the running.  It is helpful to have a quick reference for parsing verbs, checking the lexicon, analyzing the frequency of a term and so on.  It is no substitute for being able to handle the original languages and can become a crutch that allows whatever skill you have acquired to atrophy.  Those who have not studied the languages should not think that merely parsing a verb makes you a language scholar, there is still much that the software won’t and can’t do for you.  The blessing of speed in research is a responsibility, it means you theoretically have more time to do the hard work of thinking!

1. Word processor – Useful in so many respects.  Obviously you can type outlines, manuscripts and so on.  Cut and paste allows you to reduce a message to an appropriate length and focus.  Material removed from this weeks message can go in what Dave Stone calls a “leftovers” section and may be perfect for next weeks message.  Illustrations can be stored in a folder and searched for using any keyword you put in the file.  Record, remember and retrieve, the key elements in effective filing.  I could go on.  I’ve put a potential danger or warning in the previous listed items.  I can’t think of one for the word processor (I suppose I should say “back-up your files” – nothing worse than losing so much great material!)

Is Application in the Preacher’s Job Description?

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Some people mistakenly suggest that the preacher has to “make the Bible relevant.”  While this suggestion may be well-intentioned, it is unhelpful.  The Bible is relevant.  The preacher has to “demonstrate the Bible’s relevance.”  Expository preaching, by its very nature, includes the task of application.

Some claim that the preacher’s task is merely to explain the Scripture, but the task of application can be left to the Holy Spirit.  I don’t know how many times I heard preachers say, “Now may the Spirit of God apply to our hearts the truth of His word” as a conclusion to a “sermon.”  Hershael York and others have pointed out the inconsistency of this position. 

There is a cultural and historical gap between the then and the now.  Sidney Greidanus refers to four elements of distance between the Bible and today’s listener: time, culture, geography and language.  Whose task is the translation of the Scriptures?  Whose task is the exegesis of the Scriptures?  The Holy Spirit and humans work together in the translation of the Bible into a contemporary language.  The Holy Spirit and the preacher must work together in the accurate exegesis of the passage.  In the same way, both the Holy Spirit and the preacher are involved in the application of the passage. 

The Holy Spirit does work through the Word in the lives of the listeners.  But if the preacher is not also involved in that task, then I suppose we should be more consistent.  Instead of preaching, perhaps we should just read the passage and sit down.  Oh, and we should probably read the passage out in Hebrew or Greek.  Application of the passage is very much in our job description!

When Your Preparation Hits a Brick Wall

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I’m sure I am not the only preacher who sometimes, perhaps regularly, hits a brick wall during preparation.  What can you do when the words are no longer coming, and your brain is starting to give you cause for concern?

1. Do something else.  Profoundly obvious, but it is easy to feel obliged to stay put and strive fruitlessly.  Perhaps this is your allotted time for this stage of sermon preparation, so you feel obligated to endure.  But when the brain is stuck, it can be unstuck by something else.  Perhaps switching to a different part of the sermon preparation will help, maybe thinking through possible illustrations, or writing a rough draft of the conclusion.  Perhaps you should switch to other work and come back to the sermon (be careful not to just procrastinate though, switch to stimulate your thinking again).  Perhaps you should take an energizing trip to the gym, or pick up your guitar for a few minutes.  Get the brain unstuck.

2. Discuss the sermon.  Sometimes hours and hours of study can be helped beyond belief by a brief discussion of the sermon.  Perhaps another preacher might help.  I find a brief chat with Mike helps no end.  Try to find someone you know will help either through their input or their ability to listen and probe carefully.  Perhaps your spouse.  Perhaps a pre-arranged group from the congregation.

3. Deliver the sermon.  Somehow the link between brain and pen is different than the link between brain and tongue.  Sometimes it helps to stand up with an open Bible and just preach the message.  Verbalizing the message may release the jam and allow the study to flow.  Having done this, it is important to get back to the outline, manuscript, or whatever, and not just rely on a good “practice run.”

