As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat!
Adrian Rogers outlined sermons using four phrases:
- Hey You! (Get the audience’s attention)
- Look! (Examine the Scriptures)
- See! (Explain the passage)
- Do! (Make application)
Andy Stanley is famous for one-point preaching, but really breaks his messages into five movements:
- Me (How do I struggle with this?)
- We (How do we all struggle with this?)
- God (What does the Bible say about this?)
- You (What should you do about this?)
- We (How can we all live this out together?)
And I’m not sure who came up with it, but another well-known system is:
- Hook (Get attention)
- Book (Examine the Word)
- Look (Expound the passage)
- Took (Make an appeal)
The Puritans jumped right into point one of 27ish as they preached for several hours and there are plenty of other outlining methods as well. I’ve changed my system several times over the years, which I think is important to keep us out of a rut. Lately, I’ve been outlining my messages around three movements..
WHERE WE ARE
In the first part of the message, I speak about the problem or issue that the message addresses, hopefully in a way that motivates my hearers to identify with the problem personally as in, “Oh yeah, I struggle with that too!”
WHAT GOD SAYS
In the middle part (the longer part), I dig into the passage, or sometimes several passages, that address the issue, provide a historical context and expound on the meaning. Sometimes there are three or for “points” here, but not always.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Finally, I move to how we need to live out the solution that God’s Word has provided. I try to be as concrete as possible such as challenging people to go sign up for a ministry, buy a particular book, talk to their next door neighbor, etc.
I’ll probably tweak and change it up again soon, but for now, this system works quite well for me right now.
Brandon Cox has been a Pastor for fifteen years and is currently planting a church in northwest Arkansas, sponsored by Saddleback Church and other strategic partners. He also serves as Editor of Pastors.com and Rick Warren's Pastors' Toolbox, and authors a top 100 blog for church leaders.
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