week 3

· Use the subject/modifier from Text Idea exercise.

· Note specific differences in Text and Sermon ideas.

· Test each statement for consistency with others.

· Do not change subject and modifier in the process.

· Identify historical elements in the original writing.

· Scan the text verse-by-verse for predicates.

Identify the text subject in one word. This answers the question, What is the text writer talking about?

Identify the modifier to your subject in one word. This answers the question, How does the text writer limit the scope of his treatment of the subject?

Using some form of the subject/modifier words, write a working title for your emerging sermon.

Identify elements of the historical setting of the original writing of the text:

· Writer, speaker or key character:

· Secondary character, hearers or readers:

· Tone or purpose of text:

· Occasion, situation, or circumstances:

· Literary features, genres, figurative language:

Write the text idea statement using the subject and modifier, plus elements of the original writing of the text.

Write the sermon idea by adopting the wording of the textual idea. Omit the historical trappings and make it a present-tense statement of a universal theological principle. Make sure it contains the subject/modifier.

Write a purpose statement for the sermon with what you would like to see in response to the ideas of the text.