The Preaching Proposition, Part 1

Hi All,
One thing that continues to surprise me is the number of preachers who do not use, or do not understand the significance of the preaching proposition. By 'proposition', I mean it in the classical homiletical definition; that is, to put more colloquially, the proposition is the "sermon in a sentence".

How is the Proposition different from other parts of the sermon? If someone asks you, "What are you preaching on?" And you reply with a one or two word response, that is the Topic of the Sermon. If they ask you, "What passage are you preaching on?" And you reply with a book, or verse(s) of Scripture, that is the Text of the Sermon. If someone asks you, "What are you trying to achieve in your sermon?" And you reply with something you want the people to know or do, that is the Goal of the sermon. But if someone asks you, "What are you trying to say in your sermon?" If you then reply with a single sentence that summarizes your sermon fully, THAT is the Proposition.

The Proposition is the "sermon in a sentence". This single sentence should get at the heart of both the topic and the goal of the sermon. In one sense, the Proposition is the entire sermon; everything else you have to say comes out of that single sentence. That sentence is a seed; and inside of that seed is the entire sermon. As you preach, you are unpacking the meaning and depth and significance of every word in the proposition. In fact, the content of the sermon should not veer too far off from the initial proposition which you present to the congregation. It should have some emotional, or logical, or close theological connection to what you have to say in the proposition.

For example, in a series about Faith & Fear (the Topic), on a series through Joshua (the text), I had the following Proposition (sermon in a sentence) for the message on Joshua 1:6-9, called "How to Develop a Courageous Faith". The proposition was: "Your faith focus determines your future". The three points of the sermon, then, each unpacked with Biblical exposition and verses, each of those three elements: Faith, Focus, and Future. The entire thrust of the sermon was contained in that single sentence, but it took a half-hour or more to unpack the meaning and intent behind those words.

A well-crafted proposition is the foundation to a well-crafted sermon. If you know what you want to say, and where you are trying to take the congregation, you are on your way to a good sermon. On the other hand, if you cannot formulate what you are trying to say in a single moderate-length sentence, then you do not yet know what you are trying to say. PLEASE, for the sake of your listeners, know what you are trying to say before you start speaking!

One of the most important tasks, then, which you must do as you begin your message preparation work is to formulate that proposition. That is the key to everything else you have to say. It takes some time to develop a good propositional statement. Before you begin extensive work on the rest of the content of your sermon, you must develop a clear, relatively concise propositional statement. You must be able to state the sermon in a sentence.

But how do you get to that point?
In the next blog, I will share with you about the sermon funnel process; also about the significance of goal statement before you begin the sermon preparation process.

For the Kingdom of Heaven,
Dr. Bill