LJCians Bible Training Class

Now Understand This -

Is the Lord or Yahweh in the Book of Zephaniah the LORD of DARKNESS as claimed by Mr. Ed Lapiz?

The Theme and Purpose of the Book of Zephaniah

The theme of the book of Zephaniah is the “day of the LORD” (1:7, 8, 14, 18; 2:2, 3). The phrase, “the day of the LORD,” also used by the prophet Joel (Jl 2:1-11; see the comments there), refers to a period characterized by gloom, darkness, and judgment and followed by prosperity, restoration, and blessing. Occasionally, the phrase is used in the OT in reference to judgment that had already transpired before the biblical writers wrote their books, or to imminent judgment. However, most often future climactic judgment involving the whole earth, including Israel, is in view.

The purpose of Zephaniah is to warn Judah and Jerusalem of the imminent judgment and devastation coming upon them because of their rebellion and disobedience. This is designed to indicate future cataclysmic judgment and to exhort Israel to hope and trust in the Lord because of His promise of future restoration, healing, and blessings for the faithful remnant of Israel (Zph 1:2–2:7; 3:12-18).
Zephaniah is apocalyptic literature. This type of literature is defined as “a special kind of literature used to reveal mysteries about heaven and earth, humankind and God, angels and demons, and the world to come” (“Zephaniah,” Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ed. Herbert Lockyer, Sr., F. F. Bruce, R. K. Harrison, Ronald F. Youngblood, and Kermit Eckelbarger [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1986], 71). Zephaniah speaks a great deal about judgment, salvation, and instruction, using striking imagery to enhance communication.
Zephaniah teaches that the Lord is sovereign over all the nations of the world and that He holds them accountable for their sin and rejection of His will. He also teaches that God will punish His covenant people Israel when they choose to live like those who do not know Him.
Finally, although His holiness demands that He address sin in the lives of His chosen people, ultimately He will fulfill all of His covenant promises to Israel so that they can love and live with Him in joy, peace, and freedom forever.

(Sourced from The Moody Bible Commentary by Michael A Rydelnik, Michael Vanlaningham)

SIMPLE GUIDE TO SERMON PREPARATION

A. INFORMATION - IMMERSE IN SCRIPTURE & SPIRIT
1. Pray before, during and after your sermon preparation.
2. Get out a lot of paper, your own Bible, and one other Bible translation (NASB, ESV),
You may also use your concordance, a Topical Bible, a study Bible, and a good
commentary (I recommend The Expositors Bible Commentary, edited by Frank Gaberlien,
Zondervan).1
3. It is best if your sermon comes from meditating on Scripture for your own growth.
Studying only to prepare a sermon is not nearly as life giving for you or others. If your sermon
is starting from an idea or teaching (not the best way, but it happens), very briefly write down
your thoughts.
a. What is going through your spirit? Why are you thinking about preaching this?
b. Are these ideas based on faith or fear? If it is fear or doubt find the heartbeat of faith.
c. Ask, “God, what do you think about this sermon?”
4. Focus in on the passage that will be the anchor for your sermon and decide where you
think the “big idea” begins and ends. This becomes the passage you will focus on. In a 45-
minute sermon you could have 2 or 4 passages, but usually only one of them is central to the
sermon.
5. Read the passage aloud 3 to 4 times from several different versions of the Bible. It is key to
know what the passage is saying. Use what you have learned from doing an inductive Bible
study, moving from “their town” to ours. Develop a standard study/meditation set of skills,
perhaps like the following.

STEPS IN SERMON PREPARATION

1. What is the context of the passage? (Briefly examine what is going on in the sections and paragraphs ahead and behind.)

2. Ask and answer the basic “who, what, where, when, why & how” questions. Note the idea “connectors” like: but, if, for, because, therefore, in order that, etc.

3. What are the key words? Move to key concepts, to get the “big idea.”

4. What’s the “big idea” of this passage and how does it relate to the other supporting ideas in the passage?

5. Do the Newbie Bible Study.
a. Make observations about:
1. GOD – What can we learn about God in this passage?
2. ME – What can we learn about ourselves or humanity in general from this passage?
3. DO – What should we do in response?

6. In his book, Christ Centered Preaching, Chapell recommends that you also
discern the “fallen condition focus”.2 Answer the following: What do we share in
common with a) those the text was written to or about, and/or b) what do we have
in common with the person who wrote the text?

7. See the sights, smell the smells, hear the sounds, feel the sensations, taste the
tastes. Immerse yourself in the story, drama and picture.

8. What are the emotions in this passage? What is the atmosphere of the passage?
What emotions are created in you as you read? (Are these the same as each
other?)

9. What is implied by the passage but not explicitly stated? For example, Paul wants
to go to the Roman church to impart a gift that they may be established. The
implied idea is that they are not quite established until Paul gives them something;
or that God’s leaders carry “something impartible” for churches that establishes
them.

10. Note any theologically complicated words and look them up in a theological
wordbook like G.W. Bromiley’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament One
Volume Abridged, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New
Testament,

11. What is the meaning and/or implication and/or significance of this passage?

12. How does this idea/passage fit into Israel’s history, church history and cosmic
history?

13. What connections exist in your mind and spirit between this passage and other
passages? Is this story/idea mentioned elsewhere in the Bible? Are these ideas
explained more clearly or illustrated elsewhere?
14. Now experience this passage from God’s point of view. (As best you can!) What
does He receive or give because of the truth of this text? How is He the hero?

