The Sermon
Text: (No specific text; homiletics — principles from Matt. 28:19-20)
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Topical
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Explain the difference between "talking," "making a speech on a Bible topic," and "preaching the gospel" — and identify which of the three a sermon is.
- Define "sermon" using the Latin derivation and the three-part elaboration in this outline.
- State the purpose of a sermon from Matt. 28:19-20 and explain how it applies to both believers and disbelievers.
- Identify the three classification systems for sermons (by subject, by nature, by occasion) and give one example of each.
- Name the three structural parts of a sermon and explain what the purpose of each is.
Thesis
A sermon is not a talk, a speech, or a lecture. It is an oral address upon revealed truth, elaborately treated with a view to persuasion — governed by a defined purpose, formed according to recognizable types, and built from three necessary structural parts. The person who does not know what a sermon is cannot properly evaluate whether they have heard one, and cannot prepare one.
Burden
The burden is practical and professional: preachers especially must understand what a sermon is, because the pulpit is the primary instrument of the gospel's delivery. The misidentification of informal religious talk as preaching has produced a generation of hearers who have not heard the gospel preached and do not know the difference. This outline defines the instrument with precision so that the instrument can be properly used.
Introduction
All should know what a sermon is — especially preachers. Many do not. This is itself a significant problem: the primary instrument of gospel delivery is poorly understood even by those who wield it.
Three things must be distinguished at the outset, because they are routinely confused:
Talking or making a talk — informal religious conversation, without form, without objective, without the deliberate organization that persuasion requires. This is not a sermon.
Making a speech on a Bible topic — a well-formed address, perhaps carefully organized, perhaps even eloquent, that treats the subject as a topic of information. The speaker intends to inform; persuasion is secondary or absent. This is not a sermon, even when the topic is biblical.
Preaching the gospel — the oral address upon revealed truth that is specifically designed to move the hearer to a response. The difference between a speech about the gospel and the preaching of the gospel is the difference between describing a fire and setting one.
The sermon is the third of these, not the first or the second.
I. What a Sermon Is Not
Before defining the thing, it is useful to clear away the substitutes.
Not a "talk." A talk is informal, unbounded, under no obligation to arrive anywhere. The talk that begins wherever the speaker's mind happens to be and ends when the time is up has not functioned as a sermon, regardless of how much biblical content it contained. The gospel deserves better than talk.
Not a "mere speech." The speech belongs to the forum, the lecture hall, the debate platform. The speech presents a case; it may argue; it may inform. But its purpose is intellectual, not volitional — it aims to change the mind, not necessarily to move the will. The sermon is not satisfied with the changed mind; it aims at the changed life.
Not a "lecture," which is too technical. The lecture functions in the academic context: it assumes an interested audience that is attending for the purpose of information. The sermon does not make this assumption. Many in any given congregation are not there to receive information — they are there to encounter God. The lecturer who does not know this will address only the part of the room that wants information and will miss the rest.
Not a "treatise." The treatise is written, systematic, and governed by the standards of academic completeness. The sermon is oral, selective, and governed by the standard of persuasion. The treatise must be complete; the sermon must be effective. These are different standards.
II. What a Sermon Is
The Latin derivation establishes the foundation: sermo — discourse, address, speech. The word is neutral on content; the Christian tradition gave it specific content.
A formal address on Bible truth; a pre-arranged discourse. The "formal" is important: it implies preparation, structure, and the deliberate deployment of material toward an end. The "pre-arranged" is important: the sermon does not improvise its structure any more than a building improvises its foundation. The arrangement has been thought through before the preacher speaks.
An oral address upon revealed truth, elaborately treated with a view to persuasion. Three elements in this definition deserve attention: revealed truth (the content is not the preacher's opinions — it is what God has said); elaborately treated (the revealed truth is developed, explained, illustrated, applied — not merely announced); with a view to persuasion (the goal is not the transfer of information but the movement of the hearer from where they are to where they should be).
Homiletics is the science that teaches and formulates the principles of the preparation and delivery of sermons. The science exists because the art can be taught. The preacher who treats sermon preparation as entirely intuitive has refused the tools that the discipline offers.
III. The Purpose of the Sermon
The purpose must be kept in mind throughout preparation and delivery, because every structural decision in the sermon is governed by where the sermon is trying to arrive.
To present revealed truth. The sermon's content is not the preacher's reflections on life — it is the revealed truth of God. The preacher who has not encountered the text in its original context, who has not understood what the text says before deciding what to say about it, has substituted their own thought for God's revealed word. The revealed truth is the cargo; the sermon is the vehicle.
To explain this truth to hearers. The explanation is not optional. The audience that hears the text without the explanation may misunderstand it; the explanation bridges the distance between the world of the text and the world of the hearer. Explanation without application stops short; application without explanation produces action based on misunderstanding.
To convince and instruct. Two target audiences, two modes of address.
For the disbeliever, the sermon functions apologetically and evangelistically — making the case for the truth of what is claimed, presenting the evidence, pressing the gospel's demand on the person who has not yet responded.
For the believer, the sermon functions formatively — building up what is already present, deepening understanding, sharpening obedience, equipping for the commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). The great commission is not completed at baptism; it is ongoing in the teaching of "all that I commanded."
IV. Types of Sermons
Three classification systems cover the range of legitimate sermon types.
