Visual Outline of the Text

Here is where the real fun starts in preparing a message.  Up to this point all we’ve really done is decide what passage to rely on for our message.  Now we begin the actual study process by creating a visual outline of the text.

Our preliminary work gave us a good start.  By this point we read through the text a number of times, as part of the book or section of a book.  We began to wrestle with the subject when delineating the text.  We have a good idea of what the author is saying.  But more analysis is needed.

The first step in this process is making a visual outline of the the text.  A visual outline is something that shows the relationship of the ideas in the text.  The goal is to see how the words fit together to create a thought and supporting thoughts and ideas.  As Randy Leedy says in New Testament Greek Sentence Diagraming, “Sentence diagramming is another such exegetical tool that forces us to deal with every word in the sentence, this time with the goal of mapping out the sentence schematically in order to develop confidence that our understanding of the sentence’s basic skeleton is correct.”  Notice my bolding of the two phrases.  The purpose of sentence diagraming or visual outlining is to force you to account for the purpose of each word in each sentence.  So you map it out or visually diagram it in order to see what is the relationship of each word to the whole.

A visual outline can be done in either English or an original languges.  If you are adept at using the original languages you can do this in Greek or Hebrew.  But most of us will need to use an English version.  Our workshop will focus on doing this step in English.  But if you have the ability to work well with Greek or Hebrew, then do your diagram in the original language.

In order to diagram or visually outline a text we have to choose a translation.  Any translation that helps you do the work is okay.  But I believe it is better to use a more literal translation.

To understand what a literal translation is, we have to understand what are the various kinds of translation.  If you are trying to translate from Greek into Hebrew making your translation as faithful to the original language’s meaning then you have what is called a literal translation.  Examples of this include the King James, New King James, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, or the English Standard Version.  Among those my preference is to work with the NASB or the ESV.  But some translators are more concerned with readability in modern English so they don’t just translate word for word but thought for thought in a dynamic way.  These kinds of translations are called dynamic equivalent translations.  They are not as literal and therefore not as useful in diagraming in English.  Examples of this kind of translation will be the New International Version or the Holman Christian Standard Bible.  If you must use this kind, I prefer the HCSB.  But you lose a little of the meaning as they translate things into modern day equivalent and are not as literal.  The worst kind of text for this purpose is a Paraphrase.  The Living Bible or the Amplified Bible are of this kind.  If you are not sure which one to use, then stick with any fo the literal translations (KJV, NKJV, NASB, ESV).

Since this is “The Digital Pulpit” we will be doing this using software.  I love using a computer and prefer using one even for this tast.  Some proponents of doing sentence diagrams or visual outlining (as we will call henceforth) say this one is best done with our old friend ink and paper.  The act of actually writing the words on paper help to encode them in your mind.  The combination of thinking about them and writing them creates an experiential memory.  This is a powerful argument and I am almost convinced.  But I am also not a fan of paper.  I like having my outline saved on my hard drive for later use.  So I will be focusing on using a computer to do our visual outline.

If you want to actually write it out, then there are a couple of options for saving your work.  One, you could write it out and then make a digital image of the final product either via a camera or a scanner.  A second option is to write it out but use a Tablet PC along with a Digital Pen.  Similarly, one could use a digital pad from either Wacom, Digimemo or Adesso.  Wacom’s tablets are pointing devices that are connected to your PC and work like a mouse only using a pen.  Traditionally they are used for art and photo work.  The Digimemo tablet is a lot like a traditional legal pad.  It uses regular paper along with a special pen and clipboard that records your handwriting and saves it as a proprietary picture file.  You use their software to import the handwriting and either save it, print it, email it, or convert it to text.  I have one  of these and love it for many purposes.  Adesso creates a similar device.

If you own either Bibleworks 7 or Logos 3 then you might already have software that will help you both learn how to and do this kind of diagramming.  In Bibleworks go to Tools –> Diagraming Module.  Then click on the Greek NT Browser button on the toolbar to find a set of previously done Greek Diagrams.  These are done by Randy Leedy.  He also has written a very comprehensive guide to doign Greek Diagrams.  The only problem with using them is you lose the value by not actually doing them yourself.  This is one of those times that the process is as important, or really more important, than the product.  So just take a look at them, but do not copy them for this excecise.  And read Leedy’s help file and you will be way ahead of us.

In Logos 3, check to see if you have the necessary add-in to do diagramming.  Go to Tools –>Options–>General.  Click on Addins and search for Sentence Diagramming in the left hand pane.  Make sure it is listed and checked.  If it is not there, contact Logos to get it.  It is well worth having.  Close that box and go to File–>New and select Sentence Diagram.  Give your diagram a name.  I always choose the passage I am diagramming.  So enter Romans 12:1-2 and click OK.  After you create a diagram in Logos, once you create a diagram, from then on it will show up in your Passage Guide reports.  So, if you preach on Romans 12:1-2 again and do a Passage Guide search in Logos, then the result will have it listed.  Play around in the resulting window and so that you can use this if you want later on.

