CORRECTLY HANDLING THE WORD OF TRUTH

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CORRECTLY HANDLING THE WORD OF TRUTH

• Preaching Teaching Workshop
• Kingston Church of Christ
• January 2009

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Correctly Handling the Word of Truth

• 2 Timothy 215 (TNIV)
• 15  Do your best to present yourself to God as
  one approved, a worker who does not need to be
  ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
  truth.

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Correctly Handling the Word of Truth

• 2 Timothy 215 (NLTSE)
• An Approved Worker
• 15  Work hard so you can present yourself to
  God and receive his approval. Be a good worker,
  one who does not need to be ashamed and who
  correctly explains the word of truth.

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The Mandate for Preaching

• 2 Timothy 314-17
• 14 But as for you, continue in what you have
  learned and have become convinced of, because you
  know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how
  from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
  which are able to make you wise for salvation
  through faith in Christ Jesus.

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• 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
  for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
  in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may
  be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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• 2 Timothy 41-5
• 1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
  will judge the living and the dead, and in view
  of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this
  charge 2 Preach the Word be prepared in season
  and out of season correct, rebuke and
  encourage-- with great patience and careful
  instruction.

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• 3 For the time will come when men will not put up
  with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own
  desires, they will gather around them a great
  number of teachers to say what their itching ears
  want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away
  from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But
  you, keep your head in all situations, endure
  hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge
  all the duties of your ministry.

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The Mandate to Preach

• Preaching is a serious responsibility
• There is a lot at stake
• Life and Death (Spiritual / Eternal)
• Peoples souls hang in the scales
• Requires courage to say what people dont want to
  hear instead of pandering to the crowd

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The Mandate to Preach

• Requires great patience and careful instruction
• Need to keep your head
• Requires tremendous preparation

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The Mandate to Preach

• 2 Tim 314-17
• The scriptures are inspired
• The scriptures are able to make us wise for
  salvation
• The scriptures are useful to teach, rebuke,
  correct and train us in righteousness
• The scriptures thoroughly equip us for every good
  work

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The Mandate to Preach

• However in order for the inspired word of God to
  serve these purposes for us as individuals and as
  a church, the scriptures need first to be
  accurately explained so that they can be rightly
  understood.

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The Mandate for Preaching

• This is the role of the preacher to bring the
  word of God to the people.
• By explaining the word of God, the preacher
  bridges the gap between the word of God and man
  and is a medium that God uses to communicate his
  word.

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The Preacher bridges the gap between the world of
the Bible and the world of his audience.
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The Mandate to Preach

• The Preachers role is to explain the word of God
  so that people can understand it and apply it to
  their lives

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• Nehemiah 81-8 (NIV)
• 81  all the people assembled as one man in the
  square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the
  scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses,
  which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

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• 2  So on the first day of the seventh month
  Ezra the priest brought the Law before the
  assembly, which was made up of men and women and
  all who were able to understand.

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• 3  He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as
  he faced the square before the Water Gate in the
  presence of the men, women and others who could
  understand. And all the people listened
  attentively to the Book of the Law.
• 4  Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden
  platform built for the occasion. Beside him on
  his right stood .

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• 5  Ezra opened the book. All the people could
  see him because he was standing above them and
  as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 
  Ezra praised the LORD, the great God and all the
  people lifted their hands and responded, Amen!
  Amen! Then they bowed down and worshiped the
  LORD with their faces to the ground.

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• 7  The Levites instructed the people in
  the Law while the people were standing there.
  8  They read from the Book of the Law of God,
  making it clear and giving the meaning so that
  the people could understand what was being read.

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• 12  Then all the people went away to eat and
  drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate
  with great joy, because they now understood the
  words that had been made known to them.

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The Mandate for Preaching

• James 31
• 1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers,
  my brothers, because you know that we who teach
  will be judged more strictly.

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• 1 Timothy 411-16 (TNIV)
• 11  Command and teach these things. 12 
  Don't let anyone look down on you because you are
  young, but set an example for the believers in
  speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in
  purity. 13  Until I come, devote yourself to
  the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and
  to teaching. 14  Do not neglect your gift,
  which was given you through prophecy when the
  body of elders laid their hands on you.

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• 15  Be diligent in these matters give yourself
  wholly to them, so that everyone may see your
  progress. 16  Watch your life and doctrine
  closely. Persevere in them, because if you do,
  you will save both yourself and your hearers.

