As preachers, we want our sermons to be both accurate and impactful—true to the text and helpful to our hearers. By God’s grace, we want to see biblical information produce spiritual transformation.
But we’ve learned, this doesn’t happen easily or automatically. We’ve all preached sermons that were theologically correct but still never seemed to connect. Truth was explained, but hearts weren’t engaged.
The question is: how do we prepare sermons that are doctrinally solid and spiritually life-shaping? One way is to have the main points in our message do double duty. We craft them to both explain biblical truth and apply it. Here’s why I favour main points that apply the truth they explain.
First, we are called to preach sound doctrine. When the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus about their preaching, he called them to teach sound doctrine. After exhorting Timothy to “Preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2), Paul follows it up by describing preaching as “sound teaching” (4:5). Paul’s instructions to Titus sound quite similar: “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). So biblical preaching will be doctrinally sound and theologically strong. Our main points should summarize the theological or doctrinal truth in the text we are preaching.
But Scripture doesn’t only call us to preach sound doctrine and theological truth. Look again at the precise wording of Paul’s command to Titus: “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). The Greek word translated “accords with” carries the sense of being fitting or proper (see Eph 5:3). In other words, preachers are not simply to dispense doctrine in an abstract, theoretical way. We must teach what fits with or is appropriate to sound doctrine.
In the next verses in Titus 2, Paul gives a picture of what this looks like. He details the character qualities God wants in older men (2:2), older women (2:3), younger women (2:4-5), and younger men (2:6). Paul’s flow of thought in verses 1-6 indicates preaching that accords with sound doctrine involves showing people how God’s truth shapes who we are (character) and how we live (conduct). This focus on life-application even comes out in the Greek word translated “sound” (as in sound doctrine). The word Paul uses literally means “healthy.” So sound doctrine is healthy teaching—preaching that moves people towards spiritual health.
APPLIED THEOLOGICAL LESSONS
How can we make our main points do double duty, explaining and applying the truth in the text? I’ve found it helpful to make my main points “applied theological lessons.” This means each main point is worded to help listeners understand an important aspect of biblical truth related to the sermon’s Big Idea. At the same time, the theological truth is phrased in a way that helps listeners respond appropriately to what the Bible teaches. This makes each main point both doctrinal and pastoral.
Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser heads in the same direction when he encourages preachers to formulate main points so they “not only preserve the precise meaning of the original text, but will also provide an invitation, challenge, and instruction to moderns.”[1] When we craft our main points as applied theological lessons, they are both theologically accurate and personally actionable.
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
Let me offer a few examples of what this could look like in a sermon outline. Here are the main points from several sermons I’ve preached.
Running with Endurance (Hebrews 12:1-2)
To run with endurance, listen to the right witnesses
To run with endurance, lay aside the wrong influences
To run with endurance, look to the right Person
Strength for the Weary (Isaiah 40:1-31)
Resize your vision of God’s greatness
Rebuke your doubts about God’s concern
Rely on God’s promise to renew your strength
When Life Gets Troubled (Psalm 42)
When life gets troubled, we face troubling questions
When life gets troubled, get thirsty for God
When life gets troubled, pour out your soul to God
When life gets troubled, preach to your soul about God
The main points of these sermons seek to combine an explanation of a key theological concept from the passage with an applicational response. Sometimes the response involves reshaping our minds, changing our thinking to align more with God’s Word. Other times, the response deals with our hearts, calling us to examine our motives, reorder our affections, and reignite our worship. Still other times, the response pushes us to take specific action to obey God’s Word. In each case, the main points function as applied theological lessons; they present biblical truth and prompt a personal response.
Aiming for applied theological lessons will steer you away from having main points that are only historical: “Isaiah calls Israel to see God’s greatness” or “The psalmist cries out to God with his questions.” To qualify as applied theological lessons, our main points must directly address the people who hear us preach.
Candidly, I can’t say all my sermon outlines wind up blending explanation and application in a tidy, pithy way. Sometimes, my main points lean more towards explanation than application. Sometimes, it’s the other way around. And while I don’t see this as the only way to craft outline points, when our main points do double duty—explaining and applying—we are better able to follow Paul’s instructions to Titus: “teach what accords with sound doctrine.”
Crafting our main points as applied theological lessons helps our sermons come across as both doctrinal and pastoral. And our listeners will be encouraged to understand and apply the life-changing truth of God’s Word.
[1] Walter Kaiser, Toward an Exegetical Theology: Biblical Exegesis for Preaching and Teaching, pp. 157-158.
This article was first released on The Gospel Coalition Canada website
Rick and Linda Reed 