Sermon Application Essay

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While God’s word was delivered to specific people at a specific time in a specific place, the quality of the Word is such that it lives on and can be applied to all people in every place in every time. The reason for this is that the Word of God is universal and carries a meaning that gets to the heart of what it means to be human and to be a child of God. To do the will of God is always Christ’s message. Whether that means that one must fight against temptation, or exercise more charity towards one’s neighbor, or to honor God by keeping His commandments, the message is there for everyone to receive and apply it in his or her daily life. The job of the preacher is to condense that message and make it fresh for the audience so that they feel it and feel the need to renew their commitment to God in their everyday lives. This paper will expound upon the application of the sermon as it relates to the daily lives of the congregation and show that in order to inspire the congregation, the preacher has a wide array of tools to use in his preaching.

As Duvall and Hays (2012) point out, “God worked through the various human authors, including their background, personality, cultural context, writing style, faith commitments, research, and so on, so that what they wrote was the inspired Word of God” (p. 25). Just as God worked through the Apostles so too does He also work through the preacher in his sermon. The Holy Spirit first and foremost is the ally of the preacher, inspiring the preacher’s thoughts and directing the preacher’s words, so long as the preacher remains open and faithful to the will of God. At the same time, the preacher must do his part and prepare accordingly. The Scriptures are filled with ideas that, if not understood properly, can be twisted into something they are not. This is why it is so important that the preacher understand the backgrounds of the Gospels and Epistles, their contextual relation to the Old Testament, the meanings of words and communication techniques that were used at the time, and how they can be interpreted today so that they resonate with one’s congregation. The more prepared the preacher is on his end, the more the Holy Spirit can work through the preacher to touch the hearts and minds of his hearers.

Thus a preacher must be able to apply the old lessons to today’s audience. The preacher must also be able to get the congregation to want to hear. And a number of factors play into inspiring this desire.

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The preacher must practice his tone, his clarity, his style of speech, the stories that he uses to support a point found in Scripture, and the illustrations that help to drove home the point. McDill (2006) notes that “as preachers we come in all varieties. Some have dynamism in personality that others do not. Some are more passionate, more caring, and fierier by nature. Some have clearer articulation by nature while others seem to mumble and stutter” (p. 6). For this reason, part of what a preacher does will depend on the type of person that preacher is. Every person has unique skills, gifts, and qualities that, for a preacher, will translate into how a sermon is delivered differently. Understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses as a speaker and a motivator is key to delivering a sermon that impacts the congregation in a meaningful way.

Christ also states that this is the case (Mt 25:14-30): so long as one does not bury his talents in the sand and never use them to win glory for God, one cannot be accused of not doing enough. The talents that each preacher possesses must be used in conjunction with the study and prayer life that the preacher engages in. The preacher must move in two directions at once—towards God and towards the people—and in this sense, the preacher keeps the two main commandments of Christ: 1) love God, and 2) love one’s neighbor (Mk 12:30-31).

Applying these talents in the sermon is the challenge that every preacher faces. McDill (2006) identifies a number of skills that the preacher should develop in order to become an effective sermonizer: first is the ability to conduct textual analysis. The preacher must recognize the significance of the text and understand its meaning. Second, the preacher must be able to construct the appropriate theological interpretation. This will aid in the third step, which is sermon development. The sermon should be planned and supported by the text, with natural analogies used to bring the sermon and the message of Scripture to life—just as Christ used parables to drive home His message to His audience at the time. Fourth, the preacher has to be able to design the sermon effectively so that the utility of the truth of the Word of God….....

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