6. At this point, you may want a concordance and topical Bible for related passages (the Holy
Spirit will often make interesting connections if you will listen) and write down the reference
and a brief description of the verse. These may become part of your sermon. As you grow in
your experience and more of the Word is in you, these connections and listening to the Spirit
will come more naturally to you.

7. After you have done your own “immersion”, look up the passage you have chosen in a quality
commentary and/or study Bible. Write down any helpful concepts or observations you find and
correct any poor thinking they uncover in your preparation. Some of you will prefer to do this
step before the meditation portion above.

8. By this point you should have a pretty good idea of what the author’s original intent was, as
well as what the Holy Spirit is up to in this passage. (Note: At this point, Professor Pitt-Watson
writes a simple 50 word paraphrase of the text in his own words that identifies what the
passage is about. Then he distills a single sentence from that paraphrase that contains the
essence, theme or big idea of what he is going to preach).6

B. COMMUNICATION - INTERPRET FOR TODAY

1. BRAINSTORM – A LOT – ON A PIECE OF PAPER. Brainstorm with the scripture you have
chosen and all your meditation. Remember a small percentage of our communication is
content, the rest is body language, facial expression and tone – all of which is not very
obvious in the written word so bring it to life! Written text is one-dimensional, but preaching is
multidimensional. Put yourself in the story. Become ALL THE DIFFERENT CHARACTERS:
Jesus, God, Disciples, Pharisees, etc. For example: pretend you are an ordinary person from
Egypt and 10 respected leaders strongly recommend not going into the promised land and
only two do. How would you respond, think and feel? What would you do? What would be
some strong temptations? What is God’s perspective or attitude? Reading your own ideas
into the text becomes less likely now because you have already done your study.

2. BRAINSTORM WITH THE “TEXT OF LIFE”. God has embedded the same revelations
about Himself and His Kingdom in life as well as the Scriptures. That is why Paul can talk
about the body and armor and being a bondservant and Jesus can teach on farmers. “What
does this feel like? When did I last experience this?” Spend 30 minutes on this exercise. This
is when you begin to interpret and apply the passage in an interesting way. TELL US WHAT
THE BIG IDEA OF THE TEXT OR A PARTICULAR POINT IS LIKE. IF YOU CANNOT DO
THIS, YOU REALLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT YET.
For example: Try to picture a way to describe Israel’s experience of the promised land. You
could describe it that it is like being given a great house but being told you must evict the
violent couple that lives in the master bedroom. Where does that picture take your mind? Is
this a true comparison?

3. APPLY THIS CONCEPT TO YOUR OWN LIFE. The sermon “is truth poured through
personality.”7

4. NOW WRITE A POSSIBLE THEME, TITLE, PURPOSE & RESPONSE (these may keep
evolving as you prepare your message.)
THEME: A sermon should ultimately be about ONE thing–lots of supporting ideas, but one
thing. The theme is the unifying idea in the form of a declarative sentence, not in the form of
a question. It is the answer to this question: What is the big idea of the sermon?
TITLE: This sparks creativity, helps you narrow down your point and begins to move your
mind from “INFORMATION” to “COMMUNICATION”. In other words, it is the very beginning
of combining “what I will say with how I will say it”. It will most likely change as you prepare.
PURPOSE: Why are you preaching it? The purpose does not need to be identical to the
purpose of the particular scripture, but it should be consistent with it.
RESPONSE: What do I expect the sermon to achieve? How do you want the congregation to
respond?
Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who
proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation who say to Zion. ‘Your God Reigns!’”
i. THEME: Run, Believer, run and proclaim God’s victory.
ii. TITLE: Pretty Feet
iii. PURPOSE: To comfort and encourage the people to be bringers of the news
that God reigns and if they are in a tough time to look for hope in the form of a
runner until there is break-through.
iv. RESPONSE: To watch for the “runners” and celebrate their message of hope
& become runners who “talk up” the victory of God.
5. DESIGN THE SERMON FORM
Now, knowing your theme, title, purpose and response and some ideas about how to
illustrate it, write a ½ to ¾ page summary of your sermon including a mention of your
illustrations. As you write this, you are beginning to develop the “organism” (the living nature
of your sermon) as opposed to just “organizing” your ideas. Look for the conceptual structure,
the bones that are naturally developing, the emotional heart that drives the sermon and the
muscles that will move people to action and change.
There is much that can be said about structure, but let me just give you a few ideas. Think
about how you would receive this information for maximum impact. In other words, think like
a listener. Secondly, the Scriptures themselves will often give you the structure of your
sermon as you walk us through the passage or passages. Start listening for how preachers
you admire organize their sermon information. Do they start with a story or a felt need? Do
they start with the Bible then relate that to human experience?
The typical informative/persuasive speech style is a decent structure as many have
learned to hear and think in this way, but it is not very organic. By that I mean you are
essentially plugging information into a structure rather than allowing it to grow from the
passage. It is as follows:
I. General Goals of Introduction
Developing rapport, capturing attention, previewing importance & content of sermon, setting
the mood & tone, STATING THE THEME, and presenting the scripture passage.
II. Body
a. 1st supporting idea or passage or principle about the theme.
b. Develop the idea by explaining it, illustrating it and/or applying it.
c. Reconnect the idea to the theme, and then transition to the next point.
Do this 2 to 5 times.
III. Conclusion
Summarize the whole thing, and tell a great story or example to finish it all off and move them
to action!

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