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• 1 Timothy 413-16 (HCSB)
• 13  Until I come, give your attention to public
  reading, exhortation, and teaching. 14  Do not
  neglect the gift that is in you it was given to
  you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands
  by the council of elders. 15  Practice these
  things be committed to them, so that your
  progress may be evident to all. 16  Be
  conscientious about yourself and your teaching
  persevere in these things, for by doing this you
  will save both yourself and your hearers.

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• 1 Peter 410-11
• 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has
  received to serve others, faithfully
  administering God's grace in its various forms.
  11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one
  speaking the very words of God. so that in all
  things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
  To him be the glory and the power for ever and
  ever. Amen.

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• 2 Peter 316
• 16 He writes the same way in all his letters,
  speaking in them of these matters. His letters
  contain some things that are hard to understand,
  which ignorant and unstable people distort, as
  they do the other Scriptures, to their own
  destruction.

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The Mandate for Preaching

• Preaching is a solemn charge that God has given
  each of us that we must respond to and on which
  souls depend.
• Preaching is a tremendous responsibility that
  should not be entered upon or treated lightly.

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Who Preaches Teaches?

• Preachers Teachers
• Anyone who speaks publicly at church
• Family Group Leaders persons who lead Bible
  Discussion Group Lessons
• People who lead Bible Studies Counseling
  sessions
• Anyone who shares their faith

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The Mandate to Preach

• All of us are called to preach and teach the
  scriptures on some level and therefore need to be
  trained to correctly handle the word of truth.

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My Story

• 1991 Impressed by the brothers who studied the
  Bible with me. I want to be able to teach the
  Bible like that to others.
• 1992 - Led first Bible Talk impromptu
• 1992 - Sharing Lessons at church
• 1994 - Lessons to Campus Students
• 1995 1st Sunday Sermon Bridgetown Church of
  Christ

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My Story

• 1995 2003 Regularly preaching sermons
  teaching the Bible several times every week
• Learned how to preach teach by imitation and
  training
• Learned how to be effective at speaking
• Little training on how to properly read and
  interpret the Bible
• Preaching largely focused on inspiring and
  producing desired behaviour

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My Story

• Bible study focused on meeting personal needs /
  or to meet perceived needs in groups that I was
  leading
• 2003 Tsunami
• 2003 2005 Hiatus from Preaching
• 2005 Started preaching again
• 2007 2009 AIM

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Striking the Balance

• Proverbs 192 (NIV)
• 2  It is not good to have zeal without
  knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.
• Proverbs 192 (HCSB)
• 2  Even zeal is not good without knowledge,
  and the one who acts hastily sins.

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Striking the Balance

• Romans 1211 (TNIV)
• 11  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your
  spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

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Zeal without Knowledge
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Knowledge without Zeal
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Striking the Balance

• Zeal without knowledge
• Knowledge without zeal
• Which is better?

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Our Common Approach to Handling the Scriptures

• How have we as a fellowship handled the word of
  truth?
• What is our common approach to preparing sermons
  or lessons from the Bible?
• How do we go about preparing a sermon or lesson?

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Our Common Approach to Preaching

• Start by figuring out what we think are the needs
  of the group that we are addressing.
• Come up with some points that address those needs
  (usually 3 points that rhyme)

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Our Common Approach to Preaching

• Find some good verses that will support the
  points that we want to make.
• Think of some really great stories,
  illustrations, and personal sharing.
• Motivate by teaching the right behaviour.

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• Whats wrong with this approach?

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Whats Wrong with this Approach?

• Needs are based on the preachers subjective
  perspective.
• Generalizes needs.
• Needs are always the same recycled.
• Lends itself to sharing our opinions instead of
  the word of God .

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Whats Wrong with this Approach?

• Focused on the Preacher as the spiritual guru who
  sees all the problems and comes up with the
  answers like the hero coming in to save the day.

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Whats Wrong with this Approach?

• Performance based attempting to motivate people
  by teaching them the right way to behave as
  opposed to simply teaching them biblical
  principles that will motivate them to make the
  right choices.

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Whats Wrong with this Approach?

• Its all backwards, and leads to our twisting the
  scriptures out of context to say what we want to
  say.

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• What is the correct way to approach the
  preparation of a sermon or lesson using the word
  of God?

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Correctly Handling the Word of Truth

• 1. Start with the text not verses, but a chunk
  of bible passages that mean something.
• 2. Do a careful exegesis of the text figure out
  what it meant to its original hearers before you
  start thinking about what it means for us today.

