Say the Word
My friend John Santic (see side-bar for link) blogged about sermon preparation, which has prompted me to share my thoughts. I am a bit of an anomoly among my generation. The trend today in preaching in my generation is to follow a narrative arc - to tell stories - narratives working out of the meta-narrative of the Biblical story.
I am still kicking it old school w. careful biblical exegesis. In fact, I use the guide for pastors at the end of Gordon Fee's seminal work New Testament Exegesis.
So this is how I prepare:
1. Select the passage. Read it in it's context. Read it several times in several different translation.
2. Mark words or phrases that are repeated.
3. Write down themes that emerge.
4. Write my own translation from the Greek.
5. Consult 2 or 3 of the best commentaries and see what the scholars say.
6. Write an outline of the sermon - including 1 major theme.At this point I am also finding the connection to contemporary life.
7. Write the sermon.
The part I like the best is simply reading and re-reading the text - it is amazing what can be found by careful reading of the text.
It's always important to consult the commentaries in the later steps. This is because if you read them too early in the process - your perceptions will be formed more by their ideas, then the Holy Spirit interacting with you.
I write my sermons word for word, but have been lately toying w. preaching from an outline. This would require a bit of extra work.
Adam and Felicia are both struggling w. colds - pray for them.
I am still kicking it old school w. careful biblical exegesis. In fact, I use the guide for pastors at the end of Gordon Fee's seminal work New Testament Exegesis.
So this is how I prepare:
1. Select the passage. Read it in it's context. Read it several times in several different translation.
2. Mark words or phrases that are repeated.
3. Write down themes that emerge.
4. Write my own translation from the Greek.
5. Consult 2 or 3 of the best commentaries and see what the scholars say.
6. Write an outline of the sermon - including 1 major theme.At this point I am also finding the connection to contemporary life.
7. Write the sermon.
The part I like the best is simply reading and re-reading the text - it is amazing what can be found by careful reading of the text.
It's always important to consult the commentaries in the later steps. This is because if you read them too early in the process - your perceptions will be formed more by their ideas, then the Holy Spirit interacting with you.
I write my sermons word for word, but have been lately toying w. preaching from an outline. This would require a bit of extra work.
Adam and Felicia are both struggling w. colds - pray for them.
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