1. Biblical Preaching
Hadden W. Robinson

2. The Case for
Expository
Preaching

3. The Case for Expository Preaching
“This is a book about expository preaching,
but it may have been written for a depressed
market.”

4. The Case for Expository Preaching
Expository preaching – the communication of a
biblical concept, derived and transmitted
through a
historical,
grammatical,
literary study,
of a passage in its context, which the Holy
Spirit first applies to the personality and
experience of the preacher, then through him
to his hearers.

5. What’s the Big Idea?

6. What’s the Big Idea?
“*A]n idea begins in the mind when things
ordinarily separated come together to form
unity that either did not exist before or was
not recognized previously” (39).

7. What’s the Big Idea?
A Single Idea
“A sermon should be a bullet and not a
buckshot.”
Not many vague ideas, but a single, dominant
idea from a passage, supported by other
ideas.

8. What’s the Big Idea?
• A messenger must “mine out” one main
concept or idea from a passage
• The main idea helps us “see what was
previously unclear
• The process of abstracting, synthesizing, and
communicating the main idea of a passage
takes practice, the Holy Spirit, and spiritual
maturity.

9. What’s the Big Idea?
“If a preacher will not—or cannot—think
himself clear so that he says what he means,
he has no business in the pulpit. He is like a
singer who can’t sing, an actor who can’t act,
an accountant who can’t add.”

10. What’s the Big Idea?
When reduced to its basic structure, an idea
consists of two essential elements:
a subject
and its complement

11. What’s the Big Idea?
Subject – the complete, definite answer to the
question, “What am I talking about?”
discipleship, witnessing, worship, grief, love

12. What’s the Big Idea?
Complement– completes the subject by
answering the question, “What am I saying
about what I’m talking about?”
The test of a person’s character (subject)
reveals how strong that person is(complement)
subject + complement = idea

13. What’s the Big Idea?
“You do not understand what you are reading
unless you can clearly express the subject and
complement of the section you are studying.”

14. Tools of
the Trade

15. Tools of the Trade
Step 1 - Choosing the passage to be preached
“A diligent expositor will examine the paragraph
breakdowns in both the original texts and the
English translations, select the divisions of the
material that seem to be the most helpful, and
use these as the basis for exposition.”

16. Tools of the Trade
Step 2 - Studying a passage and gathering notes
Relate a passage to the book of which it is a part
Relate a passage to its immediate context
Tools: lexicons, concordances, grammars, word-
study books, Bible dictionaries, commentaries,

17. Tools of the Trade
Step 3 - Relate the parts of the passage to each
other to find out the exegetical idea and its
development
“The process resembles an hourglass that moves
from synthesis to analysis and back to
synthesis”
Find the subject and complement of the
passage to discover the exegetical idea.

18. The Road
from Text to
Sermon

19. The Road from Text to Sermon
Step 4 - Analyze the exegetical idea
What does this mean?
Explanation of exegetical idea
Is it true?
Validity of exegetical idea
What difference does it make?
Application of exegetical idea

20. The Road from Text to Sermon
Step 5- After analyzing it, state the exegetical idea
in the most exact, memorable sentence possible.
exegetical idea homiletical idea
“When an idea is a universal principle applying at
any time, then the statement of the homiletical
idea can be identical to the exegetical idea.”

21. The Arrow and the Target

22. The Arrow and the Target
Step 6 - Determining the purpose for the sermon.
What you expect to happen in the hearer as a
result of preaching this sermon.
“A purpose differs from a sermon idea, therefore, in
the same way that a target differs from the arrow,
as taking a trip differs from studying a map, as
baking a pie differs from reading a recipe” (107).
Arrow = Idea
Target = Purpose

23. The Shape
Sermons Take

24. The Shape Sermons Take
Step 7 - Decide how to accomplish the purpose
of the sermon
A sermon’s shape is largely determined by the
homiletic idea, and how that idea itself asks to
be communicated and applied.

25. The Shape Sermons Take
Shape 1 – An idea to be explained
Tell them what you are going to tell them
Tell them what you are telling them
Tell them what you have told them

26. The Shape Sermons Take
Shape 2 – A proposition to be proved
Is that true?
Why should I believe it?

27. The Shape Sermons Take
Shape 3 – A principle to be applied
So what?
What difference does this make?

28. The Shape Sermons Take
Shape 4 – A subject to be completed
Introduction – subject of the idea
Body – discovering the complement of the idea

29. The Shape Sermons Take
Shape 5 – A story to be told
“In a narrative sermon, as in any other sermon,
a major idea continues to be supported by
other ideas, but the content supporting the
points is drawn directly from the incident in
the story.”

30. The Shape Sermons Take
Stage 8 – Outline the Sermon
An outline
1. Clarifies the parts of the sermon
2. View sermon as a whole, sense of unity
3. Crystallizes the sermon’s order for the listener
4. See parts of sermon that require more material
for support and emphasis.

31. Make Dry Bones Live

32. Make Dry Bones Live
Step 9 – Filling in the outline of a sermon
Skeleton = Outline
Flesh = Supporting material

33. Make Dry Bones Live
Restatement – repeat for emphasis; “in other
words.”
Explanation and Definition – set boundaries and
amplify ideas and how they relate to each other
Facts – observations, examples, statistics, etc.
Quotes – to support or expand a point
Narration – “story telling” describes the individuals
and events that take place in a passage
Illustrations – restate, explain, validate, or apply
ideas by relating them to tangible experiences

34. Start
With a
Bang and
Quit All
Over

35. Start With a Bang and Quit All Over
Step 10 – Prepare introduction and conclusion
Begin with a bang
End like a pilot landing a plane.

36. Start With a Bang and Quit All Over
Introduction
commands attention
* surfaces needs
introduces body of sermon
exhibits other characteristics

37. Start With a Bang and Quit All Over
Conclusion
a summary
an illustration
a quotation
a question
a prayer
specific direction
visualization

38. The Dress of
Thought

39. The Dress of Thought
“Gift or not, we must use words, and the only
question is whether we will use them poorly
or well” (185).
Work on:
transitions, clarity of thought, develop a
personal style, metaphors

40. How to Preach So People
Will Listen

41. How to Preach So People Will Listen
“Sermons live only when they are preached. A
sermon ineptly delivered arrives stillborn” (201).
body language and gestures
intonation matches words (natural)
possess a deep desire to communicate
grooming and dress should fit the audience,
situation, and speaker
eye contact
vocal delivery; pitch, punch, progress, pause