By subject — what kind of biblical content the sermon treats: doctrinal (presenting and defending a specific biblical teaching), moral (addressing how the believer is to live), historical (developing a biblical narrative and its significance), or experimental (addressing the interior experience of faith — the Christian's relationship with God, the working of doubt and trust, the struggle of the conscience).
By nature — how the sermon relates to its text: textual (developing the text itself, using its structure as the sermon's structure), topical (using a theme as the organizing principle, drawing on multiple texts), or expository (working through an extended passage section by section, allowing the text's development to govern the sermon's development). All three are legitimate; no type is inherently superior. The choice of type should be governed by the text and occasion, not by the preacher's comfort.
By occasion — the context into which the sermon is delivered: funeral, anniversary, commencement, dedication. Each occasion shapes what the sermon must address and what it must accomplish. The funeral sermon that does not address grief directly has not served its occasion; the commencement sermon that does not address the responsibility of knowledge has missed its moment.
V. The Parts of a Sermon
Every sermon, regardless of type, requires the same three structural components.
Introduction. The opening, which must do two things: secure the hearer's attention and open the hearer's mind to what follows. The introduction does not carry the sermon's main content — it prepares the hearer to receive it.
Discussion. The main body — the development of the sermon's content. This is where the revealed truth is explained, argued, illustrated, and applied. The structure of the discussion must be logical, sequential, and cumulative — each point building on what preceded it.
Conclusion. The close, which brings the sermon to its destination: the persuasion of the hearer to respond. The conclusion is not a summary — it is the arrival. Everything in the introduction and discussion has been aimed at the conclusion; the conclusion delivers on the promise the sermon's opening made.
Application
The outline is prescriptive for preachers: know what you are building before you begin to build it. The preacher who cannot articulate the purpose of the sermon they are preparing — whether it is to convince the disbeliever or to instruct the believer, and specifically what the hearer should believe or do differently at the end — has not yet defined what they are building.
For the hearer: evaluate what you have heard. Not by whether the talk was engaging or the speaker pleasant, but by whether the revealed truth was presented, explained, and pressed toward a conclusion you were required to respond to. The sermon is not entertainment; it is God's primary instrument for "teaching them to observe all that I commanded."
Conclusion
The sermon is the most precisely defined instrument of verbal communication in the Christian tradition — not because the tradition was pedantic about definitions, but because the stakes of the instrument's use are eternal. The preacher who wields it well serves the commission of Matthew 28:19-20; the preacher who mistakes talk for proclamation serves themselves. Knowing what a sermon is — is the first qualification for preaching one.
Invitation
The sermon that meets its own definition — that presents revealed truth, explains it, and presses it toward the hearer's response — has one final task: the invitation. The invitation is the sermon's arrival.
Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Repent. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). The gospel that has been explained throughout this sermon is the gospel that demands a response. The response is the sermon's reason for existing.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sermon / Discourse | sermo (Latin) | Speech, discourse, conversation — from serere, to join together. The Latin root emphasizes the linking of thought to thought in ordered address. | Used as the foundation of the English word "sermon" and as the governing concept throughout the outline. | The etymology makes visible what a sermon is structurally: joined thought, not isolated utterance. The talk that does not join its thoughts toward a persuasive end has not yet become a sermon. | (Conceptual — Latin root) |
| Homiletics | homilia (Greek) | A talk, a conversation, a gathering for discourse — from homilos (crowd, company). | Used to name the science of sermon preparation and delivery. | The word's origin (homilos — gathering, company) makes clear that homiletics is inherently communal: the sermon is prepared for a specific assembly, not for an abstract reader. | Acts 20:7 (homileō — conversing) |
| Preach / Proclamation | kēryssō / kērygma | To herald, to proclaim — the announcement of a message that comes with authority, not merely with argument. | The distinction between "talking" and "preaching the gospel" corresponds exactly to the NT distinction between lalein (talking/speaking) and kēryssō (heralding/proclaiming). | The sermon at its best is kērygma — the authoritative announcement of revealed truth by one who speaks as a herald of the king. It does not propose; it declares. It does not suggest; it commands. | Acts 10:42; II Tim. 4:2 |
| Instruct / Teach | didaskō | To teach, to instruct — the systematic transmission of content from teacher to learner. | Used in Matt. 28:20 for the ongoing post-baptismal work of the church: "teaching them to observe all that I commanded." | Teaching (didaskō) is distinguished from heralding (kēryssō): both are part of the commission (Matt. 28:19-20). The sermon may be primarily one or the other depending on the occasion and audience, but the full commission requires both. | Matt. 28:20 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| "Teaching them to observe all that I commanded" — purpose of sermon | III | Matt. 28:19-20 |
| "Preach the word" — the preacher's commission | I/II | II Tim. 4:2 |
| "So he spoke" — Paul's manner of delivery as model | Intro. (next sermon) | Acts 14:1 |
| "He reasoned" — Paul uses the expository method | IV (Textual) | Acts 17:2-3 |
| Baptism for remission — invitation and sermon's purpose | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 145. Primary text: none stated; homiletics (principles from Matt. 28:19-20). OCR corrections: "senna" → "sermo" (Latin — OCR rendering of long 's' in "sermon"); "lll." → "III." This is a homiletics outline — one of a four-sermon series (145-148) on the theory and practice of preaching. Doctrinal audit: the definition of preaching developed without downplaying the authoritative/heralding dimension (kēryssō); Matt. 28:19-20 used as the governing text for the sermon's dual purpose (convincing the disbeliever; instructing the believer); invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
