Every sermon must end at the cross. To accomplish this, regardless of text and illustrations, your hearers must "see" Jesus and "hear" the gospel in every sermon you preach. If they do not, you have failed to provide them with the first thing they need to focus their minds on.
Exegetical journeys, grammatical gymnastics and contextual portraits are no more than helpful filler, commercials if you will that allow the hearers minds to relax while they digest the crux of the message. We do not preach to impress but rather to express the whole council of God in a simple clear and certainly memorable manner.
Too many times I have asked concerning a sermon, "How did you enjoy the sermon?" ( Note - never about my own!) I am more often than not the recipient of a big smile and something on the order of, "It was wonderful, very inspiring!' or "It was great, you should have heard it!" Then I ask, "What was it about?" Which typically produces a look of confusion and resentment and I receive some vague answer applicable to any talk or lecture that titillates. If I ask, "As of the result of the sermon what are you going to repent of and seek God's provision to do?" I usually just get a blank stare.
When we preach (formally or informally) we are speaking for God to others. The issue is not what we want to tell them but what God wants for and of them. It matters little how high and lofty, how intellectually challenging or formal the sermon is. If it does not change lives (even if that's is just making people think) then it has missed its target.
The point of preaching is the communication of the gospel in all its applications which is why aiming for the cross in all our preparation is so important. Now I do not mean by that, aiming at an invitation or call to "walk the aisle." That is dubious in reference to the teaching of scripture. What I do mean is that if any sermon does not bring the hearers (believer or unbeliever) to the foot of the cross for assurance and comfort it's a miss not a hit. (Bullseyes are rare due to the appalling ignorance and self-centeredness of the people in the pew.) But that does not excuse us from aiming for that.
I do not want to know how smart you are. Id o not want to here your "agenda." I do not want you to assume that what God has laid on your heart as "the issue facing the faith," has anything pertinent to do with my walk. My battle is with the world the flesh and the devil, the flesh being the most commonly present problem. Tell me how to fight that fight, how to stand firm, how to behave and live and .........
I have a terribly hard time listening to sermons. After the text is read, if I do not hear any, "We see from this passage that the believer need, must, should, should not --- know, believe, do, not do, etc... I pretty much quit listening. After that, if I do not hear at least three and no more than five points listed then expounded I figure my time has been ill used. Not wasted but ill-used - as have my ears and my backside.
Every sermon (formal or informal) is intended, "for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." (2 Tim 3:16) Each sermons is to provide for each of these not pick and choose. A man or woman who has been a believer for years needs not less reproof, correction than the most determined unbeliever. Why would we ever assume they do not?
Paul hits the nail on the head when he writes:
but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
(1Co 1:23)
For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. (2Co 4:5)
But, you may say, he was preaching to unbelievers. Well, who among us does not still suffer those places where we struggle with unbelief or weak faith? Who among us does not to hear the gospel in every passage of the Bible that is preached. Who among us does not need preachers who will commit to:
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1Co 2:1-2)
In every sermon Christ must be the center. He must be clearly seen and heard for the Word is all His word.
Simply put sermons should be:
Proposition: What God has said.
Presentation: What that means in, for and of our lives
Persuasion: What God has commanded through this. Beginning with our depravity and ending at the cross.
Simple? Yes. Easy to do? No! It's easier to take a passage and just address our own agenda or issue - or what we think are the agendi and issues of our hearers. That Christ gets lost in too many sermons is a shame and a curse to the church. If Jesus is not clearly in a sermon, if you just assume He is because it is, after all, Bible; you have allowed assumption to do what assume always does.
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
(2Ti 4:1-2)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (Joh 1:1-5)
Preach Jesus - no matter where you begin, no matter where you go, preach Jesus.
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