Stage 7 – Message Outline

Stage 7 – Message Structure

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Once you have defined your message purpose and idea, it is time to strategize. What shape should the message take to maximize the effectiveness of delivering the idea to achieve your purpose? Many people fall into a rut of using the same shape for most sermons – perhaps because it’s what they’ve grown up hearing, or the instruction they received in Bible school honored one shape over others, or even laziness may be a factor. The fact is that there are numerous options for sermon shape.

Will the idea be stated in the introduction (deductive), or only emerge fully toward the end (inductive)? Maybe the idea will emerge at a mid-point, before being supported and applied (inductive/deductive). Will the text be handled in order, or out of order? Will relevance be loaded at the end, or spread throughout the message? Is the idea best conveyed as a subject completed, or would a more united idea allow for greater reinforcement during the message? These are all options, but we mustn’t forget the starting point, the text itself. What form does the text take? How does the genre function and influence the preaching? If it is a narrative, when in the message will you tell the story? If it is poetry, how can your sermon shape avoid dissecting and killing the cumulative power of the imagery? Then you have to ask whether a creative approach, such as preaching in character (first-person), or interactively, or by plotting the entire message will actually augment the message?

Previously on this site I have written much on this subject.  What factors should influence your choice of sermon form – part 1, 2 and 3. It is important to see this decision as your strategy (& part 2). Does the passage shape always determine the message shape? (See also here.) Once you have an outline, how do you write the points, and then evaluate the outline? It’s important to remember that outlines play a support role, they are not to be too prominent. Preachers often misdirect their focus, trying to make the outline memorable. The outline need not show too much, but listeners do need to have confidence that you know where you are going and it is important that they can follow in the text.

For all posts on this stage, please click on Stage 7 – Message Outline, in the menu.

The Very Words of God

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Monday’s a good time to pause for thought.  Perhaps you preached yesterday.  Perhaps you’re preaching again next Sunday.  Let’s always remember that God, in His grace, has given gifts to every believer.  To some of us He has given “speaking” gifts.  In 1Peter 4:10-11, Peter urges everyone to invest their lives in each other through the gifts they’ve been given.  Some gifts are “up-front” while others are “behind the scenes” – my understanding of the two terms he uses, “speaking” and “serving.”  None of us have a right to boast in our gift, but all of us have a responsibility.

We have a responsibility to study God’s Word to the very best of our ability, wrestling with the text and allowing the text to wrestle with us.  Thus the first half of the sermon preparation process is so important.  Then, with the humble confidence that we have something to share from God’s Word, then we move on to the second half of the process – formulating the sermon.  The whole process really matters.  The church is a community that may currently or soon be called on to suffer for their faith.  One critical resource for enduring such struggle is the earnest love for one another within the community of believers, and one example of such love is the effective stewardship of our spiritual gifting.  After all, when we speak, we are to speak as one who speaks the very words of God!

Who’s The Boss?

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It is so easy to get things turned around.  Sunday is rapidly approaching and you are not yet ready to preach.  You have to preach, your name is on the bulletin.  You probably have to preach a specific passage too, that’s on the bulletin as well.  But time marches on, life happens and you’re not ready.  It’s easy to forget who the boss is for this sermon.

It is tempting to take charge.  After all, you are the one who has to stand and deliver.  You are the one people will critique over their Sunday lunch.  You are the one people might be paying to preach.  So it is tempting to take charge, to make the text fit the sermon shape or idea you have in mind.  It is tempting to make the text your servant, looking in it for interesting points from which you can jump off and preach something or other.

Remember who is in charge. Preaching is God’s work.  They are His people.  This is His church.  You are empowered by His Spirit.  You are preaching His book.  So, no matter how tight the schedule may be.  No matter how distracted or tired you may feel.  No matter how daunting the text may be.  Prayerfully wrestle with the text.  According to most good definitions of expository preaching, the text is necessarily boss over the central concept, the main idea of the sermon.

As you pray your dependence to God and submit your urgings to take over to the superior inspiration of His Word, you will remain an expository preacher.  You may not be the best ever.  You may not have taken enough time to craft a masterpiece.  But if the meaning of the text is in charge and you prayerfully strive for relevance, you will be an expository preacher.  The church needs that.  Not necessarily the best or the brightest, but just little old me and you, presenting the best and the brightest Word of God to those He chooses to put before us.

