I try not to sermonize too much when I'm doing my personal Bible reading, but occasionally an idea will jump out and it just has to be of God. That's what happened this morning. I want to share this idea with you and see if you can make something of it. Psalm 105 is a celebration of Israel's deliverance from Egypt. It begins with a call to the people to make the most of the relationship that they have with God. Here is how I saw it:
I. Vs. 1a - Be thankful -- "Give thanks unto the Lord..." II. Vs. 1b - Be prayerful - "Call upon His name..." III. Vs. 1c - Be His witness - "Make known His deeds among the people..." IV. Vs. 2 - Be worshipful - "Sing unto Him, sing praise unto Him: talk ye of all His wondrous works..." V. Vs. 3 - Be joyful - "Glory ye in His name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord..." VI. Vs. 4 - Be dependent on Him. "Seek the Lord, and His strength: seek His face evermore...." VII. Vs. 5 - Be mindful of His works in your life. "Remember His marvelous works that He hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth." I know that seven points in a sermon are a lot of points, but I couldn't leave any of them out. This idea makes sense to me and hope it does to you.
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This sermon idea is in the making since this morning (Feb. 24). So this is "hot off the press." I'm just thinking through the text. You might be able to come up with a better outline, or idea, than mine.
Psalm 10 gives an apt description of a wicked person. Instead of focusing on the whole Psalm, my focus will be on verses 1-6. I. Vs.1-4a - They are prideful. Notice in the verses the effect that pride has on their lives. There's a lot of preaching in there. II. Vs. 4b - They are doubters (Maybe unbelievers would be better.) They do not seek God. God is not in their thoughts. III. Vs. 5 - They are immune to God's judgment. God's judgments are out of their sight. This is a dangerous place to be, but there are many out there - even in churches. IV. Vs. 6 - They think they are indestructible. A wicked person thinks that he or she will go on and on in their wickedness, but a day of reckoning comes. (There is preaching in the verses that follow these that you might want to explore. It just seemed to me that vs. 6 would be a good place to stop.) While most of your chuch people might have a difficult time seeing themselves in here, it would be a good time to get them to dig deeply into their hearts and minds and uncover wickedness in their own lives. Psalm 36:1-12
The text contains a clear delineation between wickedness and righteousness, and a clear call to follow righteousness. I. Verses 1-4 - The Folly of Wickedness A. Vss. 1-2 - "There is no fear of God before their eyes." B. Vs. 3 - They speak iniquity and deceit. C. Vs. 4 - They love evil and think of it all of the time. (We need to keep in mind that wickedness is not just adultery, stealing, etc. It also comes from wrong attitudes, etc.) II. Verses 5-12 - The Wisdom of Righteousness A. Vss. 5-6 - The wisdom of righteousness is based upon the mercy and faithfulness of God. B. Vss. 7-10 - The wisdom of righteousness is based upon the compassion of God. C. Vss. 11-12 - The wisdom of righteousness is realized in continually seeking to live close to Jesus and to remember the folly of wickedness. _You will notice that most of the sermon ideas that I have are verse-by-verse exposition. Like most preachers, I found a style that fits me and stuck with it. I want to share with you some ideas from Psalms, which I have found to be a treasure of sermon ideas, particularly for what we sometimes call "Saturday Night Specials." (This means that you goofed off Monday through Friday, or were busy with hospital visitation, etc. and didn't get around to preparing Sunday's sermons.) I want to share two ideas from Psalms that I have found that might be of help to you.
Psalm 37 has been one of my favorite "candy sticks" over the years. Psalm 37:1-7 outlines itself. My sermon is called, for lack of a better title, "Recipe for Great Christian Living." (This is from my trusty KJV "preaching Bible.") Vs. 1 - "Fret not" ** Vs. 3 - "Trust in the Lord" ** Vs. 4 - "Delight thyself also in the Lord ** Vs. 5 - "Commit thy way unto the Lord ** Vs. 7 - "Rest in the Lord" (This idea was not originally mine. I heard it years ago at a preaching workshop. It was preached by Dr. Julian Pipkin.) Psalm 116:12-16 - Repaying God How in the world can we repay God for all He has done for us? While this might seem impossible the psalmist gives us some clues. Vs. 1 - "What can I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" Vs. 13a - Accept His offer of salvation. - "I will take the cup of salvation." Vs. 13b - Pray - "Call upon the name of the Lord." Vs. 14 - Give - "pay my vows" Vs. 15 - Be thankful for the ultimate benefit of salvation - "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." V. 16 - Serve Him - "Truly I am thy servant..." I hope these two examples will be helpful to you. Look through the Psalms and discover the many "preaching treasures" there. |
All of these materials are free of charge. There is no copyright on them and you are free to use them as you see fit. I am happy to be of assitance to you in your preaching/teaching minstry.
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