Why we preach

🎯 Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• explain what homiletics is and why it concerns not only pastors but anyone who teaches the Word;
• recognize the place of preaching in God’s plan, from the prophets to the apostles;
• describe the three main purposes of a biblical message: to transform, to give direction, to call to decision.

📖 Receive

Read these passages slowly, aloud if possible:

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” — Romans 10:17 (KJV)

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” — 2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)

Then read Nehemiah 8:1-12. The people are gathered, Ezra reads the Law and the Levites explain it, giving the sense so that everyone can understand (Nehemiah 8:8). Notice how the people react: first they weep, then they celebrate. It is a small portrait of what happens when the Word is read and explained well.

🔍 Examine

What homiletics is

The word homiletics comes from the Greek homilía, meaning “conversation”, “speech addressed to a gathered group”. It is the discipline that teaches how to present the biblical text to those who listen, faithfully and understandably.

In the course How to Study the Bible we learned two steps: exegesis (what the text meant then) and hermeneutics (what it means today). Homiletics adds a third step: how to communicate it to real people, at a real moment.

It is not a subject only for “professionals”. The pastor needs it, but so do those who lead a study group, teach Sunday school, speak to young people or share the Gospel with a colleague. Philip preached to the crowds in a city of Samaria (Acts 8:5-6), but he also knew how to explain Isaiah to a single man on a desert road (Acts 8:26-35). The Word is the same; the audience and the manner change.

Preaching in God’s plan

God has chosen to speak. And he has chosen to do so, to a great extent, through people who proclaim his Word to other people.

• The prophets of the Old Testament proclaimed: “Thus saith the LORD”.
• Jesus began his ministry by preaching: the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the Gospel (Mark 1:14-15).
• The apostles filled Jerusalem with their teaching (Acts 5:28) and carried the message all the way to Rome.

Paul explains it with a chain of questions: how will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe if they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14-15). Preaching is not a church habit: it is one of the means God has chosen to bring faith to birth and to make it grow.

First purpose: to transform

A biblical message does not exist first of all to inform, but to change. Hebrews 4:12 describes the Word as sharper than any two-edged sword, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. When the Word is proclaimed faithfully, the Spirit uses it to touch consciences, comfort those who suffer and correct those who go astray.

📌 One question for every message

Before you step into the pulpit, ask yourself: “What do I want God to change in those who listen, through this text?” If you cannot answer, the message is not ready yet.

Second purpose: to give direction

Preaching points a direction. On the day of Pentecost, after Peter’s message, the crowd asked: “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter answered with a clear path: repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Spirit. And the account goes on to show a community that continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching, in fellowship, in breaking bread and in prayer (Acts 2:42). A good message does not leave only emotions behind: it opens up a vision of faith and shows the steps to take.

Third purpose: to call to decision

At the end of his life Joshua gathered the people and, after recalling all that God had done, set a choice before them: choose this day whom you will serve; as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15). Biblical preaching brings people before God, so that they respond to him: with faith, repentance, obedience and praise.

Lecture, show, sermon

We can distinguish three things that are sometimes confused:

• a lecture passes on information about a topic;
• a show entertains and seeks the audience’s approval;
• a sermon proclaims what God says in his Word and calls the listeners to respond to him.

A message may contain useful information and may also be pleasant to listen to. But if the Word explained and applied is missing, it is no longer preaching. Paul writes it forcefully: if I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ (Galatians 1:10).

The Word, not our opinions

The command to Timothy is simple: preach the Word. Not “preach your ideas using a few verses”. A frequent temptation is to prepare a talk and then look for a text to support it. That way, however, it is no longer the Bible that decides what is preached. The faithful preacher does the opposite: he starts from the text, listens to it, and lets the text shape the message.

The role of the Holy Spirit

Finally, there is something no technique can replace. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he had come to them in weakness and fear, without persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that their faith would rest on God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). The apostles had spent years with Jesus, the best Bible school in history, and yet it was Pentecost that made them powerful preachers. We will learn rules and methods, but we will always remember that it is God who gives the fruit.

The path of the Word

We can sum up in a diagram the path the Word travels when someone preaches. Notice that the preacher stands in the middle: he is not the source of the message, but a channel that receives before giving.

flowchart LR
  A["God speaks"] --> B["Scripture"]
  B --> C["The preacher studies and prays"]
  C --> D["The message"]
  D --> E["The listeners"]
  E --> F["A transformed life"]
  S(["The Holy Spirit"]) -.-> C
  S -.-> E

The dotted arrows remind us that the Spirit works at two points: he enlightens the one who prepares and opens the heart of the one who listens. No technique can replace this work; but the Spirit does not despise preparation. On the contrary, he uses it.

📌 Three questions before preaching

1. What does God say in this text, and not only what do I think?
2. What needs to change in the listeners, according to the three purposes: to transform, to give direction, to call to decision?
3. Am I trying to please God or to win the audience’s approval?

If you cannot yet answer the first question, the message is not ready, even if you already have many good ideas.

🔗 Connect

Preaching runs through the whole of Scripture and always has Christ at its center:

• Nehemiah 8:8: reading and explaining the Word so that the people understand.
• Luke 4:16-21: Jesus reads Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth and announces that this Scripture has been fulfilled in him.
• Luke 24:27: on the road to Emmaus Jesus explains in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
• Acts 17:11: the Bereans listen to Paul eagerly and then check in the Scriptures what they have heard.

This last text is a challenge for anyone who preaches: we must proclaim the Word in such a way that every message passes the Bereans’ test. That is why, in this course, we will prepare messages following the three steps of the BereaWay Method: receive, examine, connect.

🙏 Apply

1. Think back to a message that changed something in your life. What made it effective: the text, the explanation, the application, the preacher’s life?
2. Of the three purposes we have seen (to transform, to give direction, to call to decision), which one are you most likely to neglect when you talk to others about the Bible?
3. Think of the places where you might be called to “preach”, even without a pulpit: family, small group, work, Sunday school. What changes in the way you communicate?
4. Pray for the preachers in your church and ask God to prepare you, if he calls you, to serve with his Word.

📚 Go Deeper

• Read Acts 2:14-42 and underline the Old Testament text Peter explains, the main points of his message and the response of his hearers.
• Active listening exercise: at the next sermon you hear, take notes and try to write down the main text, the central idea in one sentence and the application proposed. Listening well is the first school of preaching.
• Review lessons 1, 5, 6 and 7 of the course How to Study the Bible: we will need them in the second module.

In the next lesson we will ask what a message must be like to truly reach those who listen: relevant, clear and simple.