The exposition of the Word of God is of vital importance for the congregation, since through it the church can be very blessed. But is it just standing up in the pulpit, opening the Bible, and having God fill our lips? We cannot fall into this error, we must prepare ourselves in every sense of the word before exhorting in the temple. That is why today we are going to talk about some points to take into account when preparing a sermon.
Really, hearing that our name is on the program for the week is an enormous blessing and if we like preaching, we must feel highly privileged to be able to speak to God’s people. But, it is not enough to simply feel privileged, because as Mark Denver said: “We are sending the brothers who are only motivated, but we are not sending the capable ones.”
Preaching goes far beyond the degree of motivation that we may have, we must prepare ourselves, we must know how to prepare a sermon, so that after being there in front of everyone we don’t know what to say or simply go through the entire Bible and end up tiring others.
Something that I also think can be very useful when making the sketch is the following:
Let’s say my text to expose is John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
We can start by talking about how famous this verse is, how even a child easily knows about this quote, and at the same time tell them that although this verse seems simple to many, it is one of the most profound revelations of the Scriptures, about how one of the verses in the Bible that have their own light and how we could spend hours talking about just this verse.
After we give our introduction, we can break this verse down into points:
1- “Because in such a way”: Here we can place a lot of emphasis on the phrase “because in such a way”, since it expresses the great love with which God loved us.
2- “God loved the world”: Talk about how we, being sinners, God loved us.
3- “He has given his only Son”: Talk about how God gave the most valuable thing for us, how God’s love surpasses all loves that may exist.
4- “So that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life”: Talk about God’s powerful plan of salvation for humanity, about that barrier that Christ broke down on the cross through his sacrifice.
We can also include other verses that have to do directly with this context. It is my custom to always do so, in addition to this, when preparing a sermon I always look for phrases from different authors, but phrases that have to do with what I am exposing, always giving credit to the original author, because it is not honest to say something that another said as if it were one himself who said it.
On the other hand, we can also mention a story to contrast with our preaching and thus make the audience connect more with what we are expressing. The Apostle Paul once did this in a certain city called Athens:
22 Then Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: Athenian men, in everything I observe that you are very religious;
23 because passing by and looking at your sanctuaries, I also found an altar on which was this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. The one you adore, therefore, without knowing him, he is the one I announce to you.
24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands,
25 nor is he honored by the hands of men, as if he needed something; for he it is who gives to all life and breath and all things.
26 And of one blood he has made all the lineages of men, so that they may dwell on all the face of the earth; and he has fixed for them the order of the times, and the limits of his habitation;
27 so that they may seek God, if in some way, by touching them, they may find him, although he is certainly not far from each one of us.
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as some of your own poets have also said: Because we are his lineage.
Acts 17:22-28
Notice that Paul preached to the Athenians with many of his own phrases to introduce them to God. And in this way it is good that we make contrasts in our preaching and also in this way we manage to flow better and awaken the mind of the listener faster.
How to conclude our sermon? I usually conclude where I started, ending my sermon in summary and with a prayer. After this, thank the audience for having listened to me for the time of my preaching.
Let’s remember something, preaching is something very important and we must do it well, since it deals with the Word of God and we must be prepared for such a responsibility. I hope these notes have been of some use to you and that God helps you grow in the ministry of preaching his Word.
…
wise man without fear of evil
Why did some stop believing in God?
