A New Beginning

Starting today, I am the new pastor at Rosemont Baptist Church in Montrose, Colorado. I am honored that this church has not only voted to have me lead them as pastor, but today the church will participate in an installation service, during which a representative from the church and myself will be signing a covenant outlining our responsibilities to each other. I anticipate being a moving and meaningful part of the service tomorrow.

I will be the one preaching tomorrow so instead of preaching a charge to myself, I will preaching a charge to everyone there. I will preaching from 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5. I will be preaching on four marks of effective ministry.

To have an effective ministry, we must...

Recognize the Character of the Bible (3:16-17)

• It is inspired
• It is profitable
• It equips us

Recognize the Character of Your Ministry (4:1-2)

• Our ministries must be bible-centered
• Our ministries must be prepared
• Our ministries must be discipling
• Our ministries must be patient
• Our ministries must be instructive

Recognize the Character of the Culture (4:3-4)

• The culture rejects sound doctrine
• The culture gathers false teachers
• The culture only hears what pleases them
• The culture refuses to hear the truth
• The culture follows myths  

Recognize the Character of the Minister (4:5)

• We must be counter-cultural
• We must be serious (taking the things of God seriously)
• We must endure hardship
• We must be evangelistic
• We must fulfill our ministry

I pray that God will speak through me during the sermon and that He will be glorified.

Lord, let my beginning and entire ministry at Rosemont lift you up and bring you the honor you deserve. Let the ministry here bring many people into Your Kingdom for Your glory. Thank for you privilege not only to serve you, but to serve you here. 
 
I am looking forward to this new opportunity to serve Christ by shepherding the wonderful people who make us Rosemont Baptist Church. It is my desire to post regularly here in order to encourage the body of Christ at Rosemont as well as anyone else who stops by.

Please post here if there is anything you would like to me to address of even if you just want to say "Hi". I would love to know if anyone is encouraged by this blog.

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Matthew Section 8: The Great Commission

In our overview of Matthew, some scholars see a final section of Matthew in 28:11-20. Personally, I believe this should actually be part of the seventh section for several reason. First, I think being a good Jew, Matthew may have made seven sections for his gospel, much like there are seven days to the week. This would be interesting in that the last day of the week was the Sabbath, the rest, and Matthew's seventh section is about the true Sabbath, the rest which comes through Jesus (Heb. 4:8-10).

The second reason I believe this section should be included in the previous section is that every section in his gospel has a major section of Jesus speaking (see the posts regarding the first six sections). However, in the post for section seven, you can see there is no discourse. However, if section 8 was part of section 7, then the Great Commission would be the discourse for the final section of Matthew (I am not sure that all made sense).

The final reason I think this section 8 should be part of section 7 is because if this is a separate section, it seems much too short. It is only 10 verses long. It does not seem like 10 verse constitute a section compared to the other sections Matthew has contructed.

That all being said, I posted this as section 8 just so you all could make your own decision. Here is the visual aide for this section (click picture for large image):


This is either one or two sermons, depending on how much time you want to spend on the Great Commission.

This is the overview of Matthew. I will be posting the individual sermons I am developing for this series. Hopefully, I will be doing so a bit more regularly than I have with the overview. I would love to hear any comments you have on this overview and if the visual aides have been helpful.

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Matthew Section 7: The Passion of Christ

The pinnacle of Matthew's gospel his recording the last week of Christ's life on earth. In this section, he does not spend time detailing the whole week as the other evangelists do. Instead, he focuses in on the night before the crucifixion, the crucifixion, and briefly on the resurrection. Therefore, we have a short story about Judas' betrayal and the institution of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.

An interesting characteristic found in this section is that there is no major discourse found. In all the other sections, Matthew records a major discourse or sermon from Jesus. In the Passion section, Jesus needs no sermon as his sacrifice on the cross says more than any words can capture. And I think Matthew intended to capture this idea. Each section, Jesus preaches, teaches, rebukes, or something. In every section a powerful discourse to remember what Jesus said. But this section records the most powerful, loving, amazing thing Jesus had ever done: sacrificed Himself for us. Therefore, the real discourse of this section, and of the whole gospel, could be considered Matthew 27:32-56.

Here is the visual aide for this section (Click picture for larger image):

I anticipate maybe 20 sermons from this section. However, knowing that this is the purpose for the gospel to be written, and since this part of the gospel is the crux of the Christian faith, I could see possibly moving slower through this section.

While there is a brief section Jesus' resurrection, which is the real hope for believers, Matthew focuses mostly on Jesus sacrifice. This makes some sense. As he was writing to Jews, he paints Jesus as the ultimate Passover Lamb. What an amazing God we serve and how thankful I am that Jesus did pay the price for us!

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Matthew Section 6: Conflicts

Matthew strategically places the sixth section of his Gospel. After talking about Jesus' authority and purpose, Matthew draws the reading into the conflicts Jesus had with those who doubted Jesus' claims and the other trouble Jesus experienced near His crucifixion.

Many of the stories in this section start with the religious leaders asking Jesus a question to test him (19:3), 22:15-16, 22:34-35) or the disciples (or their mothers) asking questions of Jesus (19:10, 19:25, 20:20-21, 24:3, for example). While questions are not difficulties or problems, per se, they are showing the trouble Jesus had getting people to truly understand the nature of who He was.

This was really nothing new, as the reader see in the challenge to repent found in Matthew 23:37-39, where Jesus indicates that "Jerusalem" had been rejecting God for quite a long time. Of course, the main section of teaching in this section referred to as the Olivet Discourse and speaks of the coming Kingdom and the end of time.

Here is the visual aide for this section (Click picture for larger image):


I see maybe 25 to 30 sermons in this section. Perhaps more, depending on how slowly one needed to move through the Olivet Discourse. This section is filled with didactic material in that a question is given to Jesus and then He gives an answer. However, because the answers Jesus give can be difficult to understand and even harder to apply, preaching through this section would probably take a while.

