Crafting Captivating Sermon Outlines

[00:00:00] A clear outline helps people listen. It helps them connect to the Bible, as opposed to just a read and ramble and after a while you're wondering, where's this thing going to either get to the mountaintop or land a plane?

[00:00:17] The Bible is a systematic book. It deserves to be outlined as a systematic book. It really is systematic. No matter what the literary form, there's a manner in which we can outline it. But to not outline it is going to keep our thoughts too broad.

[00:00:37] Hey, welcome to the Expositors Collective Podcast, episode 358. I'm your host, Mike Neglia. The voice that you just heard is that of our guest for this week, Dr. Alan Stoddard.

[00:00:49] And Alan is a seasoned veteran when it comes to the art of sermon outlining.

[00:00:55] Crafting an effective sermon outline, it's a crucial skill for any communicator of God's Word.

[00:01:01] But it's an area that many preachers and teachers struggle with.

[00:01:06] Like, how do you take all the richness of a biblical text and all the things you've discovered while preparing and studying,

[00:01:14] and then turn that into a clear, compelling structure that guides your listeners from start to finish?

[00:01:21] What are the principles that separate a meandering, rambling message into one that's laser-focused and impactful?

[00:01:33] And this is where Dr. Alan Stoddard is going to come in and help you out.

[00:01:39] This was recorded in Indianapolis, Indiana back in 2023, and I'm excited to be able to share this recording with you now.

[00:01:49] So whether you're a seasoned expositor or just starting out in your preaching journey,

[00:01:54] I know you're going to glean valuable insights from this recording today.

[00:01:59] All right, Alan, take it away.

[00:02:07] Okay, now let me, with the time left, let's walk down these notes that I gave you.

[00:02:12] Number one, there are good reasons why you should use outlines.

[00:02:17] Why use one?

[00:02:18] I wrote, read and ramble is not a strategy.

[00:02:24] And where we get that is, if you don't know Chuck Smith, when I first became a Christian, I did not know any Bible.

[00:02:31] I used to listen to this guy named Chuck Smith on the radio twice a day I was in the Army.

[00:02:35] I'd listen at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m., same message.

[00:02:39] And he could open a Bible and walk through a passage.

[00:02:44] And people will sometimes say, well, Chuck never used an outline.

[00:02:47] Now that I've learned a few things, I'm like, actually, he had the skill set to do it on the fly, which most of us don't have that.

[00:02:55] Some of you may have that ability.

[00:02:57] But we're not Chuck Smith is another thing I like to say.

[00:03:01] Chuck Smith was, he had this amazing ministry.

[00:03:04] The amazing revival took place in his life and ministry.

[00:03:09] Read and ramble means you take a pass and you just start working through it and you haven't thought through what's the main idea.

[00:03:16] What is the Christ-centered angle?

[00:03:19] You got to think all this through.

[00:03:21] So there's one reason.

[00:03:23] Next, outlines come from the text to communicate the text.

[00:03:29] An outline should come directly from the text to communicate the text itself.

[00:03:36] We've all heard preaching.

[00:03:38] Matter of fact, we've all done preaching where we preached and we had more outline than we had text.

[00:03:48] And that's not what we want to do.

[00:03:50] We want outlines that come from the text.

[00:03:54] So in other words, you could have so much outline that you're using notes.

[00:03:57] And if you're not careful, you will be preaching your notes and good explanation.

[00:04:02] But you won't be reading the Bible itself.

[00:04:06] And we want to, what we say needs to come from the Bible.

[00:04:12] Next, outlines help listeners listen.

[00:04:15] Listen.

[00:04:18] I said this last time, you know, Tim, he taught at an international conference we do at the Calvary Guys.

[00:04:23] And it was a different conference.

[00:04:25] So I'm not trying to, I was thinking about that.

[00:04:28] I'm not trying to say what everything else that was being said.

[00:04:32] It was great.

[00:04:32] It wasn't necessarily designed to be Bible.

