Let me show you how to write sermons with ease. You will need to master four features in order to write sermons with ease week by week.
These four features do not negate the need for you to study the passage of Scripture you are about to preach.
4 Features – How To Write Sermons With Ease
The four features that I will show you in this post are as follows and are primary associated with deductive sermons.
- Every Sermon has three parts.
- The body of the sermon is the sermon outline.
- The sermon outline has a main preaching point, sub-points and incidental points.
- The main preaching point is linked to the sub-points and incidental points with a hinge word. The hinge word is always a plural noun.
If you master these four features, you will prepare sermons with EASE and you will preach powerful and dynamic messages to your audiences.
By the way, I did not learn to sermon outline in my formal training for ministry. In fact, I learned to sermon outline in my ministry experience. I quickly realized that a model or paradigm for sermon outlining was paramount to survive the enormous workload placed upon ministers.
1. Every Sermon Has Three Parts
A sermon must have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
I often equate a sermon with flying. Every time you fly in an airplane, you experience the take-off, the flight, and the landing. A memorable flight involves all three going well.
A sermon must have a powerful take-off (introduction), an interesting flight (body) and a memorable landing (conclusion).
Prepare these three parts well and you will write and preach powerful and dynamic sermons!
2. The Body of the Sermon is the Sermon Outline
It is absolutely important to realize this fact. The sermon outline is the road map for the body of the sermon. Writing a sermon outline forces you to structure the sermon in such a way that it brings cohesion and sequence to the sermon.
To put it simply, you will know what you are talking about and your congregation will know what you are preaching about. Usually, you write your sermon outline first and then add content to your sermon outline with an introduction and conclusion.
3. The Sermon Outline Has Three Main Parts
Every sermon has a main preaching point or should I say that all sermons should have a main preaching point.
I am absolutely amazed at how many preachers who deliver a sermon without a clearly defined main preaching point. As the old adage goes; if there is mist in the pulpit, then there will be fog in the pew.
A. The Main Preaching Point
The main preaching point is the big idea of the sermon or the topic of the sermon.
If you are going to preach a sermon about SHARING GOD’S LOVE WITH OTHERS, then sharing God’s love with others is the main preaching point.
B. The Sub-points
The sub-points of the sermon outline expand and explain the main preaching point.
In the sermon sharing God’s love with others, I wanted to tell the people how they could share God’s love with others.
Sharing God’s love with others involves showing tender love (Ephesians 4:32), showing tough love (Matthew 23:23), showing sacrificial love (1 John 3:16) and showing radical love (Matthew 5:39-41).
Therefore, the sub-points are:
- Showing tender love
- Showing tough love
- Showing sacrificial love
- Showing radical love
Now the sermon outline is taking shape.
C. INCIDENTAL POINTS
The incidental points of the sermon outline expand and explain the sub-points. For example, I wanted to explain the biblical concept of tender love from Ephesians 4:32.
Tender love is kindness, compassion and forgiveness.
The sermon outline now looks like this:
Sharing God’s love with others involves…
- Showing tender love
- Kindness
- Compassion
- Forgiveness
- Showing tough love
- Showing sacrificial love
- Showing radical love
As you can see, the sermon outline has cohesion and sequence.
4. The Main Preaching Point Linked To Sub-points and Incidental Points
The million dollar question is: How do you LINK the main preaching point with the sub-points and incidental points?
If you don’t understand how to link the main preaching point with the sub-points and incidental points, then you are in trouble.
Linking the main preaching point to the sub-points and incidental points requires a HINGE word.
The HINGE word must be a plural noun and it usually answers the why, when, where, what or how of the main preaching point.
In the above sermon outline, the HINGE word is ways.
There are four ways to share God’s love with others. They involve:
- Showing tender love
- Showing tough love
- Showing sacrificial love
- Showing radical love
If you master this model or paradigm for sermon preparation, you will write sermons week after week with EASE.
Now, you do the same to the sub-points.
In the above sermon outline, the HINGE word could be keys or expressions.
There are three keys to showing tender love. They involve:
- Kindness
- Compassion
- Forgiveness
Or you could say that there are three expressions of tender love. They
are:
- Kindness
- Compassion
- Forgiveness
When you set your sermon outline out like this, you have cohesion and sequence to your sermon.
You will know what you are talking about and your congregation will know what you are preaching about.
The sermon outline now looks like this:
There are four ways we can share God’s love with others.
They involve:
- Showing tender love (Three Expressions)
- Kindness
- Compassion
- Forgiveness
- Showing tough love
- Showing sacrificial love
- Showing radical love
Let’s Look At Another Example From Romans 5:12-14
The main preaching point of Romans 5:12-14 is: Allowing The Bible To Speak.
The sub-points could be: 1) The Bible speaks in the area of sin, 2) The Bible speaks in the area of death and 3) The Bible speaks in the area of life.
The HINGE word that links the main preaching point with the sub-points is
AREAS.
For example, the sermon outline could look like this.
There are three AREAS in which the Bible speaks when we read Romans 5:12-14. They are:
- The Bible speaks in the area of sin (5:12)
- The Bible speaks in the area of death (5:12b-14a)
- The Bible speaks in the area of life (5:14b)
You can use a different HINGE word but I found AREAS to fit nicely into the sermon outline
.
To expand and explain the sub-points, you will need to add incidental points.
For example, the full sermon outline could look like this.
There are three AREAS in which the Bible speaks when we read Romans 5:12-14. They are:
- The Bible speaks in the area of sin (5:12) Two questions:
- Where does sin come from?
- Why do I sin?
- The Bible speaks in the area of death (5:12b-14a) Three statements:
- Death comes through sin
- Death comes to all men
- Death reigns from Adam to Moses and beyond
- The Bible speaks in the area of life (5:14b) Two facts:
- Adam brought death
- Jesus brings life
As you can see above, the HINGE word for the first sub-point is QUESTIONS.
There are two questions we must ask and answer if we are going to allow the Bible to speak in the area of sin. They are:
- Where does sin come from?
- Why do I sin?
There are three statements we must understand if we are going to allow the Bible to speak in the area death. They are:
- Death comes through sin
- Death comes to all men
- Death reigns from Adam to Moses and beyond
There are two facts we must grasp if we are going to allow the Bible to speak in the area of life. They are:
- Adam brought death
- Jesus brings life
Of course, once you have the sermon outline completed, you will need to add content to the sermon outline and add an introduction and a conclusion.
Conclusion
The sermon model or paradigm shown above is a deductive model. The inductive model or paradigm is different.
To see the difference between and inductive sermon outline and a deductive sermon outline, click on How To Write A Deductive Sermon? or How To Write an Inductive Sermon?
If you are able to master these models or paradigms for writing sermons or sermon outlines, you will begin to write sermons with EASE and preach dynamic and powerful messages to your audiences.