Over the years I’ve taught preaching in university courses and mentored a number of preaching apprentices and preachers-in-training. This series summarizes some of the most basic yet most useful preaching points I’ve emphasized in these settings.
Preaching Point #4: Write a focus and function statement.
Thom Long urges preachers to write one sentence summarizing what the sermon will say (focus) and one sentence summarizing what the sermon will do (function). I find this to be a clarifying and necessary step before writing the sermon out. After all my study, prayer, and brainstorming, I write these two sentences. This gives me an anchor to tie everything to as I then flesh the sermon out.
I strive to make God or Jesus or the Spirit the primary actor in the focus statement. Ultimately I want this sentence to state something God is doing or saying or inviting. I want my listeners to focus on God.
I highlight one of three images in the function statement–head, heart, hands. A head function means the sermon is going to inform, explain, clarify, or make simple what is complex. A heart function means the sermon is going to inspire, encourage, comfort, convict, or grieve. A hand function means the sermon is going to equip, empower, and provide specific application to a specific area of life. While a single sermon may touch one more than one of these images, I strive to prioritize one. Most sermons are mostly head, or mostly heart, or mostly hands.
How about you? Should a sermon say only one thing? Do you summarize your sermon in one sentence? What functions do you focus on as you prepare a sermon?
