Page 28 - Homiletics I Student Textbook

Conclusion – The Feet
In the conclusion, you review and summarize your main points. You call your listeners to act upon what
they heard. The goal in the Conclusion is to tell them what you told them!

These are 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. However, the mere presence of these elements
themselves does not guarantee the listener’s best possible experience with God’s Word. This is
determined largely by the type of sermon that is delivered, which is the next topic of this session.

The Types of Sermons – more details

Topical – Preaching about the Bible
A topic, subject, or issue is chosen by the preacher. (ex: pride, prayer) The preacher uses many passages
to explain, illustrate, and apply his topic. There are advantages and disadvantages to topical preaching.

Advantages:

(1) The preacher can narrow the focus of a sermon to a single topic.
(2) The preacher is forced to examine the topic from many different angles.
(3) The preacher can generate interest within the audience.
(4) The preacher can address the need of a certain situation and deal with it extensively and
completely.
Disadvantages

(1) Topical preaching can easily replace the whole counsel of God.
(2) We tend to preach what is important to us rather than what is important to the people.
(3) We tend to preach our own ideas and personal convictions rather than the pure Word of
God.
(4) Our field of preaching becomes too narrow to meet the breadth of human needs.

Textual – Preaching from the Bible
The preacher usually develops the thought of a relatively short passage, usually one verse. His main
points come from the text. His sub-points are developed from his knowledge of other scriptures. There
are advantages and disadvantages to textual preaching.

Advantages

(1) Textual preaching provides a good method of handling texts that are too short for full
expository treatment. (ex: Proverbs)
(2) Textual preaching is often great for banquets, special occasions, devotionals, etc.
(3) Textual preaching is great for series on “Great Bible Texts” or “Favorite Bible Verses”.

Disadvantages

(1) Textual sermons usually do not deal with the full unit of thought in a passage.
(2) Textual sermons merely scratch the surface when used on a longer passage.

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