Preaching Little Ideas

Find Meaning in the Transitions

Recently, I completed a series through Isaiah 1-40 and have begun the latter part of Romans (chapters 12-16).  It's been a while since I was in an epistle and I had forgotten how important the transitions are.  The logical connections within and between verses often create meaning.  That means, for instance, that when you're preaching on 12:3 and the subject of humility, the character traits means something in relation to understanding the will of God (v. 2).  Having an accurate or proper assessment of yourself serves the larger thought of living out God's will.  Of course, in a relatively short section like the first few verses of chapter 12, you can keep allowing the connections and transitions to flesh out meaning.  Work your way back up through the paragraph so that you see every connection.  Then decide how far back to you have to take your congregants in order to allow v. 3 and humility to mean what God intended through all those connections and transitions.  This is easier at the beginning of a section like chapter 12, but gets more difficult to remember and implement the further you get into a lengthy section of epistolary instructions.

Preaching Practical Christian Instruction

The Link Between Theme And Application

A Final Look at Our Need to Wholly Trust Our Lord

Isaiah 39:1--40:5 brings me to the end of my sermon series on Isaiah.  I began the series in September and determined to preach the first major part of the book for now.  Lord willing, I'll be able to return to complete the book at a later date.  The narrative is strategically placed to show at the end of the first major section that Hezekiah, the king of previous faith, is not the promised Messiah.  He displays a lack of faith in God's ability to deliver and we read of the consequences of unbelief.  The story is designed to make us say, "I don't want that to happen to me!"  The first paragraph of chapter 40 provides good news of the possibility of redemption and cleansing.  Relevance can be shown through the temptation (39:1-2), the consequences of succumbing to temptation (39:3-8), and our only hope (40:1-5).  Christ is portrayed in the arrival of God.  The promise that God would arrive unhindered is fulfilled in Christ's coming.  This is why John the baptizer quoted Isaiah in Matthew 3:1-3.  The narrative is both functioning as an exemplar ("go and do otherwise") and also point to Christ who is the object of our faith and the source of our spiritual life.