It is presumptuous to speak on God's behalf without knowing the basic facts.
One thing you will find, if you read a lot of books about sermon making, is that there is a pretty negative view of eisegesis, a word that we defined a couple of posts ago. For instance, let’s say that you want to preach a sermon on keeping the sabbath. The preacher poorly compared this to casting the lot that is mentioned in the Old Testament. Contemporary issue exposition finds its subject in the context of current culture and then moves back to Scripture to discover what passages address that issue. That approach had been well received. As we try to address current issues like this from Scripture, we need to answer two crucial questions. What does God command us to do on the Sabbath? The issue is not whether the applications are legitimate, but rather, whether all the ranges of meaning have been legitimately validated. I prepared the following message knowing I couldn't say everything, but that I should say something: Once my topic found me, I chased down close to 50 passages. Topical preaching is and can be very effective.
Here’s one example where topical preaching went wrong. What are the blessings of the Sabbath? When a passage seemed not to address my topic even by implication or extrapolation, I dropped it. However, there are some implications (or extrapolations) we can legitimately draw from this passage that will help us decide how we should respond to today's issue.". Second, how do contemporary issue preachers signal the level of meaning from which they are preaching? To make Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 argue the contemporary issues is to misuse the text and miss the intent of its author, resulting in a lack of biblical authority and a compromise of integrity.
The message of an expository sermon must clearly emerge out of the intended meaning of a biblical passage or passages. Sometimes I will preach a more topical message where each point is the idea of a text and the points together make up the main idea. That's implication. This statement could lead to a meaning implied by the Exodus 20:14 text: marriage is sacred. Well-done topical preaching can be powerfully effective. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest….”. Many times when topical preaching is employed the parts of the Bible that are messy and not as clean as “life topics”. Application is another question. I had preached what I thought were the most critical themes. The problems of unreliable witnesses, convictions based on circumstantial evidence, and an overextended judicial system make the question of capital punishment a complex topic. Sign Up For Our Newsletter
This week I want to turn our attention to topical preaching as a tool to prepare your message. He opened the Bible, put his finger down, and read the words, “What thou doest, do quickly.”. First, what ranges of biblical meaning lead to legitimate authority in preaching? I suggest we simply state, "This passage does not specifically address our topic, at least not in the same way we are considering it. I believe God has spoken explicitly and absolutely on some subjects.
Topical exposition bases its message in two or more different biblical units which share a common subject. Answer: Topical preaching is preaching that is centered on a specific topic. "Are computers Satan's tool?" I started exegeting each text in its original context to determine its intended meaning. And almost all touched on a contemporary issue: "Talk about AIDS."
One thing you will find, if you read a lot of books about sermon making, is that there is a pretty negative view of eisegesis, a word that we defined a couple of posts ago. For instance, let’s say that you want to preach a sermon on keeping the sabbath. The preacher poorly compared this to casting the lot that is mentioned in the Old Testament. Contemporary issue exposition finds its subject in the context of current culture and then moves back to Scripture to discover what passages address that issue. That approach had been well received. As we try to address current issues like this from Scripture, we need to answer two crucial questions. What does God command us to do on the Sabbath? The issue is not whether the applications are legitimate, but rather, whether all the ranges of meaning have been legitimately validated. I prepared the following message knowing I couldn't say everything, but that I should say something: Once my topic found me, I chased down close to 50 passages. Topical preaching is and can be very effective.
Here’s one example where topical preaching went wrong. What are the blessings of the Sabbath? When a passage seemed not to address my topic even by implication or extrapolation, I dropped it. However, there are some implications (or extrapolations) we can legitimately draw from this passage that will help us decide how we should respond to today's issue.". Second, how do contemporary issue preachers signal the level of meaning from which they are preaching? To make Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 argue the contemporary issues is to misuse the text and miss the intent of its author, resulting in a lack of biblical authority and a compromise of integrity.