In our next entry we will discuss the actual mechanics of visual outlining.  So for now just play around with Bibleworks or Logos if you have them.  If you don’t look at your software to see if it has anything comparable.  I have tested a lot of Bible software programs and know of no other program that has a comparable module or feature.  However, nearly every program has the ability to create documents that you can read within the program.  Find out if yours does and get familiar with it.

If you have any comments or questions, use our comment system below.

What Will Be the Last Verse In Our Text?

Last time we discussed the reason for starting our passage at verse one of chapter 12.  Now let’s look at the ending of the passage.  How far will we go?  Obviously, we will not be going through the end of the book or even the end of the chapter.  We could, but there is just too much content to cover in a 25 to 35 minute message.  So where do we end our text?

If you have a bible or a Bible study software program that breaks up the text into paragraphs you will notice a new paragraph begins at verse three.  If that was all it took, it would be easy to choose.  I must admit that I have been lazy and chose a text for only that reason.  But that is not a good idea because the people who put the text into paragraphs were not the original authors.  I do not put their work on the same level of Divine inspiriation as I do the author’s original work.  Originally the texts were written with the letters all crammed together and in capital letters.  What if we did that?  Then John 3:16 would look like this:

FORGODSOLOVEDTHEWORLDTHATHEGAVE
HISONLYBEGOTTENSONTHATWHOEVERBELIEVETH
INHIMSHALLPERISHBUTHAVEEVERLASTINGLIFE

You can read it, but it isn’t easy.  And if English was not your native language it would be even harder.  Now imagine the same thing with a different language and a different alphabet.  That is what the Greek text originally looked like.

So the paragraph markers are not always the best guide when choosing the correct delineation of your preaching text.  Instead you have to look at the context, the subject matter, and the line of thought.  Also grammar is important.  But when you are working only in English, subject and line of thought are the key factors in text delineation.

In our case, verse one introduces the concept of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice.  Verse two is closely related to it, explaining how to do that.  If verse one is the theological idea that sums up the conclusion of what we learned in chapters one to eleven, then verse two is the summation of what we will learn in the rest of the book.

Now, verse three clearly continues the idea of verse two.  It begins with the word “for” which connects verses two and three.  But verse three starts a new subject; it talks about our humility before God and then verse four and following explain it with an illustration.  The church is like a human body.  We were told to present our bodies and now we are told that we are The body.  We could include that in a sermon on verses one and two.  It does explain why we must humble ourselves by submitting our body to God as a sacrfiice.  But I think it would be better to do another message on that subject, referencing verse one and two as you preach verses four and following.

We could use this text as a fulcrum for the book.  If we were preaching through Romans this would be a good point to sum up what we’ve said so far in one message and then introduce the applications of the rest of the book in a second sermon.  So it would be like preaching one sermon on Romans 12:1-2 in two parts.  But since we are picking this passage isolated from the rest of the book, we are better off putting the two verses together since they are so closely related.

We have chosen to preach on Romans 12:1-2.  Want to try it out with another passage?  Look at chapter eleven and decide what would be the passage before this.  Then look at the rest of chapter twelve and decide what the next passage would be.  If we were preaching through this book, what would your sermon text be for the passage before and after Romans 12:1-2?  Be sure to explain why you picked the text and delineated as you did.  Post a comment below to share your thoughts with us all.

Next step is our Inductive study of Romans 12:1-2.

Update on Delineating the Passage

One of the blogs I read regularly is the Biblical Preaching blog.  In their March 3rd post they discuss this concept a little.  The posts asks, “Who put them there?”  It talks about how the chapter and vers divisions can get in the way sometimes of good text selection or as I call it Delineating the Passage.  Here is a quote:

As you prepare for your next sermon, take a few moments to evaluate the passage boundaries – are they what the book itself would tell you?  Ignore the numbers, the author didn’t put them there. (Peter Mead, Biblical Preaching Blog)

How true.  I don’t say ignore them totally, but at first.  Then let them be the confirmation of your opinions instead of directing them.  Also remember that in many translations that don’t use paragraphs as a format show that new paragraphs start at the bold verse numbers.  However, ignore these till you have generally chosen your passage’s boundaries.

Delineating the Passage

Now that you have decided to preach on Romans 12:1-2 and read it in a number of translations and have read all of Romans, you are now redy to do what we call “delineating the passage.”  This is the process of choosing where to begin and end; what are the starting verses or words/phrases and what are the ending verses or words/phrases.

Our chosen passage is Romans 12:1-2 because for whatever reason we believe to be a good text.  Maybe it was assigned or maybe you are praching throught he book of Romans and it is next.  Or maybe it is just a feeling or sense that God wants this to be your chosent text.