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Exegesis

• To draw out the meaning of the text
• As opposed to reading our preconceived notions
  into the text (Eisegesis)

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EXEGESIS

• Exegesis is the careful, systematic study of
  scripture to discover the original, intended
  meaning. It is the attempt to hear the Word as
  the original recipients would have heard it, to
  find out what was the original intent of the
  words of the Bible.
• Fee Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its
  Worth p. 23

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Exegesis

• Read in Context
• Literary Context
• Historical Context

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HOW TO READ THE BIBLE IN CONTEXT?

• The Literary Context
• Consider what kind of literature it is.
• Read around the verse or passage to understand
  what it is saying.

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HOW TO READ THE BIBLE IN CONTEXT?

• The Historical Context
• Background Information Author, Audience, Date,
  Occasion, Purpose
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?

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Proper Exegesis before Application ?

• A passage cannot mean today what it never meant
  to the original hearers.
• A proof text out of context is a pretext

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Correctly Handling the Word of Truth

• 1. Start with the text not verses, but a chunk
  of bible passages that mean something.
• 2. Do a careful exegesis of the text figure out
  what it meant to its original hearers before you
  start thinking about what it means for us today.

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Correctly Handling the Word of Truth

• 3. Search for the dominant area of thought
  encapsulate it in one sentence
• 4. Identify the internal structure the points
  that the Spirit has put in the passage usually
  1 main point with sub-points

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Correctly Handling the Word of Truth

• 4. Write out the points (as complete sentences)
• 5. Illustrate
• 6. Work on phrasing, tone, emphasis etc.

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Benefits of this Approach

• Your sermon is based on the word of God and the
  word of God is not twisted to suit your sermon
• You are preaching the points that are in the word
  of God and that the Spirit meant for people to
  get
• Peoples needs (many of which you dont even
  know) are met 2 Timothy 316-17

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Benefits of this Approach

• The church is taught the word of God and will
  remember it long after they forget your creative
  points and interesting illustrations
• Holds the interest of your audience they are
  interested in what the word of God says and not
  your opinions or stories about your life

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Benefits of this Approach

• As we teach collectively, we are more likely to
  teach the whole will of God (Acts 207) and not
  have imbalance and improper emphases in our
  teaching
• The focus (and the pressure) is off the preacher
  and on the word of God where it belongs

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Expository Preaching

• Expository adj. Explanatory
• expositor
• /ikspozzit r/
•    noun a person or thing that explains
  complicated ideas or theories.
•    DERIVATIVES expository adjective.

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• Expository preaching is the communication of a
  biblical concept, derived from and transmitted
  through a historical, grammatical, and literary
  study of a passage in its context, which the Holy
  Spirit first applies to the personality and
  experience of the preacher, then through the
  preacher, applies to the hearers.
• Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching, p. 21

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• The type of preaching that best carries the
  force of divine authority is expository
  preaching.
• Robinson, p. 20

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• Ministers can proclaim anything in a
  stained-glass voice at 1130 am on Sunday morning
  following the singing of hymns. Yet when they
  fail to preach the scriptures they abandon their
  authority
• Robinson p. 20

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• First, and above all, the thought of the
  biblical writer determines the substance of an
  expository sermon.
• Robinson, p. 21

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• Whether or not we can be called expositors
  starts with our purpose and our honest answer to
  the question Do you, as a preacher, endeavour
  to bend your thought to the scriptures, or do you
  use the Scriptures to support your thought?
• Robinson p. 22

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An Unhealthy Philosophy of Preaching

• View of the Bible
• Interpretation is not necessary
• One version only
• Reverse Sermon Construction
• Careless Exegesis

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Unhealthy Philosophy of the Preaching

• View of Self
• Quasi-Inspired

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Unhealthy Philosophy of Preaching

• View of Congregation
• Performance Theology
• Push Mentality
• Support before understanding
• Pandering to the crowd
• Culture of Distrust

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A Culture of Mistrust
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A Healthy Philosophy of Preaching

• View of the Bible
• Bends own thoughts to word of God
• Holds the word of God in high esteem as something
  that we are all under the authority of
• Requires some training to handle it properly

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A Healthy Philosophy of Preaching

• View of self
• Mere servant
• 1 Corinthians 42 (NIV)
• 2  Now it is required that those who have been
  given a trust must prove faithful.
• 2 Corinthians 45 (NIV)
• 5  For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus
  Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants
  for Jesus sake.

