Preparing Sermons
Reference Aids 1
Some men have the wonderful ability to think -- they can think as they sit at their desk, and think when they are in the pulpit. Good thoughts, expressed in good words, just seem to pour out of them effortlessly. If that describes you, then thank God, and you may not need these articles. But if you are like me, the thinking process has to have some help. In that case, we can be grateful that good thinkers who are good Bible students have recorded their work for the benefit of those of us who need that help.
The amount of material available for help in sermon preparation is staggering in its abundance. Not only are there untold numbers of books available, but with the Internet came a vast array of articles, charts, and outlines we can download. Let's consider a few of the sources, beginning with an "old" one:
THE PULPIT COMMENTARY. These volumes were written and edited by denominational men, and therefore they must be used very carefully. A man who wants to preach is well-advised to be grounded in God's truth, for truth is what he must teach. So before using this set of books, know the plan of salvation and know how the New Testament church fits into it. Know the worship of the church, and its organization (or "arrangement" if that is a better word). Know the errors taught by human creeds, and know the answers to them, or at least how to find answers. With that qualification, go to this set of books and find some good material which (with a lot of work) can be made into usable outlines.
My set of PULPIT COMMENTARY (now getting pretty old!) has 23 volumes, the 23rd being a General Index. That index lists just about any topic you could ever think of, and tells you where to go in the other volumes to find information. You can look through the pages for what you want, copy anything that looks good, put it all together, and then you can see if the material will "jell" into a sermon.
If you are using the PULPIT to study and teach a text, begin by reading their commentary on the text, and then look at their homiletic treatment of the text. Usually it will go verse by verse; then after a page or a few pages there will be given the work (homilies) of various authors. If you are working on one verse or a paragraph you may find a little on the text on each of several pages. You can go to the copy machine and copy out the pages. Or you can scan them into a file if you have a computer and a scanner. When you have all the material, then compile it into its main points and you probably can see the beginning of an outline. Some of the men give their comments in outline form, and many of the outlines are very good. If you are like me you may wonder, "why didn't I see that?" But, having now seen it, don't be upset about copying from someone else. If the other man has done better work than I did, and he has published it for public use, then why shouldn't I preach the best outline that is available?
If you are just beginning to use the PULPIT, you may find it a little complicated and confusing, but you quickly will catch on. Other publications also may have their particular arrangement, and each one has to be used so as to gain the good information while discarding the erroneous teaching and the wordy filler material that is less-than-useful. In the next article we will look at more helps that are available. We have the great responsibility to teach truth, so when you read what someone else has written, whether the book is authored by a sectarian or by a faithful brother, examine it carefully, remembering that man can be wrong. Let Christ and His Word be the center and circumference of our sermons.
Although you get material from others, the final outline can and will be yours if you spend the time and effort to develop the thoughts in orderly fashion. Most of the denominational men do not give many Scripture references (sadly, that has become the case with some of our brethren). So you will need to add passages to show that the Bible actually teaches what you say it teaches. Make a point, and give a verse or verses. Make another point and give more verses. Spend enough time on each point to show the power of God's Word in its proper application. Keep all the points in the realm of your lesson, and keep all the teaching moving toward what you want people to know, to believe, and to practice. - Derrel Shaw