Landmark Baptist Institute

The Road from Text to Sermon (Complete Teaching Guide)

I. What is Expository Preaching?

  1. Sermons come from the Bible
  2. They must connect to real life

II. The Three Worlds of a Preacher

1. Biblical World (Then)

  • What did it mean before?

2. Present World (Now)

  • What are people facing today?

3. Local World (Your People)

  • Who are you preaching to?

III. Role of the Preacher

  1. Teach and care for people
  2. Know:
    • The Bible
    • The times
    • The people

IV. God’s Word is for Today

👉 God’s Word is not only past—it speaks now

V. From Study to Sermon

  1. Study the Bible
  2. Study the people
  3. Connect truth to life

VI. The Problem

  1. Sermons can be:
    • Dry
    • Lifeless

👉 Goal:
Make sermons alive

VII. How to Develop a Sermon

👉 4 Ways:

  1. Restate
  2. Explain
  3. Prove
  4. Apply

VIII. Stage 4: Three Key Questions

1. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? (Explain)

Focus:

  • Bible → What does it mean?
  • People → Do they understand?

Goal:

👉 Be clear

2. IS IT TRUE? (Prove)

Focus:

  • Can people believe it?

Methods:

  1. Scripture
  2. Experience
  3. Logic
  4. Evidence

Goal:

👉 Move from doubt → belief

3. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? (Apply)

A. Main Idea

👉 People ask:
“So what?”

B. Why Application Matters

  1. The Bible is not just for knowledge
  2. It must be:
    • Obeyed
    • Lived

👉 Without application:

  • People may believe truth but live wrongly

C. Key Principle

👉 Right application starts with right interpretation

  1. First:
    • Understand what the passage meant before
  2. Then:
    • Apply it today

D. Compare Then and Now

  1. Ask:
    • What is the same?
    • What is different?

1. When Situation is the Same

👉 Application is direct

Example:

  • “Be slow to anger” (James)
    ✔ Applies to all people today

2. When Situation is Different

👉 Application must be careful

Example:

  • Slaves vs Employees
    ✔ Principle applies
    ❌ Situation is not the same

E. Dangers in Application

  1. Wrong Interpretation
    • Not understanding the passage
  2. Allegorizing
    • Adding meaning not in the text
  3. Forcing Ideas
    • Using your own beliefs, not the Bible

F. Source of Application

👉 Application must come from:

  • The author’s purpose
  • The meaning of the text

G. Importance of Context

  1. Study:
    • Whole book
    • Not just one verse

👉 Context controls meaning

H. Questions to Help Application

About the Text

  1. What is the purpose?
  2. What is God teaching?
  3. Is this:
    • Example?
    • Warning?

About the People

  1. What do we share with them?
  2. How are we different?
  3. How did they respond to God?

About Today

  1. What should we:
    • Think?
    • Feel?
    • Do?
  2. What stops people from obeying?

I. Applying to Modern Issues

  1. Some issues are not directly in the Bible:
    • Technology
    • Politics
    • Modern ethics

👉 So we use:

  • Biblical principles

J. Wise Application Requires

  1. Right understanding of facts
  2. Right understanding of Scripture
  3. Careful thinking

👉 Principle:
Faith + Facts = Wise Decisions

K. Final Application Goal

👉 Change:

  • Thoughts
  • Attitudes
  • Actions

IX. Final Summary of the 3 Questions

  1. Explain → What does it mean?
  2. Prove → Is it true?
  3. Apply → What should we do?

X. Final Sermon Formula

👉
Clear Meaning

  • Strong Proof
  • Real Application
    = Powerful Sermon

XI. Final Truth

👉 If people:

  • Don’t understand → no clarity
  • Don’t believe → no conviction
  • Don’t apply → no change

XII. Ultimate Goal of Preaching

👉 Bring:

