Theme

Throughout the homiletical process, we have carefully examined the passage from multiple perspectives. We have gathered observations, developed Content Statements, identified Divisions, written a Subject Sentence, discovered the Aim, reflected through Application Questions, identified timeless Principles, and discovered the Characteristic of God revealed within the text.

As each step contributes to our understanding, another discovery quietly begins to emerge. Individual observations that once appeared unrelated gradually unite into one central message. That message is the Theme.

How Theme Became Part of This Process

The concept of Theme was not original with me. It was introduced during my second-year homiletics studies at Bible college.  In college, we started with the theme and built out the message from it.

In the context of my studies, we were answering the question: "What is the central idea I plan to share?" The Theme was closely associated with preparing a Bible lesson or message.

As I continued studying Scripture and refining the homiletical process, I realized the theme had to be a part of the process and must be part of the process. Not first, as I was taught, but as the final step in our homiletics.

 

The Theme did not originate with my lesson. It originated with God's Word. My responsibility was not to create the Theme as I was initially taught, but my responsibility was to discover it in the Scripture studied.

 

Theme Description

The Theme is the overarching spiritual truth that emerges from the passage and unites everything discovered throughout the study. It captures the central message God is communicating through the Scripture and provides a unified understanding of the passage as a whole.

In many ways, the Theme represents the culmination of the interpretive process.

Once the Theme was discovered, every lesson, Bible study, message, lecture, or sermon naturally grew out of the truth already revealed within the passage. The lesson grows out of the Theme, and the Theme grows out of the Scripture.

 

Subject Sentence, Aim, and Theme

Some may confuse the Subject Sentence, the Aim, and the Theme because each summarizes an important aspect of the passage. Although they are closely related, each answers a different question and serves a distinct purpose within the homiletical process.

·       The Subject Sentence summarizes the movement of the passage.

·       The Aim identifies the purpose of that movement.

·       The Theme expresses the unified message God is communicating through the passage.

Together they answer three important questions.

·       Subject Sentence: What is happening in the passage?

·       Aim: Why is this passage saying it?

·       Theme: What is God saying through it?

 

(An extract from "Walking through God's Word")

 

 

Characteristic of God

The Characteristic of God identifies the primary truth about God's character, His work, or His ways most clearly revealed within a passage of Scripture.

Sometimes that revelation is best expressed by a single word such as Holy, Just, Faithful, or Sovereign. At other times, a brief descriptive phrase more accurately captures the way God faithfully works among His people.

The goal is not to force every passage into a predetermined list of theological attributes. Rather, it is to allow the passage itself to reveal the characteristic God has chosen to emphasize.

Why Identify the Characteristic of God?

Every passage reveals God.

On occasion in our study, His holiness stands at the forefront. At other times His justice, grace, wisdom, patience, compassion, sovereignty, or faithfulness becomes the dominant emphasis. In still other passages we discover the faithful ways in which God works among His people. Although several characteristics may be present, one usually stands out above the others as the primary revelation of the passage.

Identifying that characteristic helps us keep our attention where Scripture consistently directs it—not merely toward biblical truth, but toward the God from whom that truth flows.

With this understanding, we expand our approach and study of the Bible. Instead of asking only, "What does this passage teach?" we also begin asking, "What does this passage reveal about the God who inspired it?" That simple shift transforms Bible study from an academic exercise into the joyful pursuit of knowing God more deeply.

Our Bible study and the identification of God’s character are an important part of our homiletics process.  It is helpful to learn more about our living God. God is the source of every truth we discover.

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV

Every step of studying God’s Word leads us closer to the God who has spoken – so that we may love Him and follow Him more faithfully.

 

(An Extract from "Walking through God’s Word")

 

Principles

Principles are concise statements of timeless truth that emerge from careful observation, thoughtful reflection, prayerful dependence upon God, and faithful study. They help us move beyond the historical setting of a passage and recognize truths that remain relevant across cultures, generations, and circumstances.

Principles carry significance; it is essential that we discover them faithfully. The goal is never to impose our own ideas upon the passage, but to allow God's truth to emerge naturally from the text.

One of the great dangers in Bible study is searching for truths that support our opinions or confirm what we already believe. Our homiletics need to guard against that tendency by allowing Scripture to speak first.

Principles emerge from observation, Divisions, the Subject Sentence, the Aim, and Application Questions; they remain anchored to the passage rather than personal preference.

We do not create Principles to support our conclusions. Instead, we patiently observe, thoughtfully reflect, prayerfully seek God's wisdom, and allow enduring truths to emerge naturally from the passage itself.

Every Principle should grow out of what God has already revealed—not out of what we hope to find.

Principles emerge from the Divisions of a passage; each Division will normally yield one primary Principle. Rather than collecting numerous truths within a single Division, we seek to discover the principal truth God is emphasizing through that movement of thought.

A passage with three Divisions will often produce three Principles.

The Holy Spirit illuminates the text, guides our reflection, and often impresses specific truths upon our hearts. Different believers studying the same passage may recognize different Principles while remaining faithful to the text. One believer may be impressed by a Principle related to faith, another may recognize the call to obedience, another may be drawn to God's faithfulness, while someone else may see a truth about spiritual growth. If those Principles emerge naturally from the passage, remain faithful to its meaning, and harmonize with the whole of Scripture, they may all be legitimate.

While the Holy Spirit may impress different truths upon different believers, He will never lead us away from the meaning of the passage He inspired.

(An Extract from "Walking Through God's Word")