The message of an expository sermon must clearly emerge out of the intended meaning of a biblical passage or passages. Sometimes I will preach a more topical message where each point is the idea of a text and the points together make up the main idea. That's implication. This statement could lead to a meaning implied by the Exodus 20:14 text: marriage is sacred. Well-done topical preaching can be powerfully effective. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest….”. Many times when topical preaching is employed the parts of the Bible that are messy and not as clean as “life topics”. Application is another question. I had preached what I thought were the most critical themes. The problems of unreliable witnesses, convictions based on circumstantial evidence, and an overextended judicial system make the question of capital punishment a complex topic. Sign Up For Our Newsletter
This week I want to turn our attention to topical preaching as a tool to prepare your message. He opened the Bible, put his finger down, and read the words, “What thou doest, do quickly.”. First, what ranges of biblical meaning lead to legitimate authority in preaching? I suggest we simply state, "This passage does not specifically address our topic, at least not in the same way we are considering it. I believe God has spoken explicitly and absolutely on some subjects.
Topical exposition bases its message in two or more different biblical units which share a common subject. Answer: Topical preaching is preaching that is centered on a specific topic. "Are computers Satan's tool?" I started exegeting each text in its original context to determine its intended meaning. And almost all touched on a contemporary issue: "Talk about AIDS."
One thing you will find, if you read a lot of books about sermon making, is that there is a pretty negative view of eisegesis, a word that we defined a couple of posts ago. For instance, let’s say that you want to preach a sermon on keeping the sabbath. The preacher poorly compared this to casting the lot that is mentioned in the Old Testament. Contemporary issue exposition finds its subject in the context of current culture and then moves back to Scripture to discover what passages address that issue. That approach had been well received. As we try to address current issues like this from Scripture, we need to answer two crucial questions. What does God command us to do on the Sabbath? The issue is not whether the applications are legitimate, but rather, whether all the ranges of meaning have been legitimately validated. I prepared the following message knowing I couldn't say everything, but that I should say something: Once my topic found me, I chased down close to 50 passages. Topical preaching is and can be very effective.
Here’s one example where topical preaching went wrong. What are the blessings of the Sabbath? When a passage seemed not to address my topic even by implication or extrapolation, I dropped it. However, there are some implications (or extrapolations) we can legitimately draw from this passage that will help us decide how we should respond to today's issue.". Second, how do contemporary issue preachers signal the level of meaning from which they are preaching? To make Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 argue the contemporary issues is to misuse the text and miss the intent of its author, resulting in a lack of biblical authority and a compromise of integrity.
The message of an expository sermon must clearly emerge out of the intended meaning of a biblical passage or passages. Sometimes I will preach a more topical message where each point is the idea of a text and the points together make up the main idea. That's implication. This statement could lead to a meaning implied by the Exodus 20:14 text: marriage is sacred. Well-done topical preaching can be powerfully effective. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest….”. Many times when topical preaching is employed the parts of the Bible that are messy and not as clean as “life topics”. Application is another question. I had preached what I thought were the most critical themes. The problems of unreliable witnesses, convictions based on circumstantial evidence, and an overextended judicial system make the question of capital punishment a complex topic. Sign Up For Our Newsletter
This week I want to turn our attention to topical preaching as a tool to prepare your message. He opened the Bible, put his finger down, and read the words, “What thou doest, do quickly.”. First, what ranges of biblical meaning lead to legitimate authority in preaching? I suggest we simply state, "This passage does not specifically address our topic, at least not in the same way we are considering it. I believe God has spoken explicitly and absolutely on some subjects.
Topical exposition bases its message in two or more different biblical units which share a common subject. Answer: Topical preaching is preaching that is centered on a specific topic. "Are computers Satan's tool?" I started exegeting each text in its original context to determine its intended meaning. And almost all touched on a contemporary issue: "Talk about AIDS."
The preacher poorly compared this to casting the lot that is mentioned in the Old Testament. Eisegesis, in contrast, is beginning outside of the Bible, with an idea, and then you go to Scripture to find proof texts to support your idea. Another reason I find contemporary issue exposition a greater challenge than other forms of exposition is because of the typical preacher's rush to relevance.
