How To Develop Expository Sermons |

Some preachers take off with a bang. They reach cruising altitude and pilot the sermon without turbulence. They then land smoothly at the same airport from which they took off. It was a good flight. The homiletic norms and procedures were followed correctly. And the congregation enjoyed the ride so much that they didn’t realize they weren’t really going anywhere. These preacher-artisans are praised as great communicators. But they fail to preach the Word, to the detriment of the multitudes that hear their preaching.

Other preachers focus on the God-intended meaning of the text. The process is saturated with prayer for enlightenment. The grammar and the meaning of the words are carefully studied. The literary and historical context is taken into account. Cross references are studied. The best comments are reviewed. The doctrinal themes and theological significance of the passage are unearthed. The preacher does his best to rightly divide the Word of Truth. But there is a thick fog in the pulpit, because diligent research did not materialize in the preparation of the sermon. Careful study turned into careless preaching.

Expository preaching has a bad reputation for being dry, boring, and lifeless. But zombie preachers should be accused, not expository preaching. The problem with some expository predications is that they are expository, but they are not predications. It is obvious that the preacher knows a lot about the text. But the divine message of the text is not preached. Or the various elements of the sermon fail to present the biblical message clearly.

When the structure of the sermon overrides the message of the text, it is acting, not preaching. But the burden of truth that drives the expositor to study hard must also drive him to prepare well. The ancient heralds had orders to proclaim the king’s message. This duty shaped the herald’s message and the presentation of that message.

This is the office of the preacher. True expository preaching strives to be faithful to the text and clear in presentation. It is for this reason that introductions, illustrations, and conclusions should be important to the preacher. It is not about being creative, eloquent, or impressive in the pulpit. It is about preaching the word faithfully and clearly for the glory of God, and for the salvation and sanctification of the listeners.

Christ-exalting preaching is text-driven. He also communicates clearly. Faithful preachers do not impose their own ideas on the text. They also don’t wander through your introduction, tamper with your illustrations, or crash during your conclusions.

Try to create the introduction

I usually start my sermons with a word of prayer. I pray publicly to express our dependence on God to help us speak faithfully and listen clearly. Then I read the passage on which the sermon is based, without comment. I will have the rest of the preaching to explain and exhort. I believe that beginning the preaching simply by reading the passage affirms the authority of Scripture. After praying and reading the passage, I state the title of the sermon. The goal is for the title to be a preview of the message. I then proceed to the formal introduction of the sermon.

The introduction is the porch of the sermon. The front porch welcomes guests into your home. But you don’t put the living room furniture on the porch. There hangs a big screen TV on the porch. You do not serve dinner on the porch. The porch is transitional. He welcomes guests and leads them to the front door to enter the house. Introductions in sermons work the same way.

Introductions should be brief. Too often, preachers spend a significant portion of their allotted time on the introduction. It seems that they are pasting here all the material that they found no other place than in the introduction. And then they say, “I wish I had more time to deal with this.” If they had time. But they spent it on the introduction. Don’t spend a lot of time presenting the passage. Go to the text and trust it to do the work in the minds and hearts of the congregation. The introduction should point to where the sermon is going. But the goal of the travel agency is not to captivate with descriptions of exotic places. It is putting the traveler on a plane to that destination.

The introduction should place the passage in its proper context. A text without context is a pretext. Expository preaching tries to explain the meaning of a text through the text itself. Context is essential to understanding what the text says and means. The three basic rules of real estate are location, location, location. The three rules of expository preaching from the Bible are context, context, context.

The introduction should outline the full picture of the text. Similarly, the introduction should state the main point of the sermon. You do not have to prove, defend, or apply that point yet. Tell them where you are going in the introduction, and then take them there in the body of the sermon. Presenting the literary and historical context plants the text in the world of the text. Stating the purpose of the sermon clearly, in the present tense, with active sentences plants the text in the world of the congregation. The expository sermon becomes, then, a bridge between the text and the congregation that connects them with the truth of God’s word.

Choose the illustrations.

