Preaching Through Books of the Bible

D A Carson spoke at a conference called, “Katoomba Christian Conference Centenary" (Sydney, Australia) in 2003.

He spoke on how to preach through books of the Bible. His teaching
is timeless.

May God grow us as servants of God's word and bring the gospel of Jesus to the lost.

I learned much and found that I need to practice what I hear. (James 1:22)

Here is the audio link:

There are only 12 points.

1.Read and re-read and re-read and re-read and re-read the book before looking at the commentaries. (This reminds of my father, Samuel C Lee, who memorized the Bible text before he delivered the message. Pastor Ron is also practice this method.)

2.Start the process early. Give time to re-reading, meditation, and saturation.

3.Eschew the division of head and heart. (Carson is from Montreal so he loves to use French words. Eschew means to avoid. His dad was a church planter in French speaking Canada. See his book on Ordinary Pastor).

4.Early on attain sufficient grasp of the book that you can succinctly state (a) what the book is about, (b) what this book contributes to the canon that overlaps with what other books bring to the canon, and (c) what distinctive things this book brings to the canon. (All these things need to be thought about simultaneously. This is what brings clarity and precision). Scan biblical theologies on the book to get a large scale picture of the book.

5.At roughly the same time determine (a) the number of sermons you’ll devote to the book and (b) the large scale outline of the book insofar as it impinges on your text boundaries for each sermon.

6.Start working on individual sermon preparation (either in advance or week by week). Ideally work on the text first.

7.Each sermon must simultaneously stand alone and constitute a part of the series.

8.Thematic vs. biblical theology. Give your listener a big picture.
(Echoing the materials on how to make the Bible study materials from the UBF website. Study how the theme or main point is developed throughout the rest of the Bible. Search for the theme in both Old and New Testaments; for example: Ge 3:15; 12:7; 13:15; 22:18; Gal 3:16)

11.Your message is to re-revelation of God to his people. Think of your audience.

12. Keep revising, praying, preparing so that it is not so much that you have mastered the material as that it has mastered you.