Section six is a fascinating part of this Gospel and Matthew uses it well to contrast the previous five sections and to set off the pinnacle of his record found in the upcoming section: the crucifixion and resurrection.

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Matthew Section 5: Purpose Revealed

After showing Jesus' authority (Section 3) and explaining why Jesus came (Section 4), Matthew then shows that Jesus began to declare His purpose for coming. This section begins, interestingly, with examples of people misunderstanding Jesus' purpose. First, the people in His home town reject Him simply because they knew Him as he grew up (Matt. 13:55). Then, Matthew tells how Herod misunderstood Jesus as well. Herod saw Jesus as John the Baptist reincarnated and then Matthew gives the background story between John the Baptist and Herod. Next, the crowds misunderstand why Jesus came. Jesus feeds the 5000 and there are leftovers enough for twelve baskets, presumably for the disciples. John's Gospel indicated that the people misunderstood Jesus feeding them (John 6:14-15). Finally, after the feeding of the 5000, the disciples sailed out on the sea of Galilee and were afraid when Jesus came out to them. After Jesus commented on their lack of faith (Matt. 14:31), the disciples began to see that Jesus was in fact God's Son (Matt. 14:33).

After these stories, Matthew portrays Jesus interacting with the crowds directly and talking about Jesus' purpose. For example, Jesus explains why he speaks in parables (Matt 15:15-20), He talks to the disciples about who Jesus is (16:13-20), and He begins to tell them of His suffering and death (17:11-13). Then Jesus launches into an extended sermon about forgiveness.

Here is a visual aide for the fifth section of Matthew (Click picture for larger image):


I would expect about 20 sermons from this section as well. This fifth section, Matthew begins to clearly show Jesus' purpose. While the disciples will not truly understand until Jesus rises from the dead, believers today have the benefit of hindsight and see that Jesus did tell them His purpose as Messiah.

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Matthew Section 4: The Parables

After a couple of days of graduation obligations, a holiday, and a couple of days of conferences, I am trying to get back on track with my overview of Matthew. The forth section of Matthew is a little hard to summarize. The title (not original with me) is "The Program of the Messiah Explained." This is not real helpful when reading just the title. However, this section starts with John sending his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the one they had been waiting for or is their someone else coming. Jesus answers them by saying:

Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me. Matthew 11:4-6

After this, Jesus shows through actions and short speeches explaining His purpose. For example, Matthew 11:30, 12:8, 12:50. Then, Jesus gives word pictures (parables) of what His Kingdom is like. All of this helps us see clearer what is was Jesus was accomplishing through His ministry.

The main discourse of this section is the parables, which is really more like several short speeches put together. But again, this shows Matthew "editing" Jesus' parables for a purpose. Matthew 11:28 provides the reader with a challenge to accept Jesus and His purpose and Matthew 13:51 provides the reader with a challenge to understand Jesus' purpose.

Here is the visual aide for this section (click picture for larger image):


I would expect about 20 sermons from this section, although some of the shorter parables will be taught together to get the thrust of overall message conveyed through them.

In the forth section, we get a clearer picture of Matthews purpose of His Gospel. Jesus fulfilled the Messianic predictions, and He taught the principles of the new Kingdom. He showed He had the authority He claimed He had. He now begins to communicate why the Messiah was sent.

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Matthew Section 3: Jesus' Authority

As section two closes there is a mention that the people are impressed with Jesus' authority (Matt. 7:28-29). As section 3 opens, Matthew gives story after story which shows that the people were right on track. In each of the narratives found in section three of this gospel, Jesus displays His authority over sickness, the physical world, the spiritual world, and even death. However, the authority is linked to the theme of people placing their faith in his authority. For example, the centurion who wanted his servant healed displayed enough faith in Jesus' authority that Jesus comments on it (8:10). The woman who touched Jesus' garment was told her faith in Jesus' authority to heal was rewarded (9:22). Then, after these stories, Jesus lays his hands on the disciples and transfers His authority to them (10:1).

The major discourse for this section is the commissioning of the disciples found in chapter 10. The challenge Jesus sets forth in this section is the challenge to follow, found in 10:34-42. In short, Jesus says He must be first priority over every aspect of the believer's life or they cannot follow him.

Below is the visual aide for this section


I would anticipate somewhere between 15-18 sermons in this section (at least another four months). With the third section we begin to see some progression with Matthew's thoughts. Jesus fulfilled the Messianic predictions, and Jesus taught the principles of the new kingdom. Now he begins to show the power with which he will rule His Kingdom.

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Matthew Section 2: Jesus' Teaching

The second section of Matthew begins with Jesus calling the first of His disciples and beginning actual ministry. The majority of this section is what is known as The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is essentially setting the religious establishment on its ear with this sermon. Matthew shows that Jesus, being the Messiah, has the authority to preach in such a manner. In fact, that is how the section ends (7:28-29).

The major discourse for this section is obviously the Sermon on the Mount. It is two chapters long is the longest sermon of Jesus we have on record. If we want to know what Jesus was about, we must understand these chapters. In this section we have the first of the challenges we find throughout Matthew. Here we have the challenge to enter into the kingdom. The bible student will remember this passage as the wide gate and the narrow gate. The observations of these challenges are not original with me but, again, I cannot seem to find who enlightened me of them.

Again, I have a visual aide for this section. And, as with all the visual aides I will produce for the overview of Matthew, the title is not mine but I cannot find whose it is. The brief section titles are mine to help me remember the flow of thought throughout Matthew. (Click picture for larger image).


Jesus covers a multitude of topics in this section and it should be fascinating to not only trace Jesus' thoughts throughout this sermon, but also to preach on what Jesus preached on.

I see no more than twenty-three sermons in this section. However, I would anticipate a much smaller number since many of the section are two verse sections. This indicates to me that they are not stand alone thoughts but are related to the previous or following verses. Again, this is one whole sermon and was not meant to be busted up into several weeks of teaching. However, to do a fair job with the text and in the culture we live in today, the pastor must do just that while remaining faithful to the passage. In short, I am not sure how many sermons would be produces from this section but I would anticipate at least four months in the sermon on the mount.

