HOMILETICS for students

A sermon need themes for the same reason that buildings need blue prints, or a story needs a plot, or a picture needs a center of interest, or a sales talk needs a proposition. It lamentable that many sermons lack a clear theme that can be followed. A theme-less sermon is like a flood, it spreads in all directions; a sermon with a theme is like a river flows within its banks in a specify direction. There is value in the river to a man; floods are wild, destructive and seldom of any value. A train that does not stay on the track cannot go anywhere, no matter how much power the engine has. Sermon may show great displays of steam, but it will never reach its destination without a theme. A sermon is means to an end. We cannot take the first step in preparation until we intelligently discern the goal to be reached. Good hunters do not fire in just any direction hoping to hit something, but first sights his game and then takes aim. A preacher who aims at nothing will hit it. We must choose a target (subject) and then take careful aim. The choice of a worthy theme is a large step toward successful sermon construction. We must not confuse a theme with a subject or topic. A topic will accurately describe our theme, but the theme is usually longer and more complete than a topic. The topic is what you put on the bulletin board or in the newspaper; but the theme is the preacher's statement of the purpose or reason of the sermon. The topic is announced at the beginning of the sermon, before the text is read or at least immediately afterward; the theme is stated more fully while giving the introduction. The theme does not need to be stated, if the divisions make it sufficiently clear, in which case the theme serves simply as a guide in making the divisions of the sermon. A theme could be called the proposition