[00:04:36] It was more equipping and talks and such.

[00:04:39] But when Tim got up, he used a Thessalonians passage and he had this clear outline.

[00:04:45] And it still sticks with me today that how a clear outline helps people listen.

[00:04:53] It helps them connect to the Bible as opposed to just a read and ramble.

[00:04:59] And after a while, you're wondering, where's this thing going to either get to the mountaintop or land a plane?

[00:05:06] The Bible's a systematic book.

[00:05:09] It deserves to be outlined as a systematic book.

[00:05:12] It really is systematic.

[00:05:14] No matter what the literary form, there's a manner in which we can outline it.

[00:05:19] But to not outline it is going to keep our thoughts too broad.

[00:05:25] So there's number one.

[00:05:28] There are good reasons why you should use an outline.

[00:05:33] Number two, you can learn how to build sermon outlines.

[00:05:38] How do you do it?

[00:05:39] Now this is going to get a little bit thick, I think, for a minute.

[00:05:42] But just stay with me because this isn't just for now.

[00:05:45] This is for you to do later also in your life.

[00:05:48] One of the big things you want to do is identify the big idea of a passage.

[00:05:53] Some people call it the central idea of the text.

[00:05:55] A thesis statement.

[00:05:57] Main idea.

[00:05:57] No matter what you call it.

[00:06:00] It's the big idea.

[00:06:02] It's that main burning idea.

[00:06:04] Like we were studying 2 Samuel 9 back there a few minutes ago.

[00:06:08] And I thought to myself, I need to know the big idea to figure this out.

[00:06:13] I need more time.

[00:06:14] I wanted to say, Professor, I need more time.

[00:06:18] But we need to know the main idea of a passage.

[00:06:21] How do you decide that?

[00:06:23] This comes from Haddon Robinson's book, Biblical Preaching,

[00:06:26] using a subject and a complement to harness that text into a single burning idea.

[00:06:36] The subject is a question.

[00:06:37] The complement answers the question.

[00:06:41] So for my message that I showed you on the screen a moment ago,

[00:06:46] my question for Sunday will be,

[00:06:48] what happens when the people of God catch the wind of God?

[00:06:52] Actually, it's the third point, but I'm breaking it down.

[00:06:55] And the answer will be, God will take you places you never thought possible

[00:07:01] because those nations praised God in Acts 2 and they all saw it.

[00:07:06] And that was the launch pad for so much to happen around the world.

[00:07:11] That's why we're here today.

[00:07:14] So you need a subject or complement.

[00:07:16] If you're sitting there right now and you're going, I don't get that,

[00:07:20] I want to encourage you to spend time learning it.

[00:07:26] If you will learn that,

[00:07:28] it will take all of what you're getting from us today

[00:07:31] and it will harness it into a powerful, powerful tool in your mind

[00:07:36] and heart in preaching and teaching ministry.

[00:07:38] A subject and a complement.

[00:07:41] You put those two together and they are a burning idea.

[00:07:44] Next, outline your points from the big idea.

[00:07:49] You don't want to be...

[00:07:51] Have you ever heard preaching, I'll just say,

[00:07:53] have you ever heard preaching that...

[00:07:56] You're sitting there listening and you're going...

[00:07:59] After a few minutes, you're going,

[00:08:00] is this going anywhere?

[00:08:04] That's usually because the person has not thought through a big idea

[00:08:09] and the outline is not following the main idea of the text.

[00:08:13] And even worse, it was alluded to earlier,

[00:08:16] sometimes without an outline to keep us lashed to the text,

[00:08:19] what will happen is you'll hear preaching and teaching in the Bible

[00:08:22] and it'll start to go this way and the text was read

[00:08:26] and they never come back to the text.

[00:08:29] So, in all fairness, I've done that before.

[00:08:33] So I'm not just beating other people up.

[00:08:35] I've done that before.

[00:08:37] Next, build a progression with the points

[00:08:42] that interact with the big idea.