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Matthew Section 1: Messianic Fulfillment

The first section of Matthew is the story of Jesus' preparation for ministry. It is Matthew's genealogy, birth narratives, some discussion of John, and Jesus' baptism and temptation. The major discourse of this section is John's preaching, which makes sense because Jesus' ministry had not started yet. But it also helps Matthew show that John is the "voice in the wilderness" (Matt 3:3) which Isaiah wrote about.

In fact, Matthew uses six Old Testament passages to show that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah. Also, Matthew uses four Old Testament passages during Jesus' temptation (one misused by Satan) to highlight places where the people of God had failed miserably. But where they had failed, Jesus succeeded. In addition to all these, when being baptized by John, Jesus says He needed to do so to "fulfill all righteousness" (3:15). In short, by simply existing, being born, and being baptized and tempted, Jesus fulfills many prophecies on which the Jews were waiting. Matthew makes is clear that Jesus is the one to fulfill all these prophecies.

I have included a graphic of the section. The title is from a commentary but for the life of me I cannot remember which one and as I look through the commentaries I have, I cannot find it. I am sure it is not original with me. The summaries of each section of the chapters are my titles. They are brief but descriptive enough for me to remember the story and perhaps see the theme throughout each section. (click the picture for a larger image)


So to get his audience ready for the message he was going to convey to them, Matthew shows Jesus fulfilling prophecy after prophecy even before He officially begins His ministry.

I would anticipate somewhere between seven and nine sermons out of this section. If I preached one sermon per section it would obviously be nine. However, it could be seven because I could see gathering the wise men, the move to Egypt, and Herod's massacre being one sermon. However, I would think this would mean a skimming over these important events.

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Overview of Matthew: Addendum

I wanted to make a brief addition to the introduction discussion on Matthew. Specifically, I mentioned in the previous post that I identified eight sections through the book. I would like to make a few comments on this. First, these eight sections are probably more like seven. As I will show in the upcoming posts, the last section I identified is probably more like the tail end of the seventh section. So it may be more accurate if I said I see seven sections throughout the book. Nevertheless, I am going to post eight.

Also, I have read more than one commentary which identifies only five sections. They make a good argument for these five section. For example, Mounce (NIBC) says about the structure of Matthew,

The clue lies in the formula "when Jesus had finished saying these things," which is repeated with only minor variations at the close of each section (Matt 7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1). This fivefold structure is common in ancient Jewish literature (cf. the five books of Moses, the five divisions of the Psalms, the five Megilloth, etc.). Barker, Lane, and Michaels point out that Matthew's five "books" deal with the ethics of the Kingdom (5:1-7:27), mission (10:1-42), redemptive history (13:1-52), church discipline (18:1-35), and eschatology (23:1-25:46). These would be major concerns of an early church desirous of instructing new converts. pg. 3

This is interesting and somewhat convincing. But I wonder about chapters left in the gaps of these five sections. For example, I see chapters 8 and 9 integral to understanding chapter 10. And this all flows from the end of chapter 7, which I see as the previous section. Allow me to explain.

The section section of Matthew (roughly chapters 5-7) ends with the people amazed at Jesus' authority in his teaching. Then chapters 8 and 9 tell story after story of Jesus' authority over sickness, the spiritual world, the natural world, and even death. Then the beginning of chapter 10 begins with Jesus transferring that authority to the twelve disciples and sending them out into the world.

To me, it looks like Mounce has chapter 10 as the second section but does not show how the surrounding chapters related to that section. Therefore, I am sticking with my seven/eight sections and working from that point of view.

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Overview of Matthew

As I begin to look at the study of Matthew, I want to take several posts to gain a bird's eye view of the entire book. This post I will give some introductory thought and then the next few posts will reveal the main sections throughout Matthew.

To begin with, I hold to the traditional view which says the disciple Matthew is the author of this Gospel. This disciple was also called Levi and who was the son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14) It is interesting to me to note that the call of Matthew (found in the previous verse) is the only call of a disciple in which only one person is called. We read of Peter and Andrew's call (Matt 4:18-20) and James and John's call (Matt 4:21-22). Matthew's call is the only recorded call where he is alone. This may go to show how much of an outcast his profession made him to his fellow Jews (Mark 2:14) or it may mean nothing at all. I just find it interesting.

I also believe Matthew was writing to Jews. There are many proofs of Matthew's audience throughout the book but a few of the specific items which I would focus on is first the lineage which Matthew starts his Gospel. The evangelist starts by showing that Jesus was from the line of Abraham and from the line of David. Second, Matthew uses the Old Testament in a very specific manner. That would be to show that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies (more will be said about this in upcoming posts). Finally, the focus on Jesus being the King and that His Kingdom has come is a significant characteristic of his Gospel which shows his audience are Jews.

The last thing I will discuss on the overview of Matthew is that I identify eight distinct sections which make up the whole of his book (these divisions of the book are something of a mix of my thoughts and those from different commentaries). In each of these sections, there is a large narrative section in which the story of Jesus is unfolded. Additionally, there is a section of significant discourse in each of these sections. The only exception to this is the section on the passion of Christ which does not have an extended discourse but is mostly all action. Finally, in each discourse found in each section there is challenge issued to the readers. These will be identified in the upcoming posts.

The next several posts will continue the overview of Matthew but will look a bit more closely at these eight sections.

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The Beginning of the Beginning of the New Testament

I have been doing some preliminary work for studying through the book of Matthew. The more I study it and the more I talk to others about it, the more I look forward to preaching through the first gospel. I will be posting my thoughts throughout the study on and off. I am not sure my posts will be a complete representation of the entire book. We will have to see. Nevertheless, posting helps me communicate my thoughts and maybe they will be an encouragement to you, too.