Illustrations in sermons are like the windows in a house. They help listeners see the message of the sermon and how it lives in the world beyond the sermon. This is one of the main lessons that we can learn from the preaching of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus’ preaching was loud, faithful, and profound. It was also full of illustrations, images, and parables. Many times Jesus preached remarkable sermons by telling simple stories. Jesus exemplifies the power of illustration in preaching.

Normal people don’t build houses without windows. But you don’t build houses with just windows either. Similarly, you should not allow illustrations to dominate the body of the sermon. They must be brief. Don’t use too many. Select them carefully. Practice integrity with the facts. Avoid manipulation of emotions. Beware of “showboating” in the pulpit. Protect the family and do not air confidences. Don’t be the protagonist of your own stories. Make sure the illustration speaks for itself. Comedians say that if you have to explain the joke, then it’s not a joke anymore. The same goes for illustrations. Illustrations in sermons help to present the message more clearly. You shouldn’t have to do a sermon on the illustration. Illustrations are slaves to the passage. If you have to choose between a passage and an illustration, always choose the passage!

One way to keep illustrations in place is to make sure they really do illustrate. Don’t tell a story just for the sake of telling it. It can be funny, easy to remember, or compelling. But you are not a pulpit storyteller. You are a Christian preacher. Any illustrations you use should be to shed light on the text. It should illustrate the exposition of the passage and exhort the listeners to be doers of the word.

Practice scrutiny in choosing illustrations. Ask tough questions before inserting the illustration into the sermon. What is the point of this illustration? Is this illustration about what the passage is about? Does it make the passage clearer? Does it get in the way of the passage? Will this illustration connect with the congregation? Could this illustration darken the mood of the congregation in a way that prevents them from continuing to think through the text? Am I using an illustration to clarify or cover a weak argument?

Please note the principle of illustrative mention. Every great truth of Scripture has a corresponding biblical illustration. Joseph illustrates the temptation from which he was fleeing. David illustrates the danger of sexual immorality. Ananias and Zafira illustrate the consequences of lying. Many other people or events illustrate Biblical truth. Use Scripture to illustrate. All the sermon illustrations in the world are not as rich with meaningful illustration as the Bible itself is. As you use the Scripture to illustrate, continue to teach the Scripture as you illustrate. Thus his illustrations will carry divine authority.

plan the conclusion

A sermon should be a self-contained unit, consisting of an introduction, main body, and a conclusion. There are exceptions. However, exceptions are not the rule. Very few preachers are qualified to preach a single sermon for three or four weeks. Week by week, the sermon should begin formally and conclude decisively. My advice to pastors is to preach series through the books of the Bible. I reject the idea that pastors must maintain series of less than six weeks to keep the attention of the congregation. I recognize that we live in a mobile generation with a short attention span. This is not a reason to abandon consecutive expository preaching. But as we preach extended series of sermons, each sermon must stand on its own. For this reason, the conclusion of the sermon is just as important as the introduction.

The conclusion of the sermon must be a real conclusion. Don’t start with a bang and end with a sizzle. Do not preach until time or material is up. Don’t plan out the sermon and then “let the Spirit guide you” to the end. The conclusion of the sermon must be strategically planned and skillfully executed. The pilot’s ability to take off and climb to cruising altitude is worthless if he can’t land the plane. The conclusion of the sermon safely lands the plane. The purpose of the sermon must be clear in the mind of the preacher. The elements of the sermon should come together around the main idea of ​​the passage. And there must be a logical sense of movement towards the conclusion.

The conclusion of the sermon is not the introduction. This is not a time to introduce new material. The exposition of the passage should be done in the body of the sermon. Don’t use the end of the sermon to paste everything you haven’t said yet. The bottom line is a time to review where you’ve been, not a last chance to get more sermon nuggets. Everything that has been predicated must be played to the listener in the conclusion as a call to action. Listening to the Word without doing what it says is self-deception (James 1:22). The wise man builds his house on the rock, doing what the Lord commands (Mt. 7: 24-27). The conclusion should issue a final challenge to save everything…

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