An extract describing our homiletics and Observation and Content (passage discovery)...
"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." — Psalm 119:18 (NIV)
Having learned the importance of engaging Scripture deeply, we are now ready to begin the practical process of homiletics.
Every meaningful journey through Scripture begins with careful observation.
Before interpretation, application, or proclamation can occur, we must first learn to see what is actually happening within the passage. Observation and Content Development is one of the foundational disciplines within faithful exposition because it allows progression, spiritual emphasis, and developing truth to emerge naturally from the text.
Observation and Content Development work together. Observation allows the student to see what is happening within the passage, while Content Development provides a way to capture those discoveries in a concise and organized manner. Without observation, there is little to record, and without Content Development, important discoveries can easily be forgotten or remain disconnected from one another. Together, they create the foundation upon which the remainder of the homiletics process is built.
The student must learn to slow down long enough to truly listen to the movement of Scripture rather than rushing immediately toward conclusions, outlines, or presentation.
Before asking what the passage means or how it might be taught, the student must first ask a more fundamental question: "What is happening within the passage?"
Observation seeks to answer that question.
Observation is the process of discovery. We are not creating meaning, inventing themes, or constructing conclusions, but rather discovering what God has already placed within the text. Careful observation allows the content, movement, relationships, progression, and spiritual emphasis of the passage to emerge naturally. The goal is not to force understanding upon the text, but to allow the text to reveal its own message.
We as students of the Word should seek to observe carefully, recognize repeated ideas, identify progression, notice spiritual emphasis, and allow the text itself to reveal developing truth naturally. Observation requires patience, repeated reading, thoughtful reflection, prayer, and sincere engagement with the Word of God. Often, the deepest truths emerge gradually as the expositor begins noticing repeated emphasis, spiritual progression, and subtle details intentionally woven throughout the passage.
At this stage, we in our expository discovery should resist the temptation to move immediately toward interpretation, application, lesson construction, or conclusions. Observation must come first. The immediate goal is not to determine what the passage means, but to see clearly what the passage says. Only after careful observation has established a solid foundation should we move toward interpretation and application.
