The following post was written by Jeff Pratt, director of Fuge camps
As communicators of God’s truth, we must be very conscientious about the content that we deliver. If we are not careful and true to the Bible, there is a tendency for us to share more of our own words than those of God’s word. I am not referring to the number of words of our own in proportion to the number of words from Scripture that we use, but to the way in which we handle God’s word. Below are a couple of suggestions that I hope will help you as you prepare your next message.
Avoid approaching God’s Word looking for a Scripture to support your point or justify your outline. There is nothing wrong with topical preaching, but ensure that the Scripture in its context is addressing the same topic that you’re discussing. I have heard communicators develop a great topical outline, only to mention Scripture references that do not speak to the topic at all or may briefly mention the topic, at best.
Study a passage of Scripture and allow the Scripture to speak for itself. When the Bible addresses a topic, speak authoritatively on that same topic. When a Scripture does not specifically address a topic, be careful that you are not stretching the meaning to support your point.
If you tend to be a topical speaker, then develop the skill of topical exposition. As you read and study the Scripture, make notes of when certain passages deal directly with relevant topics. Create a notebook of your findings so that as you prepare your messages you will have a great resource to pull from.
Speaking topically and creating a series around topics is a great way to communicate God’s Word, but let’s make sure that we are allowing God’s word to say what it says and not what we need it to say.