First-Person Dangers – Part 3

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One more post in this series.  Again, I affirm first-person preaching as a powerful tool in the preacher’s repertoire, but I don’t affirm poor first-person preaching!  Hence this list of dangers to be aware of when venturing into this realm of preaching.

Danger 6 – Excessive humor or frivolity.  First-person preaching provides many more opportunities than regular preaching for humorous and even frivolous comments.  Sometimes humor is helpful.  Sometimes humor can help to cover a potentially distracting moment.  Sometimes it can provide relief from tension.  Sometimes it helps, but only if it is sometimes.  I don’t see any court jesters in the Bible, so there’s no need to preach like one.  First-person preaching inherently carries the risk of being seen as more entertainment than preaching.  Don’t exacerbate that through excessive humor or frivolity.

Danger 7 – Inadequate or strained relevance. This form has inherent strengths in terms of being engaging and disarming.  It also has the inherent weakness of struggling to be relevant.  If the audience are invited to listen “back then,” applications can only be timelessly conceptual, i.e. vague.  If the character has traveled through time then they have to portray a convincing understanding of contemporary culture and issues if they are to make any attempt at relevance.  While it is certainly possible to preach the entire sermon in character, it is also possible to step out of character for specific and concrete application.  Whenever you preach in first-person, pay careful attention to the need for relevant application.

Danger 8 – Not being appropriate to your audience.  This covers a lot of what has been stated already.  But I would go further.  Analyze the congregation to decide how much first-person preaching they will truly value.  Some congregations love it and beg for more. Others can gain a lot from it once in a while.  Some are so rigid they cannot hear the message because the form is a potentially offensive distraction.  As always in good preaching, we have to know not only the text, but also the listeners.

Please preach first-person when it is the best strategy available, but please always do it with as much excellence as you can muster!

First-Person Dangers – Part 2

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In part 1 we saw three potential dangers in first-person preaching. Today I share some more. I share them not to warn you away from first-person preaching, but to encourage excellent first-person preaching!

Danger 4 – Distractingly amateurish dramatics. Even people who enjoy the amateur dramatic scene do not appreciate amateurish dramatics. Unless it’s someone you love, you probably wouldn’t want to spend the time cringing at a poor dramatic production. How much less poor dramatic preaching? This means that if costume is used, it should reflect the same quality as the sermon (leave the curtains and towels to children’s nativity plays, then maybe eliminate them there too!) It means striving for real consistency in content (Would the character know that? Is the speaker’s personal culture shaping content too much?)

Danger 5 – Losing sight of natural delivery. This may seem strange, since first-person by definition is about preaching as someone other than yourself. But this one actually follows from the previous danger. The goal in delivery is to be both effective and natural. (Isn’t it true that the best actors seem to be natural?) The natural element here is often lost due to dramatic excess. Sometimes the problem is “too much.” For instance, thirty minutes of excessive shouting and gesturing simply because the biblical character is seen as somewhat feisty is probably too much! Even feisty, strong-willed people don’t shout and gesture incessantly! While larger audiences require larger gestures, the goal is to communicate naturally!

Tomorrow I’ll finish the list, although feel free to add more!

First-Person Dangers

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When you have an idea and a purpose for your sermon, you then choose the strategy that will best allow the idea to hit home.  Once you realize the potential in first-person sermons, this form will regularly suggest itself.  First-person preaching done well can be immensely powerful and profoundly effective.  But there are also a few dangers.  I’ll gently share a few, perhaps you can suggest others.  This is not to dissuade preaching in the first-person, but to encourage careful planning so that it is maximally effective.

Danger 1 – Don’t leaning on the form to do the work. Just because first person preaching has an inherent interest factor, you cannot rely on that to carry you through.  The form is a strategy chosen to serve the main idea, not a master that defines your content.  It is easy to pour energy into the “first-person” part of the sermon and fail to put the effort into the “sermon” part of the first-person.  The form may help, or it may utterly hinder your task of preaching the Word!

Danger 2 – Preaching event rather than text. It is enlightening to bring good first-person perspective to a Bible story or message, but remember that it is the text that was inspired, not the event itself. Don’t just bounce off the text to preach an event, but rather study the text and be sure to preach its message. 

Danger 3 – Not doing the extra work necessary. There are no two-ways about it, first-person preaching is extra work.  You have to do all the same work as any other sermon in terms of studying the text and the audience, formulating main idea and so on.  Plus you have to study extra historical, geographical, social, and cultural background.  Furthermore you are adding a dramatic element that takes extra work (just as a powerpoint is extra work and can easily suck away preparation time if you don’t recognize that!)