This first post I want to address the approach I will take to the book of Matthew. I have been through many studies of the different gospels and usually the study turns into a study of the harmony of the gospels: John said this, Mark said that, and it all takes place between these two verses in Luke. While I think a study of the harmony of the gospels is an important one, and while I think anyone going through one of the gospels needs to understand how they all fit together to tell the story of our Savior, I also think that each gospel writer had a message to tell in their own individual gospels.

Thus, I want to study Matthew and understand his message to his audience. I know studying Matthew will necessitate some reference to the other gospels. But I think Matthew placed the events of Christ's life and ministry in the order he did and mentioned the events he did to contribute to his overall message. And when these events are place in the appropriate chronological order with the other gospels, then Matthew's message becomes muted if not silent.

So, as I post my thoughts regarding my study through Matthew, I expect to only rarely refer to the other gospels unless that will contribute and clarify the story and message Matthew is conveying.

So let me know what you think of my approach. Is it valid? Do you agree? Let me know.

Next, I will post an overview of Matthew.

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Seventh: Practice

In the continuation of the series of post regarding sermon preparation, we next turn to the issue of practice. We have worked a lot on this passage (1 Timothy 1:3-11) and have developed a decent sermon so far. The next step I take at this point is practicing delivering the sermon.

Now, first of all, some may have the concept of "practicing" delivering a sermon. I am sure thoughts such as, "If God has anything to do with it, you will not need practice" or "I do not want to practice my sermon, I only want to say what the Holy Spirit wants me to say." While these are valid thoughts, practice does not negate these concepts. In fact, practice can hone the thoughts what God would have you say to the audience to which you are speaking.

In addition to this, public speaking does not come naturally to me. When asked to extemporaneously give speeches or even announcements I have a hard time communicating correctly. I invariably flub some important part or leave out some integral detail. I do not want this happening when I preach. Why would God call someone who is that bad at public speaking to preach? I continual ask Him the same question. I rest on Paul's statements that I am strongest when I am at my weakest and the weak things of the world are what God chooses to work through.

When I practice my sermon, I do just as I would if I was standing before the congregation. I pray over my sermon, although at this time I am praying for God to prepare my heart and the people's heart who will be receiving this message. I am praying for God to show me what exactly He would want me to share with the people. Then I begin. I preach through the material I have prepared. I have a pen with me and when I come to a place that needs work or I feel like something needs added, I make note of it and move on. I also time myself. I want to know how long this message will take to preach through.

Practicing the sermon does several things for me. First, it helps me smooth the rough edges off the sermon. If there are awkward moments in the sermon or transitions that do not seem to flow, I can identify those and work on them.

Second, it helps me memorize my sermon. I know what is coming and do not have to looks at my notes when preaching the sermon. Also, when the sermon is memorized, it helps me live it out when I am running around town. If I am preaching about loving the lost and my sermon notes are running through my mind, I will think about the slow cashier differently (and it may provide a good sermon illustration at the same time).

Third, practicing the sermon helps gets more of "me" out of the sermon. That is, if I am unprepared then the audience gets a lot of me - my thoughts, my mistakes, my misspoken words, etc. Practicing helps minimize the things that may distract the listener from getting the whole message.

Finally, it may help me create a whole new "shape" for the sermon. For example, as I practiced our current sermon on 1 Timothy 1:3-11, I started with an illustration about counterfeiting and how Abraham Lincoln founded the Secret Service. This made me think that perhaps a good way to approach this sermon is something like "God's Secret Service" or "We must be God's Secret Service Agents." Then the main points could be a creative use of that topic. However, I was not able to do that as the time came for me to preach it without having time to "redevelop" the sermon in that manner.

I have one more note about practicing. I want to mention what practicing is not. I do not practice my sermon so I can produce the highest level of emotion in the congregation that I can. I do not practice my sermon so that I can have the best pointing jesters or waving or whatever. I am not practicing so the sermon will be my best performance ever. These are self-focused reasons for practicing and one must always remember to avoid such practices. I practice my sermons so that the message can be clearly heard and I can be removed as much as possible in the delivery.

We are almost through this series. While not a complete study of sermon preparation, it may help in giving a direction in which to move toward.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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Sixth: Illustrations

In continuing my series on sermon preparation, we turn to the topic of sermon illustrations. Illustrations are an integral part of the sermon. To begin with, sermons are well communicated when each main point has explanation, illustration, and application. That is, you state the main point and then explain what the author is saying about that principle. After that, a good illustration will help hammer home the point you are attempting to make. Finally, application MUST be made. Howard Hendricks says,

Observation plus interpretation minus application equals abortion. In other words, every time you observe and interpret but fail to apply, you perform an abortion on the Scriptures in terms of their purpose.

But, this is a coming post.
Back to the point at hand, illustrations help the preacher communicate his point clearly and help the audience remember the point.

Here is how illustrations made their way into our sermon on 1 Timothy 1:3-11. (Click here for our outline as it currently stands). As I was refining the outline (see previous post) I was also thinking of illustrations. For example, the first main point is:

I. We must have ministries marked by sound doctrine
          A. Watch for counterfeits
          B. Watch for divisions
          C. Watch for the goal - LOVE

This got me thinking about identifying counterfeits. The "standard" illustration is the "you must know the real dollar bill to identify the counterfeit - and the better you know the real dollar the easier it is to identify the counterfeit" but I figured many had already heard that illustration in a sermon about combating false doctrine. Therefore, I wanted to find something new or original to make my point of identifying counterfeits.

Next, the second point says:

II. We must avoid ministries marked by false doctrine.
          A. Their direction is off.
          B. Their discussions are empty
          C. Their desire is wrong.

This made me think of an illustration about false signals leads the follower astray. I wanted to find an illustration about that.

I could not think of anything for the last point while refining the outline so I needed to continue to think about that. I also wanted a illustration to kick everything off that captured the idea of the entire sermon. I was thinking something about the impact of counterfeiting on the economy and comparing that to the spiritual life.