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A Healthy Philosophy of Preaching

• View of Congregation
• Romans 1514 (NIV)
• 14  I myself am convinced, my brothers, that
  you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in
  knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

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Lets get practical!

• 1. ONE POINT - Every sermon must have one
  central idea derived from the passage of text
  on which it is based

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One Point

• any single sermon should have just one major
  idea. Every sermon should have a theme, and
  that theme should be the theme of the portion of
  Scripture on which it is based
• Miller, The Way to Biblical Preaching, pp. 53 -55

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One Point

• Identify the dominant thought in the passage and
  express it in a single sentence
• Identify the sub-points and use an outline to
  subordinate these to the main point
• Express the sub points in sentences

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Reducing the point of a sermon into a sentence

• I have a conviction that no sermon is ready for
  preaching, not ready for writing out, until we
  can express its theme in a short pregnant
  sentence as clear as a crystal.
• J.H. Howett

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• Despite the difficulty of clothing thought with
  words, we have to do it. Unless ideas are
  expressed in words, we cannot understand,
  evaluate, or communicate them. If we will not
  or cannot think ourselves clear so that we say
  what we mean, we have no business in the pulpit.
• Robinson, p. 41

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We must think ourselves clear!

• A fog in the pulpit, becomes a mist in the pew.
  
• Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching

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Bullet v. Shotgun Approach
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Multiple unrelated points in a sermon is like
using a shotgun to hit your target!
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Shotgun Approach!
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A sermon organized around a single biblical
thought is like a bullet hitting its target!
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Lets get practical!

1. One Single Point
2. Use an Outline

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USE AN OUTLINE

• Clarifies in speakers mind the relationships
  between the different parts of the sermon
• Helps view message as a whole, thus heightening
  the sense of unity
• Crystallizes the order of ideas
• Points of an outline should be grammatically
  complete sentences

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• Hebrews 1019-35 Because all that we have in
  Christ is far superior to the old covenant, we
  need to persevere in faith because the righteous
  will live by faith, but those who shrink back
  will be destroyed.
• 19-24 Let us hold unswervingly to our faith
  because of the superiority of Jesus.
• 26-31 Because of the superiority of Jesus
  covenant we must turn away from sin in our lives

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• 32-34 We need to remember the confidence we had
  in the early days of our faith in order to
  persevere in our faith
• 35-39 We need to persevere in faith, because
  Jesus is coming soon to reward our faith, and the
  righteous will live by faith, but those who
  shrink back will be destroyed.

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• 11.1-3 Living by faith means being confident of
  what we have not yet received.
• 11.4 Living by faith is giving or sacrificing our
  best to God
• 11.5-6 Living by Faith is walking with God and
  pleasing him day by day
• 11.7 Living by faith is obeying God even when it
  doesnt make sense
• 11.8 Living by faith is going where God calls you
  to go

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Lets get practical!

1. One Single Point
2. Use an Outline
3. Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

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Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

• 2 Timothy 215 (TNIV)
• 15  Do your best to present yourself to God as
  one approved, a worker who does not need to be
  ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
  truth.

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Where do I find the time?

• Study and exegete the passage you are going to
  preach in your Quiet Time
• Distinctions made between studying the Bible to
  get a sermon and studying the Bible to feed your
  own soul are misleading and even false. Before
  we proclaim the message of the Bible to others,
  we should live with that message ourselves.
• Robinson, p. 26

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Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

• Prepare well in advance
• Gives opportunity to pray over the lesson, to
  think through what you are going to say, seek
  input and to ensure the right tone etc.
• 2 Tim 42 with great patience and careful
  instruction.

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A well prepared sermon is one that has been given
time for the preacher to ruminate on the word of
God!
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A good sermon has been given time to marinate!
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Lets get practical!

