The Conclusion of the Matter
Dee
I'm not a expert in homiletics. If there's a Charley Lau school of preaching (e.g., Bryan Chapell), I'm more of a John Kruk kind of preacher ("See the ball, hit the ball" and "I hit good fat").
So I don't have a set purpose to my conclusions, outside of ending the sermon. But I have noticed that I tend to do the same thing every time.
I spend most of the sermon explaining the text, drawing out the doctrine that it teaches and the demands that it makes on the hearer. I apply it in different ways and call non-Christians to repent and believe.
But all through the sermon, I find myself intentionally with-holding something great, some wonderful way that this text shows them what they have in Christ. I want the listener to feel the weight of what they've been called to and their hopelessness apart from Jesus... then I conclude by exalting Christ and the glories of his salvation. That sends them out with Christ in their nostrils and his praises on their lips That's the plan, at least.
So last week I preached on Luke 24:50-53, the ascension of Jesus. I ended the sermon by talking about the fact that Christ is no longer in a state of humiliation but is now being glorified. We looked at Revelation 19 and John's vision of the awesome, victorious Christ. Then we concluded by looking at Hebrews 4, and the promise that the same one whose eyes are like a flame of fire is a gentle high priest who sympathizes with all of our weaknesses.
The people in our congregation are used to this by now. There's a palpable tension as we approach the last ten minutes of the sermon.
That was the best sermon we've ever heard you preach! It was magnificent. John recorded it, and I listened to it FOUR times during the next week, and e-mailed it to two friends.
Posted by: Rebecca Rust | Oct 25, 2009 8:59:45 PM