Now that I had a good idea of what I was looking for I began to search for some good illustrations. What makes a good illustration? There are many things. Mostly, for me, I want to find personal illustrations first. I had a story about me, a compass working wrong, and me being lost in Fort Worth, TX. It is a somewhat amusing story but it communicate the point of following a false signal: "The compass may say west but you are going east. That is the way it is counterfeit teachers proclaiming a counterfeit gospel. They lead people astray" and so forth.

Next, I try to find illustrations I have not used before and have not been used so much they are almost expected from the audience. This is the same as them not listening. There are several places I look for illustrations.

Online
www.sermonillustrations.com
www.sermoncentral.com

Books
I have several books of sermon illustrations. They are categorized by topic. I usually try to pick up these books when I see them on sale or in the discount bin. The trouble with these type of books is that, first, they are not that personal, and second, others have used them. However, you may not be able to get around that. When there is a good illustration, use it make the most of your point.

In the case of our 1 Timothy 1:3-11 sermon, I found most of the remaining illustrations on www.sermonillustrations.com. At least, I found the idea for the illustration on that site. Finally, I searched online for information about counterfeiting and was directed to the Secret Service's website. This provided me some great information for the beginning of my sermon.

Here is a list of the illustrations that I decided to use in the sermon (they are all listed except the illustration of my personal illustration). This search online really helped me because I found a great illustration for the final point of the sermon regarding the purpose of the law. When I read the illustration you see on the above link, I thought immediately of an object lesson of the level. I could bring a level in and show them the illustration.

Here are some things to note about illustrations:

1. The sermon is about teaching God's Word and illustrations help bring out the meaning of the text in a way that is memorable. The illustration is not about being "funny" or even "clever" it is about making the greatest impact with God's Word. It is a tool to help communicate God's Word.

2. The Emergent Church folks say the way we should be preaching is telling stories with God's Word to illustrate the story (I have sat in meetings with other pastors who seriously were talking about this as if it was a great idea). This is plain and simply wrong. There is no story anyone needs to hear and no story that will change anyone's life other than the Gospel story. I firmly believe that the Word of God must be plainly taught and illustration help make the point the author is attempting to communicate. You can take or leave illustrations but you cannot minimize God's Word to an illustration.

3. This is the not the part of the sermon that should take the longest time in preparation. That is, if you exegesis is weak because you have not taken the time you needed with it, an illustration will not help you have a biblical sermon. It may be entertaining but not biblical. Sometimes you may not find the illustration you are looking for and you have run out of time. Preach the Word. It is the Word that God promises to not return void, not our illustrations.

Our sermon is really ready to get into shape to preach. That will be the focus of the next post.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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Fifth: Refining

Continuing in our study of preparing a sermon, we are at the place were we want to refine our outline to something preachable and memorable. This is something that comes with practice. And even with practice, some preaching outlines are just better than others. When you are preparing two or three sermons per week, sometimes you have to go forward with something good when, if you could spend some more time on it, it could be great. This does not negate the sermon. After all, it is God who speaks to the person's heart and it is God who promises His words will not return void. The purpose of intense preparation is not to do God's work; it is so that there will not be any hurdles in the way of the person who needs to hear the message. If we ramble, if we have disjointed thoughts, if we are unprepared, it can be a hindrance to hearing the message. Yes...God can and does work through those sermons that are confusing and are hard to follow. But how much more could He work through us if we have spend the time preparing.

But I digress...the point of this post is discuss refining our outline to make it a bit more teachable than its current condition.

First, when I begin refining I have been reading the passage and looking over all my previous notes. I have spent a lot of time with the text and beginning to formulate what needs to be taught through the passage. So, to refine the outline, I begin to look at different outlines other preachers have used.

One source that is easy to use is SermonCentral.com. Here is what I looked at when considering the 1 Timothy 1:3-11 passages.

SermonCentral outline 1

SermonCentral outline 2

These were OK but they were not what I was looking for. It should also be noted that I do not use these outlines. I use them as sermon seeds. Which brings to mind another resource I look to for refining outlines: SermonSeeds.org. This site usually has some good helps, but not for our passage in 1 Timothy.

Here is a list of outlines from the commentaries, from the Internet, and anywhere else I can pick someone's brain for some sermon seeds.

The issue with most of these are that they are exegetical outlines or theological outlines and not homiletical outlines. That is fine because the commentaries are not about having homiletical outlines, but they are an outline of the passage. This is why preaching from a commentary doesn't work. It was not made for that purpose. The idea of a sermon is to move from the exegetical (a statement of what the text says), through the theological (the truth pulled from that passage), to the homiletical (a statement which teaches that idea). Let me give an example of an entire passage.

A commentary would have more an exegetical outline. It is just an outline of how the passage flows. Here is an exegetical outline for Hosea 14:

I. Exhortation for Future Grace
          A. The Prophet’s Call to Repent (14:1-3)
          B. Yahweh’s Promise (14:4-8)
Garrett, NAC

A theological outline states theological truths but not in teachable principles. They just state the truth. This could be used as a sermon but may provide dry content and your audience may not leave remembering what your preached. Here is a possible theological outline for Hosea 14.

I. The Effect of Genuine Repentance 14:1-9
          A. The need for repentance (1)
          B. The attitude for genuine repentance (2-4)
          C. The results of genuine repentance (5-9)
Hunt, Old Testament Outline

This is more of a teachable outline. The words "We" or "you" appear more frequently, there is an attempt to make the main points memorable (notice the repetition of "repent"), and the flow of the passage is still faithful to the text (refer to the outlines above). Here is homiletical outline for Hosea 14.

I. We have a need to repent. (1-3)
          A. Accept responsibility for your sin. (1)
          B. Make an honest confession of your sin. (2)
          C. Let go of false gods. (3)
II. God is faithful when we repent. (4-8)
          A. God Will Revive Us. (4)
          B. God Will Restore Us. (5-7)
          C. God Will Remind Us that He Sustains Us. (8)
III. We must make the choice to repent. (9)
          A. There are Two Ways in life.
          B. It is a matter of the will.

