Friday-Outline: Introduction

Friday-Outline: Introduction

With Friday’s assignments, we finally (!) begin to construct the sermon itself. This may seem to come too late in the week, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t arrive at this point in the process empty-handed. The work we have done thus far will not only help us to do it better, but faster as well. Perhaps a metaphor from the construction world will be helpful.

To build a solid, functional, and attractive building, it takes a lot of work of various kinds.

1. It is necessary to survey the available land, to ascertain the characteristics of the soil, the town planning regulations in force, the kind of access it will have (both public and private transportation), to ensure that the building to be constructed will not only be stable but will also be able to fulfill its purpose adequately. This requires a lot of advance preparation.
2. Then, it is necessary to draw up the architectural plans: How many floors will the building be? How many square meters will it occupy? How deep will the foundations need to be laid?
3. Next, you need to obtain the necessary construction permits, purchase and transport the materials, and recruit workers.
4. Once all the preparations are complete, it’s time to work on the land. You need to dig and lay the foundations. This will mean interpreting – on the ground – what was drawn up in the office. However, at this point, there is still nothing that stands above ground level. If the project were to be cancelled at this point, and everything covered with soil, no one walking down the street a few weeks later would even know how much time and money has already been spent on that site.
5. Nevertheless, the project is not cancelled and finally (!) the time has come to build something that can be seen above ground level. Only now, after an extremely long process, can you begin to see the structure of the building and ultimately the finished product. It would be illogical for anyone to argue that the process up to this point was unnecessary or too long. Quite the contrary! It is absurd to try to erect a building without doing all the work that has gone before.

In the same way, all our previous study of the book, our detailed exegesis of the passage and subsequent interpretation of its meaning, has made it possible for our purely homiletical work to be carried out with integrity. It is true that there are times when we are tempted to simply start drafting an outline or writing a manuscript. But whenever we are faced with such temptation we must recognize it for what it is: a delusion intended to convince us that we can erect a building without having studied the terrain, developed an architectural plan, or laid a foundation.

But just as with a well-done construction, at this stage of the project, we have some resources that will help us achieve a structure and a final product that is impeccably solid and harmonious.

• We already have a clear idea of the purpose of the book and the contribution that our passage makes to its overall structure.
• We already have didactic definitions of the most important words and concepts.
• We have already drawn an exegetical diagram of the passage and identified its main blocks of thought.
• We already know what the exegetical and homiletical ideas of the passage are.
• We already know how many and which are the main points of the passage.
• We have already determined the contemporary interpretation to be applied to those main points.
• We have even identified some ways to illustrate these main points.

The materials are all on the ground at this point in the process!

So, we should not be discouraged, thinking that “everything still has to be written.” On the contrary, if we have followed the process, what we have to do now is more like assembly work, than anything else. It is putting the pieces together.

Friday’s Tasks

Today’s tasks are the following:

• Task 0. Continue your panoramic reading of the book.
• Task 1. Determine the purpose the sermon should achieve in light of your interpretation and application of the passage.
• Task 2. Convert the exegetical outline into a first draft of a homiletical outline.
• Task 3. Modify the first draft of your homiletical outline according to the values of a homiletical plot, if appropriate.
• Task 4. Add a second or third level of detail to the outline that begins to pick up the more detailed study you have done so far.
• Task 5. Write down possible illustrations that could be used for each interpreted point.

The final article is a brief conclusion along with some additional ideas for the brave.

If you are already familiar with the process, download a Quick Start Summary Guide for Friday-Bosquejo here.

Proceed to First Task