Craig T. Owens

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This one is for my fellow pastors. I want to give you THE question to ask to help you in crafting the most applicable and memorable sermons. 

It’s a question that Paul asks in Romans 4: “What does the Scripture say?” (v. 3). Preachers must make sure they get their ideas from the text of the Bible, not just from their own good ideas. Look at this amazing example from Paul in just this one chapter of his letter to the saints at Rome. 

He starts off with a question: “What then shall we say?” (v. 1). 

Then he answers his question with another question: “What does the Scripture say?” and he proceeds to give his answer by quoting from the Book of Genesis. 

From this, Paul makes a conclusion in vv. 4-5 that is signaled by the word “Now…”. 

In order to support his conclusion, Paul then quotes from Psalm 32: “David says the same thing” (vv. 6-8).

Next Paul alternates between questions and answers in vv. 9-12, bringing this Q&A to a logical conclusion in vv. 13-16. 

He supports his conclusion with even more Scripture: “As it is written” (v. 17), and “Just as it had been said” (v. 18). 

Finally, Paul wraps up this part of his sermon by both quoting more Scripture (vv. 22-23) and then reminding his audience, “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us” (vv. 23-24). This shows that God’s words weren’t just for Abraham, nor just for Paul’s audience, but for anyone reading the Scripture today.

This is a short, masterful, and powerful sermon! Why? Simply because it is totally banked on God’s timeless words. 

The way that preachers can design THE perfect sermon—that is both applicable and memorable—is to start with the same question Paul did: “What does the Scripture say?” 

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