Again, this is not essential to make sermon. And, again, I do not want to convey the idea sermon creation is solely an intellectual exercise. This entire process is to be bathed in prayer. However, there are little things we can do to help our audience catch the idea of the text and have it keep with them.

Here is progress on our 1 Timothy 1:3-11 passage. I have attempted to show the progress of thought in the order in which I thought through the outline. These are in red. The underlined points are the statements which I settled on for the time being. Refining the outline takes time, which means it is harder to do the night before the sermon is to be preached.

It hard to describe how ideas come. All I can say is that I have a small book I essentially take everywhere with me. In this notebook, I had the outline written down and prayed over it, scratched out, rewrote, thought out, etc. for at least a week. I thought about the audience of this sermon and what they may need to gain from this passage. I thought about what would help me remember the outline best. I thought, worked, and wrestled. The document link above shows that progress. To see the outline in its present form without the extra commentary and word studies, click Here.

This is still not ready to preach but it is getting closer. And it will not be THE perfect sermon nor the IDEAL sermon, but it is shaping up to be something that will preach.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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Excursus: The Value of Commentaries

In my series on sermon preparation, I indicated that a valuable resource in creating a sermon is commentaries. I have heard many people condemn the use of commentaries, stating things like, "I do not use commentaries. I only use the Word of God" or "I do not care what the scholars say, I only care about what Jesus says" or "Using a commentary is essentially saying some man's views are as inspired as the Bible." I assume statements like these are meant to sound spiritual but in reality they sound arrogant and uninformed. Commentaries are a useful and crucial part of studying Scripture. Here is why.

To begin with, it should be noted that no one believes commentaries to be as inspired as Scripture is. This is a straw-man argument. It is easy to for someone to critique another for using a commentary in their study by accusing them of something that is not true and then knocking down that argument. I know of no bible student, NO bible student, who views commentaries with the same value as they view the Bible.

Instead, bible students see commentaries as a personal consultant, so to speak. Which one of us would NOT ask a knowledgeable, mature, strong Christian their opinion on passages we may be struggling with if that Christian was sitting next to us in the pew. That is what we are doing when we consult a commentary. The scholars who write commentaries may have devoted their entire Christian life studying one book or a section of books (this does not mean they do not read the whole Bible, they just spend their professional career in a few books). They have devoted themselves to understand the times which the book was written. They have spent hours pouring over the text in the original language. They have had a lifetime of allow the text transform them through the principles gathered from their studies. They have taught others the nuances of the text. In short, they are experts regarding the text, usually.

If there is some student out there that says, "I do not need the insights of mature Christians who have studied the text in depth and could add to my understanding" then that student should stop their study, get on their knees, and begin to ask God to work on their pride issues. Yes, we each have the Holy Spirit. But why do the critics assume the Holy Spirit does not work in those who spend their life studying a particular text. Additionally, why do the critics fear thinking about the text instead of just "feeling" it. God has given us mind which can comprehend truth. We should use it.

Secondly, there are times we are wrong about our own interpretations about a text, as much as we do not want to admit it. I had friend tell me once that the passage in Isaiah that says "Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength" was not about "waiting" as in patiently waiting for the Lord, but it was instead about "waiting" like what waiters do. Therefore, his "new" interpretation of the text was that those who are busily serving the Lord will renew their strength. This may preach in some congregations and there may be pastors who want this to be the interpretation but the fact is, it is a wrong interpretation. A quick study of the words show that "wait" strangely enough means "wait, to patiently wait on the Lord" much like Jesus told his disciples, "wait in Jerusalem until the Promised one comes." (Can you imagine Jesus telling the 11 disciples who were holed up in their room after his death, "go about busily serving me until the Holy Spirit comes.") Working with commentaries would help us see when we are misunderstanding a text.

Yes, it is true that commentators can also be wrong about a text. This happens frequently. That is why one should consult several different sources and not just their favorite author. It not always majority rules but we come up with "waiter" and every other person in the world and throughout history has said "patiently wait," perhaps we may want to rethink our interpretation. Or are we so arrogant to think that God has not revealed this insight to anyone else throughout history and earnest, godly men have missed this meaning simply because they just were not smart/spiritual/ingenious enough?

Thirdly, not all commentaries are equal. There are some that better than others. There are some that are conservative in their approach to Scripture and there are some that liberal in their view of Scripture. A good Bible student researches these, and can avoid the liberal commentaries, unless he needs to see how liberal theologians are misleading the church. There are commentaries which deal more with the technical issues of the text and some that more devotional in content. Some are scholars working with the text and some are just transcriptions of a pastor's sermon. All of them have their place and it up to the Bible student to find the right mix to provide a good overview of the text in question.

Finally, please note that consulting the commentaries came closer to the end of the study process than the beginning. No commentary was written to be the first source. If you ask any commentator about the use of their material, they will affirm that the Bible should be studied independently at first and then after sufficient time with the text should a commentary be consulted. Perhaps, this is where the critics do understand. Maybe when they use commentaries they are tempted to go directly to them and they have not been properly taught about the use of commentaries. Or perhaps they have seen people misuse commentaries. Whatever, the case, consulting commentaries should be closer to the end of the study rather than at the beginning.

As I have said in different posts (here and here) commentaries are the tools through which the Bible student does his job. Imagine taking your car to the mechanic and he says, "Well, I need to replace your transmission and I can do a great job of it." You look on his walls and around his shop and there is not one tool; no wrenches, no screwdrivers, no impact wrenches, nothing with which to accomplish the job he said he could do. Sure, he could do it. It may take him a long time, and it would not be a quality job (do we really think he could tighten all the bolts to safety specifications with his bare hands?). Tools help him do the job well and safe. That is the job of a good commentary: to provide the exegete with a good tool to do his job safely so that he can accurately convey the Word of God.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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Fourth, Commentaries

In the continuation of posts regarding Sermon Preparation, we have diagrammed a passage, outlined it, and completed some word studies. We have spend significant time with the passage so far and have gain quite a bit understanding from our study. We now can begin to consult commentaries about the passage. This will firm up any areas that we still do not understand about the passage or correct any areas we may have gotten off track.