In part 2 I’ll add some more dangers to be aware of, but feel free to add any you like by commenting at any time.

Factors In Selecting Sermon Form – Part 3

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So I think it best to start with the shape of the text as the default shape for the sermon. But that may be adjusted due to the needs, nature and situation of the audience. One other factor should be mentioned too:

Factor 3 – The strengths of the preacher. Another factor to consider is you. Are you able to effectively keep attention and hold the tension of an inductive sermon? If not, it may be better not to try, fail and lose your listeners. Equally, we do need to try and fail in order to learn. It is worth considering your own ability as a preacher, but please don’t let this be an excuse to always preach the same shape!

Every time you preach you choose which sermon form to use. Start with the text shape as your default, but feel free to change your strategy in light of your listeners and yourself.

Factors In Selecting Sermon Form – Part 2

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Yesterday I suggested it is best to start with the assumption that the sermon will be shaped according to the shape of the text itself. However, there may be reasons to choose an alternate sermon shape. Why? Because there is not one factor only in this decision, but at least three. Let’s consider factor number 2:

Factor 2 – The nature of the audience. Every sermon is a unique event because while the text may remain the same (i.e. preach the same text twice), the audience changes. Different people, or the same people at a different time. Consequently, they may respond better to one sermon form over another. For example, your Psalm may be chiastic, but what if a chiastic structure is too foreign to your listeners? You can choose to educate them in Hebraic poetic form, but you can also restructure the sermon into a deductive or inductive arrangement. Or maybe the idea is threatening to your listeners, then an inductive sermon would make good sense. Since preaching is about both the text and the listeners, let both be factors in choosing your sermon form.

In my mind these two factors are critical. The shape of the text and the need of the audience. But there is a third that should be kept in mind too. You won’t be surprised by it, but it’s coming tomorrow!

Factors In Selecting Sermon Form – Part 1

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Last week I posted on the subject of sermon form. Now I’d like to expand on the factors that go into selecting a sermon form. Some people are committed to one sermon form. They think that true expository preaching is always done their way. It’s as if the sermon shape came down from the mount along with the two stone tablets and a blueprint for a uniquely special tent. But on this site we hold to the notion that expository preaching is not a form of preaching, but a philosophy of preaching. So, since there is great freedom, why do we choose the sermon form we choose? I see three main factors to take into account, today let’s consider the first:

Factor 1 – The form of the text. Every biblical text has a shape. It may be inductive or deductive. It may be a narrative, or a narrative introduced with a narrator’s statement of the idea or purpose. It may be chiastic. Text’s come in a certain type and a certain shape. For me, this is the starting point.

Not only does the text say something, but it says it in a certain way, and in doing so it does something. We would be wise to consider how our sermon can do what the text was written to do (not in every case, but often). And one way to make the sermon do what the text was written to do is to shape the sermon according to the shape of the text.

This is my default. My starting point is the shape of the text. I start with the shape of the text and then choose to change the shape of the sermon if there is good reason to do so. Why might there be good reason? In part 2, tomorrow, we’ll see!

A Ninth Stage?

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I like the eight-stage approach to sermon preparation we use on this site.  It makes sense.  It works.  Sometimes I’m tempted to add a stage, but I think I’ll stick with eight.  Yet if I were to add a stage, what would it be?

It could be something to do with the invitation to preach that comes before the eight-stages.  Perhaps I’ll develop that thought in the days ahead.  I suppose you could make a case for adding delivery as a stage.  After all, delivery of the sermon is critical.  But then again, if these are the stages of preparation, then really it would need to be something about preparing to deliver, rather than the actual delivery.  Perhaps I’ll develop that thought too.

At this point in time, if I were to add a stage, it would come between stages 4 and 5.  After grasping the idea of the passage, before attempting to develop a message, it’s time for audience analysis.  This is critical.  The very definition of expository preaching I teach incorporates the notion of relevance to specific listeners.  How is relevance possible without consideration of the audience?  It may be the first time you preach to them, or the thousandth, but it is worth considering them and the timing of the sermon to them during each preparation.

I haven’t added it as a stage.  I still use and teach eight stages.  But I have added it as a category.  So if you click on Audience Analysis on the menu to the right, you will find previous posts on this important issue.