Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 156:623 (Jul 1999)
Article: The Theological Process in Sermon Preparation
Author: Timothy S. Warren

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BSac 156:623 (July 99) p. 336

The Theological Process in Sermon Preparation

Timothy S. Warren

In the last few years the study of preaching has taken an explicitly theological turn. Both the theological basis for preaching and the theological process in preaching are topics that have precipitated significant writings.1 This emphasis should be welcomed by homiletical theorists and practitioners, since expositional preaching is a theological undertaking. In exegesis the preacher states the text’s structure, proposition, and purpose. This is followed by the “theological product,” a statement of a universal theological principle. Then the preacher moves to the “homiletical product,” the sermon delivered to the listeners.2 “This process is not completed until God’s people think and act differently for having heard the Word expounded. This is what I will call the

* Timothy S. Warren is Professor of Pastoral Ministries, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas.

BSac 156:623 (July 99) p. 337

revelational process, for its goal is to manifest or reveal God’s truth by living it out.”3

“Preaching that lacks solid theological footing also lacks authority. Students of preaching must become students of theology as well.. .. Adopting a system of theology may provide an essential starting point, but preachers must also learn how to do theology, both biblical and systematic. To move from the contextualized exegetical meaning, dealing with a multitude of specifics, to the single universal statement of truth is a skill that is. .. seldom demonstrated by many preachers. The road from text to truth is especially necessary once one moves out of the Epistles.”4

Genuine expository preaching communicates theological meaning and significance. Brooks emphasized this truth this way: “The preachers that have moved and held men have always preached doctrine. No exhortation to a good life that does not put behind it some truth as deep as eternity can seize and hold the conscience.”5

As Bright observed, “There are no nontheological texts in the Bible. We will continue to use some parts more than others; but it is not a question of selecting certain passages as valid and discarding others, but of laying hold in each passage of the theological concern that informs it.”6

The goal of the theological process is to bridge the gap between the world of the ancient text (through the exeg...

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