1. One Single Point
2. Use an Outline
3. Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!
4. Illustrations

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Illustrations

• Good illustrations can be found everywhere.
  The difference lies not in what we experience but
  in what we see in our experience. You must
  observe in order to see. The world can be Gods
  picture book if in ordinary events you see
  analogies, applications or spiritual truth.
• Robinson, p 159

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Illustrations

• A story told for its own sake may entertain or
  amuse an audience, but it gets in the way of your
  sermon. An anecdote works in the service of truth
  only when it centers attention on the idea and
  not on itself
• Robinson, p, 155

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• when using personal illustrations you must not
  violate a confidence. People will resist sharing
  a concern with their pastor if they wonder
  whether they will appear as part of next weeks
  sermon. Even when a personal incident can be
  shared without hurting or embarrassing anyone,
  ask permission to use it. Even though you may
  feel you are flattering people, they may resent
  the public exposure Robinson, p. 160

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Humour

• Titus 27-8 (TNIV)
• 7  In everything set them an example by doing
  what is good. In your teaching show integrity,
  seriousness 8  and soundness of speech that
  cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you
  may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to
  say about us.

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Personal Sharing

• 2 Co 129b 10 (TNIV)
• Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about
  my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on
  me. 10  That is why, for Christ's sake, I
  delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,
  in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am
  weak, then I am strong.

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Grammar, diction etc.

• Poor grammar, gutter language, or faulty
  pronunciations may unsettle listeners, and like a
  giggle in a prayer meeting, all of these raise
  doubts about a preachers competence.
• Robinson, p. 193

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Vocabulary

• Dont underestimate your audiences religious
  vocabulary, or underestimate their intelligence.
• Robinson, p. 192

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• Read books outside the scriptures
• Figure out how you are going to begin before you
  begin.
• Read the passage (s) that you are preaching in
  different translations

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Read using different translations

• Formal Equivalence Functional Equivalence
• (literal) (dynamic) Free
• __________________________________________________
  ________
• KJV NASB RSV NIV NAB GNB JB NEB LB
• NKJV NASU NRSV TNIV NJB REB NLT The
• ESV Message

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• Know the times
• Know your audience
• Check facts statistics

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Dress Appropriately

• In matters of moral indifference, what matters
  most is not your feelings but the feelings and
  attitudes of others. Because grooming and dress
  make a difference in how listeners respond to us,
  they should make a difference to us as well.

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• A fundamental rule of grooming and dress is that
  they should fit the audience, the situation and
  the speaker. If you are aware of your community
  and its standards, you will not want your
  clothing or hairstyle to stand in the way of your
  ministry.

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• While we may dress to be comfortable, clothes
  should make others comfortable with us as well.
  You need to be aware of the cultural expectations
  of your community, and then dress appropriately.
  As a general rule, a public speaker will dress
  one notch higher than the audience.
• Robinson, p. 207

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Spiritual Preparation

• Prayer
• The Holy Spirit
• Being Sanctified

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The Holy Spirit

• John 168 (NIV)
• 8  When he comes, he will convict the world of
  guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and
  judgment

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Sanctification

• 2 Timothy 220-22 (NIV)
• 20  In a large house there are articles not
  only of gold and silver, but also of wood and
  clay some are for noble purposes and some for
  ignoble. 21  If a man cleanses himself from the
  latter, he will be an instrument for noble
  purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and
  prepared to do any good work.
• 22  Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue
  righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with
  those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

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Welcome Talks

• Be very warm and friendly
• Be respectful
• Focus people on worshipping God
• Choose an appropriate scripture
• Not a hype session
• A single point

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Communion Lessons

• Focus on Christ not self
• Purpose to remember Jesus sacrifice (1 Co 1124)
  and to exalt him (John 1232)
• Focus on the death, burial and resurrection of
  Jesus
• Be sober avoid irreverence

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Contribution Lessons

• General teaching on giving
• Be scripturally accurate
• Tithing
• OT v NT context
• Matthew 23
• 1 Co 16 a special benevolence collection to
  meet needs
• Giving sacrificially?

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Small Group Discussion Lessons

• The Discussion Group Leader needs to have
  carefully studied and exegeted the passage(s) to
  be discussed and have already determined the
  meaning.
• The meaning of the passage should not be left to
  What do you think it means? question and
  responses to be determined.

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Small Group Discussion Lessons

• Instead the leader should have studied the
  passage, determined the point the Biblical writer
  is making and prepared an outline to lead to a
  development, understanding and application of
  this point.
• Questions should point to the meaning of the
  passage and its application to the lives of the
  audience.

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Small Group Discussion Lessons

• Ask open ended questions
• Stick to the text
• Apply the original meaning of the text to current
  situations

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Small Group Discussion Lessons

• Have a real discussion
• Facilitate the discussion
• Ask application questions at the end and get
  participants to apply the text to themselves
  rather than you applying it to them

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The End!

• Questions Answers
• Comments
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