[00:08:45] That's what I did with these three points that I have for Sunday.

[00:08:48] Each one builds and my third point

[00:08:51] in the message is the main idea.

[00:08:56] Yeah.

[00:08:59] Remember, the big idea can be a sermon point.

[00:09:02] I just said that.

[00:09:03] And then, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this,

[00:09:06] but deductive, semi-inductive, inductive,

[00:09:09] that gets a little dicey,

[00:09:10] but I leave it in here

[00:09:11] because here at the Expositors Collective,

[00:09:14] you're going to get stuff in this workshop.

[00:09:18] You're not going to get this anywhere else.

[00:09:19] I said, I do believe that we've lowered the bar

[00:09:22] on such Bible college or seminary kind of language

[00:09:26] that it never gets to the people of God

[00:09:28] and the church in an equipping environment.

[00:09:31] And so, what do I mean by deductive?

[00:09:33] What I mean by that is you state your main idea

[00:09:35] at the beginning of your message,

[00:09:37] which is what most of us do.

[00:09:38] The semi-inductive is you state your main idea

[00:09:41] in the middle of your message.

[00:09:43] And the inductive is at the end of the message.

[00:09:47] Now, sometimes you can let the text literary form

[00:09:50] dictate that.

[00:09:52] When Jesus says in a couple of parables,

[00:09:55] the first will be last and the last will be first,

[00:09:59] he says it at the end of the parable.

[00:10:01] So, if you were preaching that,

[00:10:04] why would you put that at the beginning?

[00:10:06] Why not hide that for a moment,

[00:10:09] put it at the end,

[00:10:10] and I mean lower the boom at the end of the message

[00:10:13] and go, let me tell you what this is all about.

[00:10:15] And you don't even have to rewrite that.

[00:10:17] I would never rewrite.

[00:10:19] The first will be last and the last will be first.

[00:10:21] Don't rewrite that.

[00:10:22] You can't rewrite Jesus on that.

[00:10:25] That's the big idea.

[00:10:26] That's what it is.

[00:10:26] So, just stick with it.

[00:10:28] And then, people remember the scripture,

[00:10:31] not my lame rewrite.

[00:10:33] Not that all of our rewrites are lame.

[00:10:35] Okay.

[00:10:36] So, next.

[00:10:37] Develop points that include application to the audience.

[00:10:42] Use pronouns in your point.

[00:10:47] We could do this.

[00:10:50] You can do this.

[00:10:54] And then, you're going to speak to your audience with pronouns,

[00:10:57] but you're going to explain the text in the past tense

[00:11:01] so that the voice of God's word ends up in the congregation

[00:11:06] and as you preach.

[00:11:09] Now, not everyone has to do that.

[00:11:11] You don't.

[00:11:12] That's not a hard and fast rule.

[00:11:15] I will tell you that I've heard preaching that goes like this.

[00:11:18] It'll be, first of all,

[00:11:20] I want to talk to you about the glory of God.

[00:11:23] And it won't even be that.

[00:11:24] It'll just be, my first point is the glory of God.

[00:11:27] They won't put a pronoun on it.

[00:11:30] And you keep doing that after a while,

[00:11:32] and now you've entered a seminary classroom.

[00:11:36] No, we speak to people about the Bible.

[00:11:40] And so, converting it to a we or you in the sermon point

[00:11:48] helps the text come across the bridge from the first century

[00:11:52] to the 21st century, as John Stott would say.

[00:11:57] Next, develop points that include application to the audience.

[00:12:02] I said the sermon point should be a complete sentence,

[00:12:07] not one word or phrases.

[00:12:09] I recommend don't show up going just three words,

[00:12:14] and that's your point.

[00:12:16] Make it a full, clear sentence.

[00:12:19] The more you do that,

[00:12:21] the more it will internalize from you,

[00:12:23] and you'll know where you got it from the word.

[00:12:25] And when you stand up to teach it or preach it,

[00:12:29] you will have command that comes from the confidence

[00:12:34] of being in the word of God.

