Learning how to preach a sermon Part 1| Dr. Conrad Vine

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Sermon Study Guide: The Art & Heart of Preaching

Based on a Lecture by an Experienced Pastor

Introduction: The Power of Preaching

Opening Reflection:
The speaker begins with a bold observation: people will tolerate many things in a church service—a cold sanctuary, poor singing, bad food—but they will not return if the sermon is terrible. This underscores the immense power and responsibility of the preacher.

Key Quote:

“Preaching is about drawing people to Jesus Christ.”

Warm-Up Questions:

  1. Think of a sermon that truly impacted you. What made it so powerful?

  2. Why do you think the speaker says people will put up with so much, “as long as they get a good sermon”?

  3. What is the primary purpose of preaching, according to the speaker?

Part 1: The Preacher’s Foundation and Challenges

This section addresses the heart and habits of the preacher before they even begin crafting a sermon.

1. The Preacher’s Spiritual Garden
The speaker uses a powerful gardening metaphor to describe the preacher’s spiritual life. Just as a gardener seeks beauty in every season, the preacher must cultivate a steady flow of spiritual truth.

  • The Call for an Intentional Devotional Life: Your spiritual well will run dry if you are not consistently feeding it.

  • Action Point: Read through the Bible a minimum of once every year. This creates a familiar framework in your mind and allows God to speak to you daily.

2. The Preacher’s Challenges
Modern preachers face a unique set of obstacles. Being aware of them is the first step to overcoming them.

  • Time & Space: It’s difficult to find the quiet solitude needed for deep study. It requires intentionality.

  • Resources: Commentaries and study tools can be expensive.

    • Practical Tip: When a member of your congregation passes away, graciously ask the family if you can take some of their religious books. You can find wonderful, out-of-print commentaries this way.

  • Short Attention Spans: We live in a “video age” where people are used to quick dopamine hits. You are competing with phones and a culture of “collective ADD.”

  • A Diverse Congregation: You will have “theological giraffes” (those who love deep doctrine) and “theological slugs” (those who need the basics) in the same pew. As a shepherd, you must feed the whole flock and not leave the slowest lambs behind.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Describe your current “spiritual garden.” What helps you “water” it, and what are the “weeds” that get in the way?

  2. Of the challenges listed (time, resources, attention spans, diversity), which do you find the most daunting in your own life or context?

  3. The speaker says, “You can only go as fast as the slowest lamb in your flock.” What are the practical implications of this for a preacher?

Part 2: Tools of the Trade – Selecting Your Bible

The Bible is the preacher’s primary tool. The speaker provides an in-depth guide to choosing and using one well.

1. The Practicalities of Your Bible

  • Open and Stay Open: Find a Bible that will “sit open” on the pulpit so you’re not constantly fighting to hold it down.

  • Binding Matters: Get a hand-sewn (not glued) Bible. This is especially important in humid climates where glue deteriorates.

  • Paper Quality: “India paper” is ideal because it’s thin and prevents markings from showing through to the other side.

2. Choosing Your Translation
The speaker outlines three main types of Bible translations, emphasizing that your choice of Bible should be informed by your audience.

  • Paraphrase (e.g., The Clear Word): The speaker strongly advises against using these for public reading. He notes the author’s own preface states it should not be used for Bible study, liturgy, or public reading, as it is a private devotional commentary.

  • Dynamic Equivalent (e.g., New International Version (NIV), Good News Bible): This is a “thought-for-thought” translation. It provides an interpretation to make the meaning clear, but it can sometimes lose the nuance of the original text. The speaker sees a pastoral use for these, especially when ministering to people who are sick or dying.

  • Formal Translation (e.g., King James Version (KJV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)): This is a “word-for-word” translation. It retains the original ambiguity of the text, allowing for all possible meanings.

    • Recommendation: For sermon preparation, use two or three formal translations side-by-side to see how different scholars render the text. The NRSV uses “brothers and sisters” in the New Testament, recognizing the original context, while the KJV and NKJV use “brethren.”

3. Understanding Manuscripts & Textual Criticism
This is a more advanced topic, but important for understanding why Bibles differ.

  • Majority Text: The largest number of manuscripts, but mostly from the 6th-8th centuries.

  • Alexandrian Text: Fewer manuscripts, but much older (2nd-4th centuries) and closer to the original documents.

  • Eclectic Text: Used by most modern versions. It compares the two traditions above, verse by verse, using five main sources (uncials, minuscules, papyri, church fathers, and early translations), to decide which reading is best.

  • The Speaker’s Conclusion: The idea of a conspiracy is unfounded because Bibles with a “critical apparatus” (footnotes showing alternate readings) are published so that “nothing is hidden from you.”

Discussion Questions:

  1. What Bible translation do you use, and why did you choose it?

  2. Why might a preacher choose a formal translation (like NRSV) for study but a dynamic equivalent (like NIV) for preaching?