Click here to see the commentary entries (in blue) I found important or at least interesting to 1 Timothy 1:3-11. Here are the sources I used for this study. I used only these because they were in my library:

New American Commentary, 1 Timothy, Thomas Lea
New International Biblcial Commentary, 1 Timothy, Gordon Fee
Expositor's Biblical Commentary, 1 Timothy, Ralph Earle
Garman-Howes Commentary, 1 Timothy, Garman and Howes
The Daily Bible Study Series, 1 Timothy, William Barclay
The Bible Exposition Commentary, 1 Timothy, Warren Wiersbe

If there was a passage which these did not answer to my satisfaction, I would have attempted to find more sources to check out (bible college library, public library, church's library, etc.).

Here is some of the impact these commentaries had on my understanding of this passage (click here to reference the outline with commentary).

1). In verse 4, one of the commentaries indicated that the main concern of Paul was that the church would spend so much time on debating new doctrines that they would forget their objective given by God. Thus, as indicated in the previous post, point B. in the outline could be changed to something like "He is not swayed from God's task" or "not swayed from our responsibility"

2). In verse 5, Paul said the goal of their instruction is love. I thought the commentary entry for this verse was a good contrast between the false teachers and a godly teacher (see link above).

3). The word pictures given in one of the commentaries of what a pure heart means was helpful to me. Corn free of chaff, an army free of cowards and the undisciplined. A pure heart is one that is not mixed with anything from the world.

4). One of the more difficult passages in this text is verse 9, which says the law is not for righteous but it IS for the unrighteous. As New Testament believers, this may be hard to get. The commentaries helped me greatly in this area. See the outline for the comments there.

5). Another interesting aspect I gathered from the commentaries is found in verse 9, as well. In the pairs of labels Paul gives the unrighteous, he mentions "ungodly and sinners," to which one of the commentaries said "Ungodly is inwardly irreverent and sinners is outwardly irreverent." This made me think of the next pair, "Unholy and profane", which perhaps may be an issue concerning inward impurity (unholy) and outward impurity (profane). This made me look at the first pair, "Lawless and rebellious" to see if this is an "inward-outward" issue. I am not sure about this but I will do some more search on it. This could be three pairings Paul used to describe the inward and outward approach the ungodly have for the law, reverence, and purity.

6). Finally, in verse 11, a commentary suggested that perhaps instead of outlining the last verse into two sections "1. the glorious gospel and 2. entrusted to Pau" I may want to think about outlining it in three sections: "1. glorious gospel, 2. comes from God, and 3. comes through men." This is a possibility that I will pray and think about.

Note that nothing radically changed in the meaning of the sermon nor did the commentaries add much to my understanding except in a couple of areas which will help me communicate that particular section better.

Our sermon is shaping up but now we need a lot of refinement. We want to be able to present this information in a way that will not be just information but will be principles by which people can live. This will be address in an upcoming post.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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Third, Word Studies

In my series of sermon preparation, I have been working with 1 Timothy 1:3-11. I have diagrammed the text and from that diagram, I have developed a working outline. From this point, I begin to do word studies.

It should be noted at this point that sermon preparation, or any exegesis for that matter, is an art and a science. It is a science in that there are rules which must be followed and if those rules are thrown out the window, the results will be inaccurate. However, it is also an art in that it takes practice. The more one does it, the better one becomes at practicing it. Also, like learning a new instrument, one should start with easier material and work up to the more difficult material. I say this here because developing outlines and working on word studies all develop with practice.

People do word studies a variety of different ways. I tend to spend a lot of time on word studies because the words of the text provide the foundation of the author's meaning. Regardless of what the Post-modern leaders of the church try to tell us, words do have meaning and the author was trying to convey a particular message to his readers and as thinking beings made in the image of God, we have the capacity to understand that meaning. It just takes a little work.

When working with a text, I have already read through it several times and probably have an idea of the words which I would like to know more about. However, there are always words that surprise me in my study. I think the word is somewhat insignificant and it ends up being pivotal in the study. Therefore, I tend to look up A LOT of the words in the passage. For our passage, 1 Timothy 1:3-11, here is the list of words and phrases I looked up:

Instruct
Teach false doctrines
Pay attention
Myths
Endless genealogies
Mere speculation
Administration
Which is by faith
Instruction
Goal
Love
Pure heart
Good conscience
Sincere faith
Straying
Turned aside
Fruitless discussion
Law teachers
Do not understand
Saying
Confident assertions
Good
Lawfully
Lawless
Rebellious
Ungodly
Sinners
Unholy
Profane
Kidnappers
Sound

I know this is a long list and perhaps many would not want to look at this many words. However, I have found that each one contributes to my understand of the text. I may not bring each meaning out in the sermon but a minister's understanding of a passage preached should be like an iceberg: You may not share every bit of information you learn about a text but every bit of information helps you teach the text.

I usually inject the word study into the outline so that I have all the information where it needs to be. Click Here to see an example of my word studies.

I used several different sources to accomplish this. I am careful not to use a commentary in this process so I am not exposed to differing ideas but simply definitions of words. I realize that word studies are a kind of commentary but they are not as vunerable to personal opinion since the rules of grammar and lexigraphy tend to guide the discussion. Here are my sources used in the example:

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by Kittel
The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology by Brown
The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament by Rogers and Rogers
Word Studies in the Greek New Testament by Wuest
The Hebrew and Greek Key Study Bible

These were used because they were in my library. If I could not find a sufficient definition of a word, I would have perhaps looked online at Studylight.org, or made a trip to my church's library, or asked my pastor if he had a resource I could use, or made a trip local bible college's library, or various other avenues.

All the information so far has given us a lot of information but it is pretty dry so far. Next, we will be begin to consult commentaries to see if we are on track theologically.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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Excursus: Outlining Principles

I have begun a series of posts concerning the sermon preparation. In the previous posts, I gave an example of diagramming the text. I moved forward with the 1 Timothy 1:3-11 text and I am in the process of working with the diagram to develop a working outline.

