While many books have been written and courses have been taught on the subject of Homiletics, or sermon delivery, this brief article is not meant to duplicate those or be an exhaustive reference on the subject. Instead, it is meant to be a brief bit of guidance for those who are new to preaching and teaching the Bible. However, though it may be brief, it is meant to provide the most important points you need to know, especially from the Lord's perspective.
The most important sermon preparation is the preparation of the preacher. Here are some of the most important preparations of the preacher:
A Deep, Personal Relationship with Jesus
You must first know the Lord for yourself in a very deep and personal way, before you can expect to speak for Him. So you need to get saved, becoming born again, and spend plenty of quality time with the Lord daily in prayer and Bible reading. Your constant daily attendance upon God’s Word in your private time and your daily prayer life is your preparation for your public preaching and teaching. To have prayed well is to have studied well.
Constant study of the Word of Truth
As I have just stated, it's very important to constantly study the Word of God to show yourself approved, so that you can correctly handle the Scriptures. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). It's important that you have both a sound doctrine and a godly life: "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." (1 Tim 4:16). For more on this, see
Read the Bible for All Its Worth!
Don't Seek to Become a Pastor or Teacher
Don't seek to become a pastor or teacher, as pastors are accountable before God for the souls of all the people under their care. They will stand before God one day and give an account not only for themselves but all the sheep in their flocks. "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." (Jas 3:1)
Speak to Bless, Not to Impress
The whole purpose of the five-fold ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers is to equip the saints for works of service. So when you speak for the Master, don't seek to impress people or receive any praise from them, but to bless them so that they may be prepared to do the works the Lord created them to do.
Spirit-filled Life
It's important that you receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, according to Acts 1:4-5 and 8, as well as Acts 2:1-4 and 38 (also see Mt 3:11, Lk 3:16, 11:13, 24:49; Jn 7:38). Be being filled with the Spirit daily (Eph 5:18). The Greek in this verse is a continuous action of being filled, not a one-time thing. I cannot emphasize enough the importance not only of being Spirit-filled, but also Spirit-led (Rom 8:!4), Spirit directed, and Spirit-controlled (Rom 8:6) at all times and lead one's life in this fashion.
Receiving a Message from the Lord
You should pray and ask the Lord, “Please give me a message for the church. What would you say to this particular church at this time, Lord?” Your constant prayer should be, “Make me a mouthpiece for you, Lord. Bring forth your oracles from my lips.”
The Importance of the Unction of the Holy Spirit
It's important to be prepared. You should have some notes from your study throughout the week, and then you can create a rough, short outline to use when you preach, which highlights key points and verse references you will speak about. You can use these notes as a guide to remind you of what you intend to say, but don't be bound to your notes when you speak.
Let the Holy Spirit flow through you. And if the Lord changes your message just as you are getting up to speak, be prepared to let go of your notes and your message and let the Holy Spirit speak things through you that you had not even planned to say. Before you begin speaking for God, you should always pray first. Ask the Lord, “Please let the unction (anointing) of the Holy Spirit come upon me now Lord as I proclaim your Word.”
Topical Message or Exegetical One
You can deliver either a topical message about a given topic the Lord has given you to preach on (eg., Doing the Will of God, or Walking in the Spirit), or you can deliver an expository message whereby you preach in a line-by-line fashion from a passage of Scripture, explaining each verse, one at a time. If you choose to deliver a topical message, it should be directly based on the Scriptures and using the Scriptures to deliver the message. You should not preach your own opinions or without using the Bible. And avoid using a single verse merely as a spring board to jump off into sharing your own thoughts without coming back to the Word.
Make your point, make it well, drive it home, but be concise.
Use Illustrations
It's often helpful to support your points with an illustration or two from the Bible based on stories about Bible characters (eg., Jesus, Peter, Paul, David, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Joshua, etc), which helps make the point of the message more clear to the listener.
Closing Words
I hope this brief bit of guidance has served to better equip you to speak for the Master. As you may have noticed, most of what I shared was about preparing the preacher, rather than preparing the sermon or delivering it. While delivery is important, it will be hollow and empty without the power of the Holy Spirit. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power.
Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV.
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the
Home page, such as
A Tale of Two Kings,
The Servant of the Lord,
The Shepherding Role of Elders,
Success in God's Eyes,
Accountable, correctable, and teachable,
A Personality Profile of the Apostle Paul,
Persecuted or Popular?, and
Having a Servant's Heart. You may also access my complete blog directory at "
Writing for the Master."
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Len Lacroix is the founder of
Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.
www.dmiworld.org.
