Five Crucial Questions for Every Sermon to Raise and Answer

Five Crucial Questions for Every Sermon to Raise and Answer

Saturday August 13 2011 6:30 PM Daniel Akin

These questions will help solidify your purpose and guide your sermon development. They will also help you follow the “Grand Redemptive Storyline” of Creation (God) ? Fall ? Redemption ? Sanctification.

1) What does this text teach about God and His character and ways? This question is intentionally theological and God focused. It is the first question you should always ask in sermon development. This question looks for the “vision of God” in the text.

2) What does this text teach about fallen humanity? This question naturally follows number one, and it should always follow number one. It will keep us from being man-centered or anthropocentric in our preaching. Bryan Chappell speaks of the “Fallen Condition Focus” (FCF).

3) How does this text point to Christ? This is central in the sermon construction process and therefore we locate it “under the bridge” to support the entire structure.

This is not a novel idea. The church fathers were thoroughly Christocentric in their preaching. After all, they got it from the apostles, and they got it from Jesus. Jesus teaches us in Luke 24 that all of Scripture is about Him—all of it. In John 5:39, He says the Scriptures testify of Himself.

4) What does God want my people to know? Every exposition of Scripture will have a knowledge element. There will be biblical and theological content.

5) What does God want my people to do? Doing follows knowing. Having immersed my people in God’s word as to what says and means, I will now craft an action plan that paves a clearly marked road for obedience. If we answer the knowledge question but fail to follow up with an outlet for concrete and specific action, our people will become confused and frustrated. Our goal is to make disciples of Jesus who will think and act with a Christian worldview. People who do not think like Jesus will not act like Jesus, and people who do not act like Jesus are not really thinking like Jesus.

The full text of this article can be found at ‘betweenthetimes’.

Dr. Daniel L. Akin is the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. His website is at http://www.danielakin.com/.