Page 52 - Homiletics Student Textbook

The opening words of a sermon . . . need not be dramatic . . .; but they must go after the minds
of the hearers to force them to listen. If the preacher does not capture attention in the first
thirty seconds, he may never gain it at all.
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The introduction should show your people why your message is important to their spiritual life.

Our lack of wholeness is a consequence of the fallen condition in which we live. Aspects of this
fallenness that are reflected in our own sinfulness and in our world’s brokenness prompt
Scripture’s instruction and construction.

Determining a sermon’s subject remains only half-done when the preacher has discerned what
the biblical writer was saying. We do not fully understand the subject until we have also
determined its reason or cause.

Consideration of a message’s theme ultimately forces us to ask, ‘Why are these concerns used
this account, these facts, or the recording of these ideas? What was the intent of the author?
For what purpose did the Holy Spirit include these words in Scripture?’
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Sermons catch fire when flint strikes steel. When the flint of a person’s problem strikes the
steel of the Word of God, a spark ignites that burns in the mind. Directing our preaching at
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people’s needs is not mere persuasive technique; it is the task of ministry.

The introduction should expand your propositional statement and question (why?, who?, what?,
when?, where?, and how?). This is the ‘Big Idea’ of the message.

The proposition or thesis is a simple declaration of the subject which the preacher proposes to
discuss, develop, prove, or explain in the discourse. In other words, it is the sermon reduced to
one sentence.
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A sermon proposition, however, is more than a theme. It establishes the concern that the
message will address and sets the agenda for how it will be handled . . . A proposition, then, is
not merely a statement of a biblical truth, nor is it only an instruction based on a biblical
principle. It is both. A proposition is the wedding of a universal truth based on the text with an
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application based on the universal truth.

In a formally constructed sermon the introduction prepares for the body of the message by
leading to the proposition. Because the proposition is the theme of the overall message, an
introduction that leads into the proposition automatically orients the listener to the body of
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the message…The proposition is actually a summary of the introduction.

a. Example: Philippians 4:6-7
Defeat worry by bringing God into your troubles.
How do you bring God into your troubles?

65 Robinson, 160.
66 Chapell, Bryan, Christ-Centered Preaching, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002), 40-41.
67 Robinson, 163.
68 Braga, James, How To Prepare Bible Message, (Portland: Multnoma, 1969), 92.
69 Chapell, 140.
70 Chapell, 233.
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