It would seem that we are done.  But it is a good idea to make sure that verses 1-2 are really the best places to begin and end.  Since the chapter begins with v. 1 it seems logical that it is a good beginning point.  But that is not always the case.  I have preached on Isaih 53 and when doing so I studied and realized that the men who originally added the verse and chapter references may have gotten that one wrong; it is not a good idea to ignore the end of chapter 52.  The same could be true for Romans 11.  So fire up your Bible Study program and point it to Romans 12:1.  I usually back up by a whole chapter and read it.  In the case of Chapter 11 it ends with what sounds like a concluding thought.

Paul says, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, HCSB)  For future note, all quotes will be from the HCSB unless otherwise noted.  Sound like an end to me.  Then in Romans 12:1 it begins with  the word “Therefore.”  Any time you see the word “therefore” in the scriptures you need to ask what is it there for?  Cute huh?  I didn’t make it up and I don’t remember where I heard it first.  But there is a clear transition in thought from chapter 11 to the beginning of chapter 12.  But the word “therefore” links the previous with the next.  But what?  If you do some study you will find that most scholars see Paul’s transition from the theoretical and theological to the practical at this point.  It is a kind of fulcrum.  If you are studying a different passage you may have to do some studying at this point to make sure you see what you are dealing with.  But looking at the verses before our passage it seems quite clear that we have a clear transition meaning a new starting point.  That leads us to be quite certain that Romans 12:1 is a good starting point for our text delineation.

Next time we will discuss whether or not to end with v. 2 or not.

Choosing a Passage

What should I preach? That is the question that often haunts preachers. It is a little easier if you are preaching on a particular occasion or by invitation for a themed conference. But if you alone are the one deciding the text or topic, choosing one is a difficult task. There are after all only thousands of verses in the bible each filled with spiritual and hermeneutic riches. So, what should I preach?

For this first term I have chosen a very well known passage, Romans 12:1-2. My reasons are that first it is well-known and second it is a didactic passage. I find that these are the easiest passage to use when learning to preach. Didactic passages are those that teach. Generally the epistles are the sayings of Christ in the New Testament can be considered didactic. Some of the Old Testament contains this kind of material. There are a number of biblical genres and we assume you are familiar with them. If not, take a look at Fee and Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth at Amazon.

The next question is where to we begin and end the passage. It is important to start by selecting a well defined passage. There are a few things to consider. How long will we have to preach? How much of the text can we manage in that time? How in depth will we have to get with our audience? How much can we assume they already know? These are all important questions to consider.

As you read the text in your printed word, there will likely be headings every few verses or so. Some also have paragraphs marked. These can help but should never be the only factor in picking a passage. Scholars helped the Bible printer come up with these headings and paragraphs. So don’t discount them. But don’t rely only on them.

As a general rule I read the passage in its context. If it is in a shorter work like one of the shorter epistles, read the whole book in one sitting. If it is in a longer book then read at least the chapters before and after the passage. For example, in reading Romans 12:1-2 it would be a good idea to at least read the first part of the book if not the whole thing. You can read all 16 chapters in a morning. This will help you get the feel for the overall flow of the book. Then close your bible and walk away. It is good to let this simmer in your brain a while. Have lunch or deal with some other administrative work. Stop thinking about the passage.

Next read it in its immediate context in as many translations as possible. This is where the “digital” part of this comes into play. Fire up your Bible Study software and get the translations lined up either side by side or in an interlinear fashion. I use BibleWorks 7 for this task, but any Bible Study software with at least 5 good translations will do. If you don’t have one, stop now and go over to www.e-sword.net and download it and install as many modern translations as possible and read it in that program. I always read it in the King James Version, New International Version, New American Standard Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible and English Standard Version. I also like to use Young’s Literal Translation. If you do not have access to the modern translations mentioned here because you are using only the free version of e-Sword, then read it in KJV, the Modern King James Version, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version and Contemporary English Version.

Reading all these translations helps you see the text from many different viewpoints. Sometimes there will be more difference than others. But re-reading helps you get familiar with the text. By now you should begin to see the beginning and the end. This is called delineating the text. We will discuss this more in our next post. For now, go back to your Bible Study program and begin to get familiar with it. Read the help files or go through any tutorial videos. This is your tool and get good at using it. If you have not yet selected one and are willing to pay for it go to some of the various sites to see which is best for you. I will soon have a page that gives links and mini-reviews of the most popular programs. For now check out some of the archives at Christian Computing Magazine.

Our First Term

This is our first Term at The Digital Pulpit!

What is a Term?  It is like a semester or quarter if you were in school.  It is a series of posts on a single passage of scripture.  The purpose of which is to present how to prepare an expository, multimedia sermon.  Our goal in this term is to show how to prepare a message from passage selection to final presentation and then evaluation.  As a result of following along, I hope that you will learn how to first preach an expository sermon.  Second, I hope you will learn how to do so using multimedia in your presentation.

So go start reading and studying Romans 12:1-2, which is going to be our first selection.