Stage 5 – Message Purpose

Purpose and Preaching

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Defining the purpose of a message is not an easy task. It is important, but generally neglected. Let me share three steps that may be helpful, followed by a quote from someone in the know.

1 – Study the text. Seems obvious, but it cannot be omitted.

2 – Determine original author’s purpose. What did he intend to be the effect in the lives of the original recipients? We often study content, but not intent. We study the meaning of the author, but not his motivation. It is important to determine both as well as possible. There will be clues in the text, in the historical context, and in the tone of writing (contrast Galatians with Ephesians, for example).

3 – Determine your sermon’s purpose. This may be the same, or similar to that of the original author. For me this is the default position that I move away from by choice rather than by accident. The choice to move is influenced by prayerful consideration of my listeners. Perhaps they don’t need the same effect in their lives. I would not want to automatically rebuke every church to whom I preach Galatians. The developmental questions can help in this. The author may have focused on explanation, proof or application, but my people may need a different balance of these three approaches to the main idea. Application, if specific to our listeners, will certainly feel different to that in the original context.

Haddon Robinson said the “ultimate test of purpose is why are you preaching this sermon? How would you know if people in the congregation embraced the truth of this? What would you expect to see in their lives? What would this mean if they took this seriously? Most expository preachers don’t ask that question . . . without a purpose the sermon just lies there. Progress is lost without purpose.”

In reference to being specific, he asks, “Suppose someone took you seriously. What would they be able to do . . . ?”

Purpose-Driven Preaching

/ Peter Mead / 4 Comments

Sometimes a term is used so much that it loses its sparkle. We live in a day when everything seems to be “purpose- driven.” However, many sermons are still preached without a clearly defined purpose. Jay Adams begins his book Preaching With Purpose with these words:

“The amazing lack of concern for purpose among homileticians and preachers has spawned a brood of preachers who are dull, lifeless, abstract and impersonal; it has obscured truth, hindered joyous Christian living, destroyed dedication and initiative, and stifled service for Christ.”

Perhaps it is better to avoid the term “Purpose-Driven,” but as preachers we can’t avoid the consequences if we neglect this critical element of biblical preaching. As you prepare your next sermon, write down a clear and specific statement of your sermon’s purpose.

Quoted: Jay Adams, Preaching With Purpose, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), 1.

Peter has commented on this post.

When Your Preparation Hits a Brick Wall

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

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!

Does Passage Determine Sermon Shape?

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

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.

Let a Story be a Story

/ Peter Mead / 4 Comments

If God inspired a story, why don’t we preach it as a story? Simple question. Sometimes we think stories are for the flannel-graph in the children’s Sunday School room. But in church, to adults, we don’t tell stories. Perhaps we summarize the story and then get down to preaching our points – lessons derived from and illustrated by the text. Or we dissect the story and preach a protruding skeletal outline that makes our points as we work through the text.

Maybe we should tell the story? When faced with a Biblical story, in very basic terms, the default approach might be a simple three steps. 1. Tell the story. 2. State the main idea of the story. 3. Apply the main idea. There are many other approaches that might be worth considering, but consider this one first. Story – Principle – Application.

Allow the dynamics of a story to work, even for adults. After all, God inspired it as a story . . . and it was written for adults.

Peter has responded to comments on this post.

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

/ Mike Roth / Leave a comment

Have you ever found in the middle of writing a sermon that you have ten minutes of preaching material that has nothing to do with your main idea? This is easy to do. Some possible factors…an unclear main idea, too much time on one point, an illustration that is over the top in length and detail or too much time explaining what the text is not saying. These are just a few reasons that the main thing ceases to be the main thing in our sermons.

Lately, our church has been working its way through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. A recent sermon covered Matthew 6:1-21. In this section, Jesus makes the point that our piety is to be sheltered from the sight of others. The world is to notice our gentle words (5:21-22); that we pursue reconciliation (5:23-26); that our relationships and vows are marked by fidelity (5:27-37); that we are charitable – even toward our enemies (5:38-48). According to Jesus, this is the kind of salt and light the world should taste and see (5:13-16). However, God alone is to taste and see our piety (6:1-21).

To preach this sermon, it could be very easy to slip into preaching what this passage isn’t saying instead of what it is saying. For example, it is not saying don’t pray corporately. It is not saying don’t tithe at church. It is not saying don’t pray with others. The list of what this passage is not saying could go on and on!

While it is important to address questions our congregations are asking when we preach, we must be careful not to lose sight of the main thing. So what do we do? I suggest speaking to the questions we know our listeners are asking. Otherwise, we will lose them as we continue forward while they sit in their questions. However, in our preparation, we must carefully monitor the time we allot to such caveats in our sermons. Otherwise, by the time and emphasis we give, we communicate a thing we do not intend to communicate. In this case, multiple points about what Jesus is not saying. This would be a tragedy.