4. Doze or get a full night.  The mind can get overwhelmed and slow down just like my computer.  But the wonder of God’s creation is that the brain can defragment as we sleep.  I rarely take power naps, but some people swear by them.  If it’s late, take a full night’s sleep and come back to the message in the morning.  Sometimes when it is not time to sleep yet, I’ll leave the message, but review my sticking point right before retiring to bed (but don’t do that if you suffer from insomnia).

5. Divine help, obviously.  Of course, firstly, lastly, throughoutly, be in prayer about the passage, the personal application of it, the sermon and so on.  Preaching is a profoundly spiritual endeavor and it would be totally wrong to omit this point.  However, it would be naïve to only include this point.  Sometimes God helps us through prayer, plus a trip to the gym, or a good sleep!

Preaching Epistolary Texts as Story

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The question that led to the previous post implied the problem of repetition of style when preaching epistolary texts. It is easy to get into a rut of one deductive sermon after another. One option to consider that may help bring some variety into a preaching series, is to preach an epistolary text as story.

A story has characters, a situation, tension, and some form of response to that tension. Most stories resolve, although a story without full resolution can be very powerful. In reality, an epistle is an episode in a story. There are characters (the writer and recipients, at least), a situation, some type of tension that the writer is responding to through writing the epistle. Furthermore, in most cases, we do not know how the story actually resolves.

So when preaching a text from an epistle, consider telling the story of the situation. Perhaps offer some incomplete responses that might only make the situation worse. Then introduce the actual response of the apostle. Describe how that response might resolve the situation. Describe what successful application of the passage would look like back then, and today. Make clear the claims of the passage on the listeners both then and now. Conclude without resolution, recognizing that the story is incomplete until the listeners have become doers of the Word also.

Does Passage Determine Sermon Shape?

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Tim asked the following question:

Do you think it is ok to preach inductively when the passage is clearly worked out in a deductive way? For example, (sweeping statement coming up!!!) a lot of Paul’s epistles seem to be fairly deductive in the way he makes points and then goes on to prove or explain them. Does this tie you into preaching deductively every week as you go through Paul’s epistles?

Another way of saying this question is ‘do you have to stick to the order that the Biblical writer sticks to?’ If Paul makes his big point in verse one, and then proves or explains it subsequently, do you also have to move in this same order?

Peter responds:

1. The passage outline is the place to start – I think the Biblical order is a great place to start, and often it makes sense to preach a passage according to its order.  If it is a deductive passage, probably preach it deductively.  If it is a narrative passage, usually preach it narratively.  And so on.  The stages of sermon preparation require the study of the passage before the preparation of the sermon, so the shape of the text should be clear before designing the sermon.  Often there is no reason to do something different than preach the text in its order.

2. There are good reasons to shape your sermon on the text – If you were to use no notes and just be looking at the text, it is easier to preach the text as it stands.  Even if you have notes, the text is all the listener has.  Generally it is better to give people the impression that they can also follow through a text as it was written and learn its lesson.

3. There may be good reason to change the shape – As a preacher you have a foot in both worlds: the Bible and the listeners’ world.  So the purpose you have for the sermon may differ from the purpose of the writer, which then implies an alternative strategy or outline may be worth considering.  For example, Peter preached to an antagonistic crowd in Acts 2 and so preached a very inductive sermon.  Likewise, you may be preaching a passage in the epistles that is up front with its main idea, but you know your listeners are more antagonistic than the original readers were, so perhaps it would be worth changing the sermon shape accordingly.  Our goal is to present and explain the passage and communicate the main idea in order to achieve the intended purpose in our situation.  Strategize accordingly.

4. A sentence and a sermon are different – Don Sunukjian teaches a helpful point.  He argues that a sentence has an immediacy to it that allows a certain order, but in preaching that order may need to be changed to reflect the order of thought.  For example, he uses a sentence like, “I am going to town, to buy some food, because my dog is hungry.”  Now, if that sentence were to be preached, it would be better to reverse the three elements.  “Going to town” and “buy some food” are dependent on the final element “my dog is hungry” for their meaning.  In preaching we may take an element of a thought and expand it.  What expanded exposition of “Going to town” might result without the underlying issue of the hungry dog?  Consequently, in order to help people know where they are in the thought of a sermon, the order of thought is an important issue to bear in mind.