Question 3: Help in the ministry
How do I build a sermon from start to finish?
The secret of an effective sermon is to make it a message which you preach to a congregation on the basis of their spiritual needs. So first of all, consider the dire spiritual needs of your congregation and prayerfully meditate on the Word of God to know the mind of God for that congregation on the basis of their felt spiritual needs. Your message may be about a verse or group of verses, a subject, an event or a person in the Bible. Meditate and see how God wants you to preach from the selected Bible portion to meet the needs of the people. The thoughts you get during your meditation and prayer may be noted down and organized in an order, like introduction, main points to support the message and a conclusion, with corresponding references from the Bible. Make sure that it can be completed within the available time.
(a) Introduction: it can be a short explanation of the background of the scriptural portion or the event and the Bible character you want to preach to convey the message.
(b) Main points: Highlight each point with a focus on the message that you want to convey from God to the congregation. Use appropriate illustrations and cite necessary Bible references to expose the truth that God wants you to teach the congregation to tell the congregation how they can apply these truths in their practical life.
(c) Conclusion: It is good to briefly summarize the main points of the message and conclude the message with a passionate plea to put it into practice. If the Spirit of God prompts you, ask people to publicly or privately respond to the message.
(d) Prayer: It is best to close the message with a brief prayer of commitment. If you have the time, it is good to sing a few stanzas of a familiar song of commitment which is related to the message you are preaching.
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