Jesus is saying so much in this passage (6:1-21)! How are we known by the world? Are we known to go to church, pray at meal-time and tithe but unknown as kind speaking, reconciling acting, fidelity keeping kingdom participants? It is easier to do piety publicly than it is to live out chapter 5. Why… What motivates our hearts to piety? Is it the applause of others? Is it a spiritual checklist? Is it to worship and love our Lord? All of this and more (related to the main idea) is missed when we lose sight of communicating the main thing.

Focus on the basics

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Great preaching always involves the “effective execution of elementary ideas.” (Attributed to Eugene Emerson Jennings)

It is tempting to give attention in preaching to the clever and intricate subtleties of the art and craft of preaching, but subtleties work best when built on a foundation of good solid basics. A clearly derived and cleanly defined Biblical idea. A definite and specific purpose. A logical and orderly structure. Good pastoral relevance. Effective introduction. A clean finish. Most, if not all preachers would preach their next sermon more effectively if they would focus on the basics.

Sermon Purpose: Is There a Default Goal?

/ Peter Mead / 3 Comments

I recently wrote these words, “For an effective sermon, you need a clearly defined purpose – the specific response you prayerfully expect to occur in the life of the listeners.”

Does this mean the response has to be some kind of action? What if your purpose is to stir affection, bolster belief or improve cognition? These can all be very legitimate types of objectives for a sermon. Yet our default should be to preach for a response that includes, but goes beyond the heart and the head. Consider James 1:22 – “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

As a preacher we should usually consider how to legitimately apply the Biblical idea to ourselves and our listeners for transformed affection, belief, and conduct. We wouldn’t want to assist anyone in “deceiving” themselves!

Question: Is “creating need” the same as preaching for felt-needs?

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Tim asked the following question in reference to “Introductions: The Essential Ingredients” –

I’m interested in this ‘create or surface need’ idea. Is there not a danger that this tends towards sermons being man-centred and self-help focussed? Like ‘what felt need (not even necessarily true need) does this text provide the solution for?’ Does this encourage a sense that God and His Word are merely felt-need-meeters?

I’m not being negative – I like the idea of ‘create or surface need’. It just raises questions in my mind.

Peter Mead responds: This is an important question. When people speak of preaching for “felt needs” the concern is with preaching that is primarily “how to” in nature. For example, how to raise teenagers, how to have a happy marriage, etc. There is a concern that preaching these kinds of messages do please listeners, but fail to address their real needs, fail to be God-centered, and often fail to honor the intention of the Biblical texts. These are important concerns!

The reason that “need” is included in the introduction to a message is not to determine the nature of the whole message (man-centered rather than God-centered), but to create an opportunity for the Word of God to get into good soil. Using the parable of the four soils for a moment, the key issue there is a “listening heart.” I believe it is naive to assume that people are always eagerly listening when they sit through a sermon. Let me quote Haddon Robinson in Biblical Preaching, “When you start, the people listen because they ought to, but before long, you must motivate them to listen because they can’t help but listen.” (p.168)

The core conviction here is this – do we believe the Bible should be applied to life? Or to put it another way, do we believe not only that all Scripture is God-breathed, but also that it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work? (2Tim.3:16-17) Of course we do, which is why most preachers at least make some effort at application at the end of a message. If application is acceptable at the end of a message, then why would it not be acceptable in some form at the start? The reality is that many listeners may be long gone by the end of a message that shows no clear connection to their lives (maybe they will be asleep, or drifting to thoughts of pressing concerns – their upcoming confrontation at work, resolving the increasing tension in the family, how they can improve their golf swing, etc.) Some concerns and distractions may be frivolous, some are very understandable. So what to do? Serve up some relevance early on in the message, thereby helping hearts to be listening to the Word of God as it is preached.

Consider how Peter began his sermon on Pentecost – by promising to clarify the concern of the listeners regarding what was taking place before them. In fact, consider also Acts 3 and 17 for two more examples. The truth of God’s Word does not need to be watered down or changed in response to itching ears. The Word of God is highly relevant to life, our preaching should reflect that early on as well as at the end (and throughout).

I am not advocating God-less or Bible-weak self-help motivational speeches with seven steps to successful living. I am suggesting we preach theocentric, God-honoring, Biblical messages that by His grace, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, can change lives and conform people to the image of Christ in all areas of life. Being Biblical and relevant are not mutually exclusive options in preaching, they are both vital. It just helps listeners to listen if some of that relevance is strategically placed at the beginning, instead of all at the end.

More thoughts on this?

After you preach, then what happens?

/ Peter Mead / 12 Comments

In his book The Seven Laws of the Teacher, Howard Hendricks refers to an English bishop who said, “You know, wherever the apostle Paul went, they had a riot or a revival. Wherever I go, they serve tea.” (p165.)

While it would be wrong to try to stir response, either riot or revival, in our own strength, we should be preaching for response. This is why it is so important to have a clearly defined purpose for a message. We often hear about the importance of the main idea of the sermon. But for an effective sermon, you also need a clearly defined purpose – the specific response you prayerfully expect to occur in the life of the listeners.

(Peter has responded to a comment on this post)