Five Things You Need to Know About Preaching Through the Books of Scripture...Continued from page 1

Make each sermon able to stand on its own.
While each sermon should demonstrate how the text in question relates to the major theme of the book, each sermon in a whole book series also should be able to stand alone. This is particularly important in light of the reality that much of your congregation may not hear every sermon in the series. Also, you do not want first-time visitors to feel left out because they were not present for last week's sermon. This can be achieved by keeping the focus on the text at hand.

You will, of course, need to deal with the larger context and that may mean going back to the previous week's text. Instead of saying, "In last week's sermon, we learned that..." you instead could say, "The context of our passage indicates that…" This will help the congregation focus on the current sermon rather than trying to remember what was said last Sunday or feeling like they must catch up for not having been present before.

Begin with a didactic book.
Certain genres of Scripture lend themselves more easily to whole-book preaching. In general, highly didactic texts are more straightforward and easier to explain. Such books will prove more fruitful in maintaining enthusiasm throughout the series on the part of preacher and congregation.

The epistles in the New Testament are good examples of didactic material. They are intended to teach in a straightforward manner. Philippians is full of solid teaching material, including passages on the priority of the gospel, the Person and work of Christ, justification, sanctification, glorification and ethical implications of the gospel for the community of believers. Such a teaching-oriented book contains plenty of material for extended exposition.

The Minor Prophets are also good examples of highly didactic material. They are usually intended to deal with their audience on a few major issues and are often highly applicable to the contemporary setting of the church. Malachi has passages on honoring God, authentic worship, marriage, stewardship and salvation.

When preaching through an entire book, such highly didactic texts are easier to work through than books with extended accounts of historical narrative, for example. Allow your skill in whole book preaching to develop in didactic texts with the goal of preaching an extended narrative in the future.

Plan ahead, and plan for progress.
Take the time before preaching through a book to plan each message in the series. This will help you avoid hurried decisions about textual divisions. Sit down and read through the book, breaking it down into distinct passages you intend to preach. Know ahead of time how many weeks it will take you to preach through a book.

Take time to consider how the overall theme relates to each passage. You will be much more comfortable preaching through a whole book if you know what to expect ahead of time. You always can revise your work as you proceed, but prior planning takes a great deal of the stress away from preaching through an entire book of Scripture.

Plan your series for adequate progress through the book. Be sure to give each passage the time it deserves, but keep in mind that moving too slowly will become laborious to preacher and hearer. A sermon series that deals with only a verse or two at a time can make arduous the preaching of even the shortest books. It also risks taking verses out of context, which once again undermines an important aim of preaching books as wholes.

A well-planned series that progresses through a book at an appropriate pace can yield a likewise appropriate sense of accomplishment for the preacher and the congregation that they have encountered the Word of God in a way that is full, deep and exhaustive.

Preaching through whole books of Scripture is rewarding and deeply satisfying. It provides the preacher and the congregation an opportunity to soak in a single book for an extended period of time and develops homiletic competency with various types of scriptural texts. The discipline has its challenges, though. These five suggestions aim to make the process less intimidating and more fruitful to help preachers faithfully proclaim "the whole counsel of God."