  • God’s Word
  • To real people
  • So their lives will change

Stage 5 – Formulating the Homiletical Idea

  1. Purpose:
    After studying the passage and understanding the audience, the preacher must distill the message into a single, precise, and memorable statement. This statement—called the homiletical idea—guides the sermon’s direction and identifies the key questions to address in exposition.
  2. Key Principles:
    • A homiletical idea connects the biblical text with the audience’s life.
    • People often adopt ideas more readily when phrased memorably—think of slogans—but unlike ads, the preacher’s idea must be true, substantial, and rooted in Scripture.
    • A universal biblical principle may serve as both the exegetical and homiletical idea (e.g., Luke 12:15: “Beware of covetousness, for life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”).
    • Some ideas need personal or contemporary phrasing to resonate with the audience (e.g., I Timothy 4:12-16 → “Young men win respect by giving attention to their personal lives and to their teaching.”).
  3. Process of Development:
    • Extract the exegetical idea: what the passage actually says.
    • Translate it into a homiletical idea: a concise, memorable expression relevant to the congregation.
    • Ask:
      1. What does this mean? (Explanation)
      2. Is it true? (Validation)
      3. So what? (Application/Implications)
  4. Characteristics of a Good Homiletical Idea:
    • Winsome and compelling without being sensational.
    • Clear, memorable, and easily repeatable.
    • Faithful to the Bible yet meaningful for the listener today.
    • Sparks thought and action.
  5. Examples: PassageExegetical IdeaHomiletical IdeaLuke 12:15Life does not consist in possessionsBeware of covetousnessI Thess 1:2-6Paul thanked God for their faith, hope, and loveWe can thank God for others because of what they do for HimI Timothy 4:12-16Timothy should live exemplary and teach diligentlyYoung men win respect by attending to life and teachingRomans 6:1-14Union with Christ frees us from sinYou can’t live as you once did because you are no longer the person you once wereJames 1:1-16Trials test faithYour reaction to trials is a matter of life and death

💡 Bottom line:
The homiletical idea is the sermon’s heartbeat. When the preacher grasps it “clear as a cloudless moon,” the message naturally follows, both faithful to Scripture and alive to the audience.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of each exercise with subject, complement, and functional question:

1. John W. Gardner
“The reason you can’t teach an old dog new tricks is not that he is incapable of learning them…”

  • Subject: The reason you can’t teach an old dog new tricks
  • Complement: Is that he is quite content with his mastery of the old tricks and thinks that learning new tricks is strictly for puppies
  • Functional question being addressed: Why do some people resist learning new things even when they are capable?

2. Edith Schaeffer
“The powerful voice of God warns of judgment…”

  • Subject: The powerful voice of God
  • Complement: Warns of judgment and expresses His compassion for those who return to Him
  • Functional question being addressed: How should we respond to God’s communication and authority?

3. New York Times
“The best thing you can do for your golf this winter is look in a mirror…”

  • Subject: The best thing you can do for your golf this winter
  • Complement: Is look in a mirror
  • Functional question being addressed: How can a golfer improve during the off-season?

4. Texas Monthly
“More contagious than colds, more habit-forming than hard drugs, CB radio already affects more than 15 million Americans…”

  • Subject: CB radio
  • Complement: Affects more than 15 million Americans and is becoming extremely popular
  • Functional question being addressed: How has CB radio influenced American culture?

5. Chinese boy and jade story
“A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher…”

  • Subject: The boy’s learning process
  • Complement: Led to sudden insight: recognizing jade after weeks of preparation
  • Functional question being addressed: How do we truly learn and recognize understanding—through experience and practice, not just instruction?

6. Rudolph Fellner / William Mayer
“Rudolph Fellner reminds his classes that ‘melody exists only in your memory…’”

  • Subject: Melody
  • Complement: Exists only in memory; each note gains meaning from what preceded it
  • Functional question being addressed: What is the nature of music and how do we perceive it?

7. Elliot L. Richardson
“Had security guard Frank Wills not noticed a taped door lock at the Watergate office…”

  • Subject: The discovery of the Watergate burglary
  • Complement: Revealed abuses of government power and affected the course of history
  • Functional question being addressed: How did a single act of vigilance influence American government and society?

8. Sport and Society
“Work today has lost many traditional characteristics; so has play…”

  • Subject: Play and sports
  • Complement: Have increasingly become like work, except in hunting and fishing
  • Functional question being addressed: How have modern sports and work influenced each other and changed in character?