[00:12:36] Okay, number three, develop your own rhythm

[00:12:39] in developing sermon outlines.

[00:12:43] What is my process?

[00:12:44] I'll show you my process.

[00:12:46] I've alluded to some of it.

[00:12:48] Write out the big idea.

[00:12:50] And to get it, you're gonna write out

[00:12:52] a one-sentence summary statement

[00:12:53] in the past tense.

[00:12:55] This is called a big word,

[00:12:58] exegetical idea.

[00:12:59] You're extracting this main idea

[00:13:01] from the passage, writing it.

[00:13:03] And the way that would sound is

[00:13:05] Jesus told his followers to this and that.

[00:13:09] Paul taught this church this.

[00:13:12] You're not gonna say we should do this.

[00:13:14] That's not a past tense statement.

[00:13:16] You write out a past tense statement

[00:13:18] because you will know for sure

[00:13:21] that you've spent enough time in the first century

[00:13:24] before you come over to the 21st.

[00:13:26] And that is so difficult,

[00:13:28] especially for those of you that teach every weekend

[00:13:30] because every Monday you're going,

[00:13:33] what am I gonna say next?

[00:13:34] And even if you go verse by verse through the Bible,

[00:13:36] which we highly recommend,

[00:13:38] you still have to get back into that text

[00:13:41] and go, I can't be in this century for a minute.

[00:13:44] I gotta go back here in this Bible text

[00:13:46] and figure out what's going on in here.

[00:13:49] So write out a one-sentence summary statement,

[00:13:52] past tense.

[00:13:52] Then write out a one-sentence summary statement

[00:13:55] that is true for every generation.

[00:13:57] This would be called the theological idea.

[00:13:59] It's a timeless, big idea truth.

[00:14:02] The next one is a present tense summary statement.

[00:14:05] And it seems very wooden and academic.

[00:14:09] And it is.

[00:14:12] And it can be.

[00:14:13] But I can tell you, if you do these things,

[00:14:16] plus the things we're already addressing,

[00:14:18] you do these things and you will never show up

[00:14:21] opening your Bible and teaching it,

[00:14:24] not having spent enough time in the Word.

[00:14:27] You do these things.

[00:14:28] These are only tools.

[00:14:30] When you open your Bible, God will open his mouth.

[00:14:33] Look at the bottom there.

[00:14:34] It had in Robinson's quote,

[00:14:36] he says a sermon should be a bullet, not a book shot.

[00:14:39] Ideally, each sermon is the explanation, interpretation,

[00:14:44] or application of a single dominant idea supported by other ideas,

[00:14:50] all drawn from one passage or several passages of Scripture.

[00:14:58] Be careful how much you cross-reference in your teachings.

[00:15:02] When you outline, outline from one passage.

[00:15:05] Only cross-reference where you need to do it

[00:15:08] because people can't take all that in anyway.

[00:15:12] I'm not saying don't do it.

[00:15:14] I'm saying know how you're rightly dividing when you do.

[00:15:20] The next thing I do after the main idea is I write out the main points.

[00:15:24] The points should come from the passage.

[00:15:26] I've said that.

[00:15:27] Make the points of the passage.

[00:15:29] Make the point the passage makes.

[00:15:31] Isn't that a good idea?

[00:15:33] We should say what the Bible says?

[00:15:36] Before writing a preaching outline,

[00:15:39] write a teaching outline in the past tense communicating the text,

[00:15:43] which I just showed you that in the beginning.

[00:15:47] Sometimes, especially with narrative, parable, and character messages,

[00:15:52] it's good to think of points as moves, like in a drama, in a story.

[00:15:58] Don't think of them as this raw sermon point.

[00:15:59] Number one, number two, number three.

[00:16:01] You're going to need to shake that narrative up and go,

[00:16:03] what's the first move?

[00:16:04] What's the second move?

[00:16:05] Because the literary genre for narrative and history

[00:16:08] is different than it is for Paul's letters.

