Page 26 - Homiletics I Student Textbook

Study Section 4: The Sermon: Parts and Types

4.1 Connect
My homiletics professor in seminary used to say, “A mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew.”
I’m not sure if this quote was original to him or not, but it most certainly is true. To reach a
destination, you must know where you’re going. You also must know how you’re going to get
there. As a preacher, you are taking people on a journey that will lead them to the discovery
of a truth in God’s Word that has the power to radically alter their life. This is the
destination. If you’re not sure of this destination yourself or how you’re going to take them
there, then somewhere along the way you’re going to lose those who are following you. They may look
at you with a smile, but they will stop listening with their ears and tune you out in their hearts.
Obviously, you do not want this to happen!

In this session we will first address the basic parts of a sermon – those elements of your public address
that are necessary in order to help you and your listeners have a safe journey through the biblical text
and arrive at its intended destination with accuracy, clarity, and understanding. We will also discuss the
three different types of sermons. Each is a unique way to communicate God’s truth, yet one is the best
way to communicate God’s truth.

4.2 Objectives
1. The student should be able to state and explain the various parts of a sermon

2. The student should be able to state and explain the three types of sermon deliveries and the
advantages and disadvantages of each.

4.3 The Sermon: Parts and Types

Introduction – The Head

Before someone can learn, they must want to listen and incorporate the information. It
comes from their desire to learn. If they are not interested, they probably won’t hear much
of what you say. When you begin a sermon, the listener’s minds can be anywhere. They
may be thinking about an event that happened yesterday or plans for after church. You will
find that in a group of 200 people, all 200 minds will be somewhere else other than ready to study the
Bible.

“take them from where they are to where you want them to be”

There are three types of preachers: those to whom you cannot listen; those to whom you
can listen; and those to whom you must listen. During the introduction the congregation
usually decides the kind of speaker addressing them that morning.
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38 Robinson, Haddon, Biblical Preaching, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), 167
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