HOMILETICS: THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING AN OUTLINE FOR YOUR MESSAGE

Homiletics is the art and science of sermon preparation. This could also apply to any religious speech or talk where God's Word is shared publicly.

Now why in the world would I even be interested writing on this subject?  For starters, there are several men in our church that have been blessed by the Lord to speak for him in a public capacity.  I am not referring to any of our elders, but, rather, to those who are traveling to prisons, colleges and other public venues. This information will help sharpen your public speaking skills. Now, while we believe that only men are to be elders, that doesn’t exclude women from teaching women’s group. So this information is going to be equally valuable for those ladies that God has gifted to teach.

Secondly, there are many who are gifted in rightly dividing the Word of God and it may be that one day the Lord gives you an opportunity to start sharing His Word in a public capacity.  It’d be nice, don’t you think, to have some guidance and help along the way?  Of course we know it would. 

Thirdly, I’d like to share some homiletic tips just so you can see what preparation goes into sermon delivery.  A lot of people are erroneously led to believe that most preachers “wing it” when they “get up there.”  Certainly there is an aspect to preaching that includes extemporaneous speaking but I don’t know of any preachers or elders that only do impromptu sermons where everything is spoken off the cuff.  If that were the case, you’d hear a lot of sermons that sounded like one of those awkward and painful speeches that an ill-prepared groomsman or bridesmaid might give during the wedding celebration.  While an impromptu “sermon” like that may be funny and cute, they are rarely coherent and are more often ramblings that lack any punch nor do they frequently leave a permanent impression on the hearer. And while our purpose in carefully crafting a homily from God’s Word is not to impress people on an earthly level, it is carefully crafted in order to imbed truth in the heart on a spiritual level.

So with all that said, one of the first things you can do after the careful studying of God’s Word is to create an outline that will help form your homily.  Outlines are important for several reasons: 

I.  OUTLINES HELP PROVIDE DIRECTION IN THE MINDS OF THE LISTENERS

Outline structure is like a map from one city to another.  The map flows from point A to point B with turns and direction changes, nevertheless there is a flow that is intended to arrive somewhere.  Directions from Victorville, Ca., to the Los Angeles Airport might be something like this: take the 15 South to the 10 West to the 405 South and exit West Century Blvd and head west.  Do you see how that worked? Point A to Point B had some key markers and changes along with way, but they all supported the goal, which was to get us to LAX.  The title of this “sermon” might be “How To Get To LAX” and each freeway change supports the overall theme and purpose of the “sermon.” Taking the 15 South is part of “How To Get To LAX.”  Taking the 10 West is part of “How To Get To LAX” and the second directional point is connected to the previous directional point and flows out of the previous point while supporting the main point—get me to LAX.  The same goes for the third and fourth points. They flow forth from the previous point but are still connected to the title of the sermon.

A sermon should feel like that.  It should feel like we are going somewhere and the outline is the structure to help us all get there.  In my sermons, I always try to make the title of my sermon the main point.  Sometimes I’ll try to put in a little creativity in how that is stated.  Sometimes I get it right.  Sometimes I bomb.  But that’s ok. The point is that you’re attempting to created coherency is a religious speech.

In a recent sermon I preached the title and outline looked like this:

The Proper Response To The Message Of The Missionary  

• I.  The Lord’s Anger and Message to Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-4) 

• II.  Nineveh's Repentance And Faith Towards The Lord (Jonah 3:5-9)   

• III.  The Lord’s Compassion Towards Nineveh (Jonah 3:10)

The reason I chose the title for the sermon was because of the way Jonah has been structured. A lot of Jonah is chiastic and this chapter follows an A B AA pattern.  Point A matches Point AA in that we see the Lord’s anger mirrored by the Lord’s compassion.  Right in the middle of this structure is the heart of the passage—Nineveh’s proper response to the Lord’s message.  But as you’ll see, each of my sermon’s points (Roman numerals) are connected to the previous point which flows from the title.  I’m sure that a better outline could have been crafted, but it served its purposes in guiding us to see what happens when people properly respond to the Lord’s condemnation.