  3. What was your reaction to the speaker’s discussion of the different manuscript traditions? Does it change how you view the reliability of Scripture?

Part 3: Crafting the Sermon – Preparation and Types

This is the “how-to” section of the guide, focusing on the practical steps of sermon construction.

1. Factors to Consider

  • The Audience: Who are you preaching to? Adventists or non-Adventists? Academics or not? What is their educational background? Is it a large crowd or a small one? (Note: 300 people are easier to preach to than 10!).

  • The Location: Will there be a microphone? What are the acoustics? Is there room in the pulpit for your Bible and notes? Do you need an HDMI or VGA adapter?

  • The Time: How much time are you allotted? You must be sensitive to time, especially for those with medical conditions like diabetes who need to eat.

2. Choosing a Topic

  • The Challenge: The hardest part for many preachers is choosing what to preach on, especially when visiting a church you don’t know.

  • A Practical Solution: The Sermon Calendar:

    1. Gather the elders and discuss the church’s spiritual needs.

    2. Plan a balanced “spiritual menu” for the next six months.

    3. Mix different types of sermons (e.g., one month on Ruth, another month on Money and Jesus, etc.).

    4. Assign preaching dates to all lay preachers months in advance. This gives them time to study.

  • What to Avoid:

    • Obscure texts that are hard to explain.

    • Novel interpretations that will confuse or anger the congregation.

    • Personal hobby horses or pet peeves.

    • Taking a text out of context.

    • Preaching opinions instead of convictions.

3. The Three Types of Sermons
The speaker identifies and explains three different types of sermons.

  • (1) Topical Sermon:

    • Definition: Focuses on a specific topic (e.g., Forgiveness, Prayer, Death).

    • Structure: Usually a “triple decker” (Point A, Point B, Point C). Points should be similar in length to create balance.

    • Examples: Doctrinal sermons, end-time events, or responding to a tragedy.

    • Warning: Avoid the “Sandy in San Diego” trap—telling long, tear-jerking stories with only a tiny Bible verse at the end. This transfers authority from God’s Word to human experience.

    • Preparation Tip: Use a concordance to look up every verse on your topic to see the Bible’s full perspective.

  • (2) Expository/Exegetical Sermon:

    • Definition: Expounds the meaning of a particular passage of Scripture (verse by verse).

    • Key Questions to Ask:

      1. Who wrote this? (Author)

      2. When did they write it? (Date)

      3. What did they write? (The text itself)

      4. To whom did they write it? (The original audience)

      5. Why did they write it? (The purpose)

      6. How would the original audience have understood this? (The historical/cultural context)

      7. How should we understand it today? (The application)

    • Example (1 Timothy 2:13-15): The speaker shows how asking these questions reveals Paul was writing to refute a false teaching forbidding marriage. Therefore, “saved through childbearing” was a counter-argument to that heresy, not a universal rule for salvation.

  • (3) Narrative Sermon:

    • Definition: Follows someone’s spiritual journey through a story.

    • Structure: It follows a narrative arc, often with a “triple decker” structure (e.g., Mary’s three journeys: Nazareth to Bethlehem, Bethlehem to Egypt, Egypt to Nazareth).

    • Application: For each stage of the journey, the preacher asks: What was she thinking? What was her emotional state? What promises could she claim? What text guided her?

    • Another Example: The Woman Caught in Adultery. The sermon follows her journey through the voices she hears: seductive words, accusing words, silence, and finally, the voice of Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Which of the three sermon types (Topical, Expository, Narrative) have you heard most often? Which is the most challenging for you to imagine preparing?

  2. Why is it so important to ask the “7 Key Questions” (Who, When, What, To Whom, Why, How then, How now) when preparing an expository sermon?

  3. How can a preacher avoid the “Sandy in San Diego” trap and ensure that Scripture, rather than a story, is the main authority in a topical sermon?

Conclusion: The Joy of Preaching

Final Encouragement:
The sermon ends with a powerful charge. Preaching is not just a “vacant slot” to fill. It is a profound invitation for God to walk with you through a Bible study process. When you stand before the congregation “joy-filled with the joy of discovery,” you share what the Lord has shown you.

Key Takeaway:

“Don’t be afraid of it because it’s your chance to grow. It’s an invitation for God to walk with you through a Bible study process for you to grow.”

Closing Reflection:
The speaker notes that in the Jamaican-British churches he grew up in, the pastor was simply called “the preacher.” His job was boiled down to being a messenger of God’s Word. The goal is not to share information but to invite people to make a choice for Jesus. You never know if this is the first time someone has heard the gospel or the last time they ever will.

Application:

  1. Reflect: Think about the last sermon you heard or preached. Did it draw people to Jesus or just share information?

  2. Prepare: If you have a preaching opportunity coming up, consider using the “Sermon Calendar” idea to plan ahead.

  3. Grow: Start reading through the Bible once a year if you aren’t already. It is the best foundation for a preacher’s heart.

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