But how do you outline? Here are some outlining principles:

1). The passage you are outlining should have one main thought which is conveyed through the text. Some call this "the big idea," some call it "the thesis," but it is one idea that is something of an umbrella statement which everything that is said in the passage is related to it or goes to prove the point.

2). As stated earlier, if one is outlining, that outline should be drawn from the text and not imposed on the text. This is why it is important to spend time on diagramming the passage. The diagram will show the exegete the flow of thought of the passage. Again, didactic passages tend to be a little easier to outline than say a narrative passage or a poetic passage. However, every text does have a flow of thought that can be identified and then conveyed.

3). If you have one main point, you should have at least another main point. Same with sub-points, and sub-sub-points. Or, in other words, if you have a main point I. you should at least have a main point II. If you have a sub-point A. you should at least have a sub-point B. AND, if you have a sub-sub-point 1. you should at least have a sub-sub-point 2.

Here is why: In my 1 Timothy 1:3-11 example, you will see I have a section that looks like this:

C. Goal of our instruction
       1. Love
              a. From a pure heart
              b. From a good conscience
              c. From a sincere faith

It is unnecessary to point out we have a goal to our instruction. Then move from that thought to discuss that this goal is love. Then move to where this love comes from. Instead, it should look like this:

C. Our goal is love
       1. From a pure heart
       2. From a good conscience
       3. From a sincere faith

This will provide the same information and can be delivered quicker in a sermon.

4). The main points should be a summary of all that is "under" it, the sub-point should summarize all that is "under" it, and so on. Again, using the 1 Timothy 1:3-11 example and using the information above, we can see this. Here is what a section from the working outline looks like:

I. Proper Teaching (3-5)
      A. Against strange doctrine
      B. Not to pay attention to...
           1. Myths
           2. Endless genealogies
                a. they give rise to mere speculation
                b. Instead of furthering our responsibility
      C. Our goal is love
           1. From a pure heart
           2. From a good conscience
           3. From a sincere faith

Note that "Proper Teaching" sums up "Against strange doctrine, not paying attention, and, goal of love." Each of these points can be massaged to better phrases and clearer teaching points, but that comes later in the process. However, if something comes to mind now, you can incorporate it. "Not paying attention to..." is something of a summary of "myths and geneaologies". Again, this probably needs work to something more like "Things that waste time" or something like that. Also, the sub-sub-points under "geneologies" is really a summary of the whole point and thus maybe need to be worked into B. This would perhaps look like:

I. A godly minister faithfully teaches biblically sound teaching (3-5)
      A. Preaches against strange doctrines
      B. Not swayed from God's task by...
          1. Myths
          2. Geneaologies
      C. Goal is love
          1. From a pure heart
          2. From a good conscience
          3. From a sincere faith

This includes both some massaging of the points to teachable principles and rephrasing to capture the "summarizing" principle. Of MOST IMPORTANT NOTE is that we have not changed the original meaning from Scripture. The author's intent is kept and we are stepping closer to moving the teaching material into the 21st century. There is still some work to be done (I don't like the repeat of "teaching" in the main point) but we are making some good progress.

5). It is at this point that some work can be done to make the outline a little more memorable. Some alliterate everything (problems, people, patience). Some rhyme everything (declaration, recreation, obliteration). Some use acronyms (FIST = powerful, Faithful, Increasing, Strengthened, Thankful - mine from a sermon on Col. 1:10-14). Some use repetition (We must love God, we must love the lost, we must love believers). Some use a mix of all of these. None of these are needed but they can help your sermon stick in the mind of your listeners. For example, when the listeners look at their fist, they can be reminded of what "a walk worthy of the Lord" is like: Fruitful, Increasing (spiritually), Strengthening, and Thankful. It also helps the speaker remember their outline a little easier.

There are some who take this step to the extreme (for example, John Philips Exploring series of commentaries - however, his outlines can provide great sermon seed material). Nevertheless, these things can be a mnemonic device for both audience and speaker.

This is by no means an exhaustive study on outlining. There have been books written about the subject. However, it may help you get started. Remember, the more you do it, the better you will get at it. We are all still learning and all still trying to get better at sharing God's word faithfully, coherently, and transformationally.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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Second, Outline

I have begun a series of posts concerning the sermon preparation. In the previous post, I gave an example of diagramming the text. I will be moving forward with the 1 Timothy 1:3-11 text. The next step in my process is to work with the diagram to develop a working outline. (click here to see the outline example - you also may want to pull up the diagram do you can see the diagram and outline side by side)

There are several things to note about this outline:

First, the ouline was easily created by using the diagram. Again, this is a bit easier with didatic passages like the Pauline Epistles than it is with narrative passages but the principles are essentially the same.

Second, this will not be a teaching outline as it will have more statements than teaching principles as the major points. I know this outline will change and possibly radically change. That is OK as long as the meaning is not distorted or changed. This is just a working outline.

Third, the example does not follow the best outlining rules. For example, a basic outlining rule says, "If you have a 1. then you need at least a 2." This is a good rule because it helps develope a better sermon and helps create a good flow of thought. However, in the example below, I have broken that rule. That tells me that I need to look at that a little close and maybe need to rework that part of the outline.

Fouth, I will compare this to other outlines to see if my general flow of thought is on track. Most commentaries will provide some sort of outline so this is an easy job. Please note: the outlines in most commentaries are not teaching outlines and if used as such provide a dry, usually boring sermon.

Finally, note that all I have done is worked with the text in a prayerful attitude. I have not yet consulted a lexicon, a commentary, or book of sermon outlines. These are valuable tools, and I will use them very soon in this process, but what I have created so far is based in the text itself, and developed with the help of the Holy Spirit alone.

My next post will be something of a rabbit trail to go a little deeper into outlining principles.

Diagram -> Outlining -> Excursus -> Word Studies -> Commentaries -> Excursus -> Refining -> Illustrations -> Practice -> Preaching

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