[00:16:11] So that's something to put into your thinking.

[00:16:14] Don't force points.

[00:16:17] Now, I had 20-plus years as a Southern Baptist guy.

[00:16:22] And if you're a Southern Baptist in the room,

[00:16:23] no offense to anything.

[00:16:25] I'm still very Baptistic in my theology.

[00:16:28] However, not every sermon has to have three points.

[00:16:33] There's no rule to that.

[00:16:35] Matter of fact, we were in class one time,

[00:16:38] and Haddon Robinson, they told us,

[00:16:40] use the literary form of the Bible,

[00:16:41] and three of us got assigned Psalm 127.

[00:16:45] Psalm 127 has two paragraphs in it.

[00:16:48] I mean, it's obvious.

[00:16:49] The Hebrew guys, and they translated this there.

[00:16:51] It's two points.

[00:16:52] And I felt sorry for the one guy.

[00:16:55] He was a Southern Baptist.

[00:16:56] And he came up with three.

[00:16:59] And in that doctoral class, I'll never forget, boy,

[00:17:02] they were pretty rough on him.

[00:17:04] They weren't too rough, but they weren't playing around.

[00:17:06] Let the literary form of the text drive your outline.

[00:17:10] You don't have to get cute.

[00:17:11] You don't have to make it up.

[00:17:13] Just let the text unfold it like a flower.

[00:17:17] So don't force it.

[00:17:19] Write main points and sub points.

[00:17:22] Keep the preaching outline simple.

[00:17:25] And then let me do this as I kind of land it.

[00:17:30] What about an introduction?

[00:17:33] And normally in outlining, we wouldn't even do that on this.

[00:17:36] But in this seminar, we do.

[00:17:38] The way you introduce a text is important.

[00:17:41] Some people don't use introductions.

[00:17:43] Oftentimes, Chuck Smith didn't use an introduction.

[00:17:46] The great Baptist pastor, W.A. Criswell,

[00:17:48] didn't use introductions.

[00:17:49] Had Robinson recommended we use an introduction.

[00:17:53] He did his PhD on audience analysis.

[00:17:55] And he had research.

[00:17:56] He showed if you can get people listening in the first minute,

[00:18:01] you're starting off better than if you just said,

[00:18:04] okay, now we were in Genesis 21 last week.

[00:18:07] We'll be in Genesis 22 this week.

[00:18:10] That's fine.

[00:18:11] It works.

[00:18:12] But the fifth grader, he's not going to get excited about that.

[00:18:17] So how do you would do an introduction?

[00:18:21] I got this from Robinson.

[00:18:23] He told us, raise a felt need.

[00:18:26] Don't just be interesting.

[00:18:28] There's a little bit of a difference that you can tap into.

[00:18:31] You pray and you ask the Lord.

[00:18:35] But an introduction that's interesting may not still raise a felt heart need of your listeners.

[00:18:43] If you can tap into a genuine felt need,

[00:18:47] and I mean it's the kind of felt need that when you're speaking,

[00:18:50] you get to the end of your introduction.

[00:18:52] The room is frozen.

[00:18:57] And so I'm letting a pause here,

[00:18:59] because that's kind of what can happen from time to time.

[00:19:01] You tell that introduction, you've prayed about it,

[00:19:04] you didn't just think about it,

[00:19:05] and it was a felt need,

[00:19:07] and you're going,

[00:19:08] this is a word that I believe God has for us today.

[00:19:11] I'm not trying to say concoct it or manufacture it,

[00:19:15] but there is a difference between being interesting.

[00:19:19] The introductions I have for my message this Sunday are interesting.

[00:19:24] I'm not sure they're felt need.

[00:19:26] So I'm using a Tozer quote at the end of them to say,

[00:19:31] Tozer said,

[00:19:32] if the Holy Spirit could leave the church,

[00:19:36] and 95% of what we do,

[00:19:38] people wouldn't even notice the difference.

