Creating An Effective Sermon

J.J.

CREATING AN EFFECTIVE SERMON

When I became a pastor, I didn’t have the training that would come from a formal seminary education.  My father-in-law would always say that we got our education in the School of the Holy Spirit.  I always knew that God had given me the gift to preach and teach (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; Ephesians 4:11).  But I read this quote from Leo Buscaglia which says, “Your talent is God’s gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.”

So by His grace, I devoured the sermons of saints before me like Charles Spurgeon, Martin Lloyd Jones, Billy Graham, John Macarthur, Charles Swindoll, David Jeremiah, John Piper, etc and at the same time built a small library of Christian books.  I really wanted to excel in creating these sermons because I believe excellence glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ.  One of the books I’ve read and re-read is Spurgeon’s classic “Lectures To My Students”.  This is in itself is complete.  I complemented that by reading articles and buying books on Hermeneutics, Homiletics.   I also got to read “The Preacher’s Portrait” and “Between Two Worlds”, both written by John Stott.  There were also a lot of things that I picked up from D. Martin Lloyd Jones, “Preaching and Preachers”.

My turning point was the time John Stott gave a lecture on Creating Sermons at the Asian Theological Seminary in Manila.  I furiously wrote notes while he was speaking and all of the things that he mentioned there was a gem. 

I have already lost those notes.  But his lecture was the framework on how I create effective sermons today.  Forgive me, if I had the gall to mention “effective”, but I believe this should be the goal of every preacher who stands in the pulpit every Lord's Day. We have been given the privilege to declare the entirety of God’s Word as written in the Scriptures (Acts 20:27).  As preachers Paul has instructed Timothy to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

But before I share to you my process of creating an effective sermon, I sincerely believe that no person should start the ministry of preaching without these two things : 

First, the preacher should have read the entirety of the Bible – all 66 books from Genesis to Revelation.  Even though these are individual books written by different authors in different languages and in different continents, it is one whole book superintended by the Holy Spirit Himself with Jesus Christ at the center of its pages.   How can we proclaim “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 2:27) if we haven’t at least read it for ourselves.   This is the reason why you will notice that 90% of my sermons are expository in nature.  Martin Lloyd Jones in his book “Preaching and Preachers” – which I highly recommend all preachers should read, mentions that, “A sermon should always be expository.”   It helps me stick to God’s Word rather than ride my own hobby horse.  As my son would say, some sermons are just disguised as “spiritual Ted-Talks”

Second, the authority of the preacher doesn’t come from his education or his studies (though very important) but by only one thing, his intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Acts 4:13)

The pastor on his knees is always going to be more effective than the most educated preacher in the whole world.  In a TV interview with Billy Graham just years before he went home to the Lord, the reporter asked, “If you were to do things over again, would you do it differently?”  Surprisingly, Graham said, “Yes.”  But what struck me the most is when he said, “If I’ll ever do it again, I’ll spend more time in meditation and prayer and just telling the Lord, how much I love Him and adore Him and looking forward that we’re going to spend time together for eternity.”  This should always be the preacher’s ardent desire.

So here’s how I create an effective sermon.  (I will write soon about delivering an effective sermon)

1.      Read, Re-read and Re-read the passage you’re going to preach on.

We need to make sure that you know the context (background, history, grammatical) of the passage or verse you're going to preach upon.  If we get this wrong, this is not God’s Word being delivered.

2.      Form the outline of the sermon.

This is going to be your foundation and your framework.  I call this the skeleton of the sermon.

Most of the time, I make sure the outline comes in three’s and very simple to remember.  I always think that even a 9-year old should be able to understand the outline so he can somehow remember it.

As an example, I created an outline from the passage of John 4:4-13 with three simple points :

Title :  The Lord’s Approach to Evangelism

-          Intentional

-          Inclusive

-          Inspirational

Once you have decided on the outline. It’s time put the flesh on the sermon.

Don't strive to be clever. Strive to be understood.

3.      Create the introduction.

The introduction should provide a glimpse of what the sermon is going to be all about. It’s almost like a trailer to the movie.  This prepares the listeners on what to expect.

Most of the introductions that I make are light and are stories with humour or excitement.  But it will depend on the situation. 

One of the things that I remember that John Stott said when I sat in his lecture is that a preacher when creating sermons should have the Bible on one hand and the newspaper on the other hand.

As he has said also in that lecture, that our job is to connect the ancient text to a modern world.

Most of the time, I provide the background of the text as part of my introduction.

4.      Expound on the passage with the outline you have created.

Here’s how I expound on the passage

First, I interpret the passage according to its context.

Never ever skip this part.  Remember, this is not our message.  We are messengers of the King and everything that we preach should be according to the context of His Word.

As I always mention, the most crucial part of interpretation is “context, context, context” 

We do not put our own meaning and ideas on the verse (Pre-texting)

The preacher is an exegete.  We get the meaning from the text itself.  As they always say, “A text without a context is a pretext”.

Biblical interpretation should always consider the literary, historical, grammatical and cultural context.

Second, after interpretation then comes application.

This is the time we connect the ancient text and make it relevant in our lives today. It’s about showing the congregation how they can apply and practice God’s Word in our day-to-day living.

Third, use illustrations.

Most of the time, after explaining the application, I use illustrations in order for the people to remember the lesson behind it.

Jesus who is our Master teacher, used examples, stories and parables to bring his point to life.

I sometimes quote other theologians, preachers or even sometimes non-Christian sources to get the point across.

Fourth. Repeat this same process on the second, third or even fourth point of your outline.

5.      Close with a conclusion.

The conclusion could either be the summary of what you have just preached on or the main point of the passage.  I usually close with another story so it burns into the hearts of the listeners.

But one thing I remember from Stott’s lecture.  He said, “No summons.  No sermon.”

This means, if your conclusion doesn’t involve something that the congregation needs to act on, then there’s no point in delivering the whole sermon.

At the closing of his lecture, John Stott concluded with telling us that a sermon should fit the framework of BBC (not British Broadcasting Corporation; Stott was British) but B.B.C. stands for Balanced Biblical Christianity.

Let me emphasize, this can only happen if we stick to the Scriptures.

At the end of the day, once you built the framework, the skeleton and the body of the sermon, it will only become alive with the breath coming from the Holy Pneuma Himself.  A sermon is nothing without the Holy Spirit.  It’ll only become a theological treatise or an entertaining lecture or worst, a boring exercise done on a Sunday morning.  Only the Spirit of God can bring His Word to life and change the lives of men, women and even young children.

Men of God, open your Bible and get down on your knees.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

S.G.D.