A Guided Tour Through Expository Sermon Construction

1. Read the text of Scripture you have selected. Do this first, before consulting any material outside the Bible (commentaries and old sermons). Read from various translations, write down initial observations, taking note of genre, context, historical circumstance, words, grammar, etc. Your primary purpose is not to find a sermon, but to discover the writer’s intended meaning.
2. Be certain you understand the text. Don’t start writing the sermon until you are certain you understand what it means. At this point – after initial reading and your own observations – you should consult reference works, commentaries, etc. to provoke an examination of your initial thoughts. Even if you have selected a needed text and you have read it and made some initial observations, you cannot go forward until you are certain you understand it. Is there another view of this passage you have ignored, that may need some consideration? Your study must take you to a certain level of confidence and certainty before you can go forward.
3. Assemble your thoughts and begin writing. Start by writing your thesis sentence (the one main idea you want to convey). Build the rest of the sermon from that idea with subordinate points, illustrations, transition sentences, and the concluding challenge (which will always call upon the people to do something).
4. Polish your first draft into a final copy. This is the work of re-considering, re- wording, re-arranging, highlighting key phrases, removing the unnecessary and being certain you have effectively arranged the sermon.
5. Rehearse the sermon. Whether you do this out-loud or silently, this process is necessary to become familiar with your material, and to develop a good sense of urgency and passion about it. This step may always compel you to pencil in some changes.
6. Delivery. The informational product you assembled must now be presented to a live audience, through your own individual method or style. The better your preparation, the better you’ll feel going into this experience.
7. Evaluate. True, once you have delivered the sermon, you cannot “get it back,” but you can be honest with yourself about what you need to work on. Seldom will there be 100% satisfaction, or a grade of “A.” But improvement will be slow in coming if you neglect this vital step of self-review and evaluation.

Warren E. Berkley Dec. 2007