June 15, 2021 (Tuesday)
I relied on sermon outlines through the years. Once derived from study, they helped this preacher.
Every once in a while, preachers shared sermon outlines with me. I’d like to share some of them.
The first, Lot’s Wife, was about a tragic figure, but the outline is just for fun:
LOT’S WIFE (Genesis 19:26)
1. Exalted
2. Halted
3. Salted
The second outline came from a great preacher, and
sounds at first like a joke, but turns out to be a great
sermon when taken seriously:
THE PRODIGAL SON (Luke 15:11ff)
1. He got sick of home
2. He got homesick
3. He got home
A dear friend, now with the Lord, shared this one on Lydia with me. It’s easy to preach,
and it’s a good sermon:
LYDIA (Acts 16:13ff)
1. Her hands were stilled
2. Her heart was stirred
3. Her house was saved
Sermon outlines are like skeletons. Not much to look at, but helpful in holding things together. We never see our human bone structure, but we would be blobs without it. So with sermon outlines. To be fair, shortly before I “retired” in 1996 a way of preaching developed which follows a different path from that of outlines. Great sermons result. The main thing is to stay with the word of God.
You may never detect the outline of some sermons when you hear them. That’s OK. It’s mainly for the benefit of the preacher, to help him bring a message for your mind, heart and soul. What we all want — congregation and preacher alike — is a word from God.
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:’How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Romans 10).
Edited Encore blog from MAY 26, 2007