[00:19:40] That will get their attention,

[00:19:41] especially the Christians.

[00:19:42] I don't know about the non-Christian.

[00:19:46] An introduction is worth paying attention to.

[00:19:50] It's worth you thinking it through.

[00:19:52] Sometimes when I'm preaching,

[00:19:54] if the introduction's lacking,

[00:19:56] snap, crackle, and pop,

[00:19:58] it may be better to not use an introduction.

[00:20:01] But you could be praying in the service,

[00:20:05] and you could be saying,

[00:20:06] Lord, I don't know what this introduction is.

[00:20:08] What is it?

[00:20:10] And God will give it to you.

[00:20:11] It's a great feeling to know that that can,

[00:20:14] you can maybe write it on a napkin,

[00:20:16] put it in your Bible, and you know.

[00:20:19] Connect the heart to the gospel and the mission of God.

[00:20:23] I think that's crucial.

[00:20:24] When you can,

[00:20:25] you don't want to choke people with the mission of God.

[00:20:29] But I would not leave it out for very long.

[00:20:32] That's the difference between interesting,

[00:20:34] and then why are we here?

[00:20:36] We're here because of the gospel

[00:20:37] and the great commission of Jesus Christ to every church.

[00:20:40] And then what you'll say at the end of that introduction is this.

[00:20:44] Now, what's this all about today?

[00:20:46] And you'll go to your Bible,

[00:20:48] and you will start to orient them to the scriptures.

[00:20:53] And then the conclusion is this.

[00:20:56] Apply the text you taught.

[00:20:58] Mike and all of our speakers have alluded to it.

[00:21:04] We want to be gospel-centered,

[00:21:06] but I don't think any of us are saying,

[00:21:09] ignore the passage you just taught.

[00:21:13] Apply the passage you taught.

[00:21:16] Then, of course, share the gospel.

[00:21:20] And here's how I would end it.

[00:21:23] Fill in your outline by explaining the text,

[00:21:26] illustrating the text,

[00:21:27] and applying the text.

[00:21:29] If you'll put those three things

[00:21:30] under your message points in general,

[00:21:33] it will help you be clear when you preach.

[00:21:39] And so I gave you the sample of what I did.

[00:21:43] The best way for you to do this

[00:21:45] is to just do it very soon.

[00:21:48] To create an outline using a passage,

[00:21:51] and to start doing this

[00:21:53] and fill up some notepads,

[00:21:55] and you will find that it's great artwork,

[00:21:57] and it's a little bit of science,

[00:22:00] but you'll find that there's a lot of artwork in it

[00:22:02] that you're going to enjoy.

[00:22:04] Hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end.

[00:22:07] If you want some more information

[00:22:09] on how to create sermon outlines,

[00:22:12] we've done other episodes

[00:22:14] covering this same topic from different angles.

[00:22:17] And if you look at the show notes

[00:22:18] of this week's episode,

[00:22:20] it will point you towards

[00:22:21] more stuff that we've put out

[00:22:23] about crafting and creating

[00:22:25] effective sermon outlines.

[00:22:27] Over these next few weeks,

[00:22:29] I'm going to take some time off

[00:22:31] to relax and spend time with family.

[00:22:34] And so I'll be releasing

[00:22:36] some of the favorite episodes,

[00:22:38] some repeats for the next few Tuesdays.

[00:22:42] But don't worry, we're going nowhere.

[00:22:45] We'll be back in January

[00:22:47] with fresh interviews

[00:22:48] and also with fresh recordings

[00:22:51] from Indianapolis

[00:22:52] and around the world

[00:22:55] coming your way.

[00:22:56] Hope you have a great December.

[00:22:58] God bless you.

[00:23:00] See you next Tuesday.

[00:23:02] This podcast is a part of CGN Media,

[00:23:05] a podcast network that points to Christ.

[00:23:07] We are supported by listeners like you.

[00:23:09] To help us create more great shows,

[00:23:11] visit cgnmedia.org

[00:23:12] slash support.