Now what I didn’t share were my sub-points beneath the main supporting points.  But the same principle applies. 

• I.  The Lord’s Anger and Message to Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-4)

•  A.  Flows from I. which flows from the title
•  B.  Connected to A. but flows from I. which flows from the title
•  C.  Connected to B. but flows from I. which flows from the title

• II.  Nineveh's Repentance And Faith Towards The Lord (Jonah 3:5-9)
  •  A.  Flows from II. which is connected to I. which flows from the title 
  •  B.  Connected to A. but flows from II. which flows from the title

• III. The Lord’s Compassion Towards Nineveh (Jonah 3:10)

Sub-points marked in Capital Letters flow out of the Roman Numeral points. And as already stated, the ABC’s are connected to each other and support the Roman Numeral points which support the title. If you take any public speaking class, this is a basic principle to addressing a crowd.  This structure is important because it creates order in the mind of both the speaker and the hearer and helps the listener to be guided towards the end destination smoothly and coherently.  Mentally, it keeps the speaker on track.  He knows where he is in his “trip” and is not lost in confusion.  Mentally, it keeps the listener on track so that they can enjoy the ride.

Oftentimes, the listener will see in advance where the sermon is going and will anticipate an outcome.  That’s a great thing to have a sermon that clearly structured that people are ahead of you.  It means that you’re communicating well.  And that leads me to another reason why outlines matter…

II.  OUTLINES HELP CREATE ANTICIPATION IN THE HEARTS OF THE LISTENERS

The outline and structure of Jonah is a case in point.  In chapter 1 we see Jonah’s rebellion to God’s command. In chapter 2 we see his renewed commitment to serve the Lord. In chapter 3 we see a renewed call from God upon Jonah’s life.  This structure leads us to anticipate that there may be a different result that flows forth from Jonah’s renewed commitment to God and God’s subsequent second call for Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh.  The author is leading us in a way that creates some anticipation and expectation of what is to come.  This does not happen by accident but is intentional on the part of the author. It’s great storytelling and the same should be true of homilies. 

Sermons and religious speeches don’t have to be boring. I think it is a tragedy to intentionally make such things boring when the God of Scripture has not done so in His Word. I think it’s bad practice on the part of those preaching and teaching to not care enough to try and craft a sermon in an anticipatory way. Granted, time constraints may prohibit one from being spot on every time in this area. Yet to continually neglect this part of the craft of homiletics for this anticipatory purpose is a shame.  As much as possible, you want people hanging on to your every word as it creates desire in them to know the outcome of where you are going. I’m not saying that sermons should be predictable in a boring way—nobody likes when a boss “mails-in” an inspirational speech that’s been heard before. Rather, I’m saying that they should create excitement and anticipation of what is to come. As you’re leading others, you want them getting internally and spiritually exciting so that inside they are keeping up with you and have a strong desire to run ahead of you because they know the way you are taking them.

This is greatly encouraging to the listener because they have a strong sense that “I’m getting it.” This is a far greater response than, “Where is he going with all of this? I’m lost. I give up on listening.”  And believe me, there are times when we preachers have created that response in others by lack of preparation. The text and title excited them and then our delivery killed all that anticipation all because there was no coherency. An outline helps you to see the skeletal structure of a sermon to see if it’s all fitting together nicely with anticipation.

Imagine having all the ingredients to an amazing steak dinner. You have a prime cut piece of meat, the marinade, spices and seasonings, the vegetables and skewers and the grill but then you aren’t sure how to get it served in a way that’s appetizing to others. You just can’t wait to eat this meal with others. Instructions on how to prepare everything, how to cook it all and how to arrange it on the plate are all essential for someone to prepare it and receive it with drooling delight. And as you follow each step of the instructions, you can see that you’re approaching the final product with excitement and anticipation.  Without instructions you might cook and arrange the items in any number of way that could end in disaster, disappointment and confusion (what did I just eat?). The same is true of sermon preparation. All the ingredients are there for a wonderful spiritual meal. But how you arrange them can have a huge impact on whether or not someone is receiving them with anticipation and worshipful delight. An outline helps you to see how the arrangement is coming along so that you can help build anticipation in those receiving God’s Word.

