Sermon Outline

Mathew 5: 13-20 Sermon Outline

Part I: Reading of the Text

-Matthew 5:13-20

Part II: Brief recap of Salt of Earth/ Light of World

-We are to be salty, preserving and adding flavor to life through Christ

-We are to be lights, not hidden, but visible. Let us show them what Christ has done. (Visible not audible here)

Part III: Not to abolish but to fulfill (Question)

-But Christ came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

            -What does it mean to be more righteous than the Pharisees?

            -Why does this section get more depressing?

Part IV: Cheap Can Opener Story

Part IV: The Fulfillment of the Law

-          The Pharisees simply wanted to fulfill the law…to complete a checklist

-          That is missing the point and they are getting something cheap

-          Jesus wants us to go beyond what is expected.

-          God is Good

-          We should be grateful

-          In that gratitude we should freely uphold the law and beyond (buying presents for fiancé)

-          As Augustine said “Love God and do what you love” –not viewing this as a duty

Part V: Conclusion

           

-So be salty and shine bright

                        -not because you have to, but because you can

- Don’t be a cheap can opener, be a good one, and enjoy doing it.

           

Interweb Sermon Aids

So far I have found a few sites that seem to work well for sermon info.

First I searched google books and typed in "Matthew Commentary" which brought up a huge list of commentarys available for browsing through. This will likely be my favorite source.

Also I found
http://www.freesundayschoollessons.org/ - This site gives a little bit of background and collected information that may aid in the formation of a sermon



http://bible.org/ - This site gives a plethora of links to writings on whatever passage your looking for.

The Creature From the Office

Last night I was able to read a few articles on the uses of technology in sermons. Two of them focuses specifically on the popular tool from Microsoft known as PowerPoint. One of the articles was pro PowerPoint if used responsibly and the other was nearly completely against it.

Most of the articles that i have read so far tend to have positions similar to my own. Technology is a wonderful tool that can help one through the sermon. WIth technology comes better lighting, sound systems, and props to assist with the sermon presentation. Also current technology allows the preacher to take their message to a much wider audience through the internet. Technology can even aid in preparing for a sermon. There are many online rescources that allow the preacher to delve into scripture with myriads of articles as well as numerous books and commentaries available to scour through via the world wide web. For preachers to reject this would be a bit loony. Yet it doesnt seem that there is much disagreement about this.

One of the big disagreements that i have seen is when technology can begin to take over the sermon. WHen the goal is simply to stay up to date and "keep up with the times." Powerpoint is often used, making the sermon more like a business meeting, or a classroom. Yet this is not what the sermon is for. It is meant to bring the gospel message to the people. It is a thing of beauty that if done well gives hope and guidance to its listeners.

People may argue, but bullet points and pictures flipping into their places on the screen are not things of beauty. They are often distracting and allow the preacher to slack off on their presentation. If the preacher wants someone to remember something then make, it the main point of the sermon, make it clear, and say it well. Use a picture as a background to give the people something to associate the sermon with as suggested in the article by Andrew Root.

It seems that we have this idea that new technology is always better. Yet how often have you ever heard that the movie was better than the book? I have maybe heard that once in my life and there was some disagreement. Yet in just about every book that i have read, compared to the movie i have seen, the book won out. When we get too technological, we take some of the magic out of what is being done. A person who chooses their words carefully and wisely can paint a picture that is nothing short of majestic when it appears in the mind of the listener. The picture is set up by the speaker and yet the listener's mind is able to make it in many ways its own. When a movie clip is shown in the service, the freedom of imaginationis gone. What is shown is what it is. The person cannot own the video clip in the same way that they can a story from a book. This is because the image is already created for them. This may hold their attention better in the service, but i don't believe it will stick with the person the same way a carefully crafted piece of imagery would.

This is not to say that clips can never be used in sermons, but we ought to use them sparingly, not always assuming, what is new is what is best. For as the one article hinted at, when one must always be doing what is new, one is always having to change, which can be good, but also very unsettling and cause burnout. Sometimes isn't it good to stick primarily and make adjustments to what we know already is good?

Preaching Info!

For this coming sermon I will be preaching on the texts for Sunday February 6, 2011.
The readings are as follows:

Psalm: Psalm 112:1-9 [10]
First Lesson: Isaiah 58: 1-9a [9b-12]
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 [13-16]
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20