I'm certain my message left much unsaid. Saying something about these relevant issues would be no problem; speaking with biblical authority would be the challenge. Most pastors will preach at least some topical sermons, while some focus … Textual exposition bases its message in a single verse or sentence of Scripture. Not being ruined (Leviticus 19:30-31), not being ruled (I Corinthians 6:12), and Security (Deuteronomy 33:12). That's why it's essential to move through the exegetical and theological processes—to insure a proper understanding of biblical meaning. The results? Exegesis, you will remember, is beginning with the text of the Bible, and then drawing out the meaning that it had for the original readers. I divide topical exposition into three kinds: theological, biographical, and contemporary issue (watch for articles on the latter two in coming weeks). To say, however, that Genesis has nothing to offer the debate would be to fail to consider some significant inferences from what Moses did intend. It seemed that several passages made legitimate contributions by addressing sex crimes and justice in general. Expositors of contemporary issues must move with caution through the ranges of meaning to keep from finding implications or extrapolations that cannot be proven consistent with the original intent of the passage. All may be preached with authority. "Cultivate your own marriage" is a possible application of that text's implication. How can a preacher hope to know, understand, and address the multitude of related arguments? But by taking Moses' message to the theological level we can generalize a message for any criminal violation. We just have to be careful with it just like anything else. We have been looking at the subject of styles of preaching.
It is presumptuous to speak on God's behalf without knowing the basic facts.
One thing you will find, if you read a lot of books about sermon making, is that there is a pretty negative view of eisegesis, a word that we defined a couple of posts ago. For instance, let’s say that you want to preach a sermon on keeping the sabbath. The preacher poorly compared this to casting the lot that is mentioned in the Old Testament. Contemporary issue exposition finds its subject in the context of current culture and then moves back to Scripture to discover what passages address that issue. That approach had been well received. As we try to address current issues like this from Scripture, we need to answer two crucial questions. What does God command us to do on the Sabbath? The issue is not whether the applications are legitimate, but rather, whether all the ranges of meaning have been legitimately validated. I prepared the following message knowing I couldn't say everything, but that I should say something: Once my topic found me, I chased down close to 50 passages. Topical preaching is and can be very effective.
Here’s one example where topical preaching went wrong. What are the blessings of the Sabbath? When a passage seemed not to address my topic even by implication or extrapolation, I dropped it. However, there are some implications (or extrapolations) we can legitimately draw from this passage that will help us decide how we should respond to today's issue.". Second, how do contemporary issue preachers signal the level of meaning from which they are preaching? To make Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 argue the contemporary issues is to misuse the text and miss the intent of its author, resulting in a lack of biblical authority and a compromise of integrity.
The message of an expository sermon must clearly emerge out of the intended meaning of a biblical passage or passages. Sometimes I will preach a more topical message where each point is the idea of a text and the points together make up the main idea. That's implication. This statement could lead to a meaning implied by the Exodus 20:14 text: marriage is sacred. Well-done topical preaching can be powerfully effective. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest….”. Many times when topical preaching is employed the parts of the Bible that are messy and not as clean as “life topics”. Application is another question. I had preached what I thought were the most critical themes. The problems of unreliable witnesses, convictions based on circumstantial evidence, and an overextended judicial system make the question of capital punishment a complex topic. Sign Up For Our Newsletter
This week I want to turn our attention to topical preaching as a tool to prepare your message. He opened the Bible, put his finger down, and read the words, “What thou doest, do quickly.”. First, what ranges of biblical meaning lead to legitimate authority in preaching? I suggest we simply state, "This passage does not specifically address our topic, at least not in the same way we are considering it. I believe God has spoken explicitly and absolutely on some subjects.
Topical exposition bases its message in two or more different biblical units which share a common subject. Answer: Topical preaching is preaching that is centered on a specific topic. "Are computers Satan's tool?" I started exegeting each text in its original context to determine its intended meaning. And almost all touched on a contemporary issue: "Talk about AIDS."
"Avoid pornography" is a legitimate application of the extrapolation.