So far we’ve taken a look at a couple of the main reasons why an outline is helping in delivering a public speech from God’s Word: providing direction and creating anticipation. Here are a few others that I will quickly mention.

III.  OUTLINES HELP YOU WHEN YOU ARE ACTUALLY WRITING THE SERMON CONTENT

           

An outline is not the end all in sermon preparation.  You still have to put the meat on the skeletal structure. Outlines help you to see where substance is missing—which bones need some meat added to them.

IV.  OUTLINES KEEP YOU FROM UNNECESSARILY REPEATING THAT WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN STATED AND APPROPRIATELY REPEATED.

Repetition is important in preaching and teaching. To state something once and then to move on without repeating it doesn’t help anyone remember much of anything. Truth must be restated. It must be repeated. It must be reiterated. It must be retaught. =)  But you don’t want to needlessly repeat something that you’ve already repeated enough in a past point. Outlines help you to see that you’ve already covered something adequately enough so that you do not restate something with all the detail that your listeners first heard it.  Got it?  Good! No repetition necessary at this point.

V.  OUTLINES PROVIDE VISIBLE PLACES IN WHICH A SERMON CAN BE DIVIDED

It might be that the sermon you are preparing is too big for a one meeting. It could a two-part sermon in the works with all the awesome material you’ve uncovered in your study.  An outline provides a clean framework that will help you distinguish where you can chop the sermon in half or thirds.

I’ve heard the pastors at our church state many times that a particular section of Scripture is going to be broken up in several sermons.  My hunch is that one outline was composed of from the main passage but that too much necessary material is present to cover everything in one sermon. In this case, one long sermon can be broken up into several sermons.

Had I wanted to I could have taken Jonah 3 and turned it into three sermons.

• The Proper Response To The Message Of The Missionary

• Part I - The Lord Judges Sinners (Jonah 3:1-4)

• Part II - Faith And Repentance Towards God  (Jonah 3:5-9)

• Part III - The Lord’s Compassion Towards Sinners (Jonah 3:10)

But because of the nature of this narrative portion of Scripture, it’s usually best to keep the story in tact and presented in one sermon. So I opted for 1 sermon.  If I were speaking at a summer camp and was going to deliver all three sermons within a day, then I would have likely opted for a three-part sermon series in shorter lengths—perhaps 40 minutes each sermon.

Well, I’m done with this article for now.

Actually, I’m making a point with that abrupt and curt statement.  As I approach the end of this article I want to mention that outlines aren’t the only factor in sermon preparation. Trust me when I say that they are very beneficial in becoming a better public speaker over the years. But there are other techniques and considerations one should apply when crafting a public delivery. One should consider voice inflection, rate of speed one speaks, pauses, eye contact, gestures, introductions and conclusions and much more. Just as my statement “Well, I’m done with this article for now” had an impact on the way this article felt, so too, other factors contribute to how a sermon is received. Sometimes a ill-placed pause, quirky gesture, poorly crafted introduction or conclusion can have a bumpy and uncomfortable effect on the listener.  In the future we’ll address these things and help you sharpen your homiletical skills in these areas.

Until then, focus on creating good outlines from whatever portion of Scripture you might teach from.  Try creating an outline from Psalm 1:1-2 and see what you come up with.  Maybe one day you’ll address people who are overly confident of all their plans while dismissing the Lord’s will. If so, how would you create an outline from James 4:13-17? Give it a try and see not only what you learn, ask yourself, “how would I present that to someone in outline form?”  I’d love to see what you come up with.  

And while you're crafting an outline, never forget that apart from the vine we can do nothing (John 15:5). Dependence on man's abilities can never suffice for the work of the Spirit in teaching and in preaching.  Like Paul, may we all say, "and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:4-5 ESV).

God bless you all.