Preaching - Lesson 12

Dr. Bryan Chapell
Preaching
pr600-12
Conclusions
Lesson Transcript

[00:00:00] This recording is provided courtesy of Covenant Theological Seminary. Three. You thread the key terms through the telling of the story. So as you tell the story, the ear hears those key terms. Some variation occurs in the remainder of this conclusion. The enabling presence of Jesus has been clearly seen in the difficult situation that my mother faced with her friend Betty. Although my mother is not a naturally gifted evangelist, the Lord has used her to faithfully and clearly speak the truth and love to Betty again and again. By the way, where if you heard the story of Betty before. It was in the introduction. This is actually what's called a wrap around conclusion. That is, the remainder of the story of the introduction is told within the conclusion. What does that give you a sense of if you complete the telling of the story in the conclusion? Closure resolution. It's coming together. It has a sense that there was a real plan to how this sermon was developed. I began something and then I resolved it, brought it to a conclusion. So the story that begins in the intro and finishes in the conclusion actually has a title. It's a wrap around. And this is done in all kinds of arts, isn't it? In music, you have circular closure. A theme that you heard early in a symphony reappears at the end in novel something. It was done in the first chapter, reappears at the end. It's a way of kind of professionally saying, Here's the resolution. Now, do we always do wrap around conclusions? Certainly not. In fact, if you did it every week in Paris, oh, you know what you're going to do this week, that sort of approach. But nonetheless, it can be a powerful way of doing things to begin something, kind of leave it unresolved in the beginning and then resolve it in the conclusion.

[00:01:49] But even in that resolution, we'll see these terms start reappearing for weeks on end. My mother patiently but firmly exhorted and rebuked Betty from God's Word, trying to convince her to change her mind and to flee from her sin, even though she continued to abandon the truth and would not listen to my mother's sound and loving admonition, my mother continued to fulfill her duty and to defend God's truth in order to rescue this person in need. That you see, even in the telling of the story, the terms reappearing now actually in this place, they're all kind of grouped together again. But you could spread them through the telling, couldn't you? Although Betty has not yet repetitive. Hassan My mother knows the joy and blessing of a clear conscience toward Betty as a result of her obedience and doing the work of an evangelist, she has been strengthened and encouraged to speak God's Word with more confidence than ever before. You and I can also know this confidence, peace and joy as we faithfully speak of God's judgment and the hope we have in Jesus when we consider what God has done for us in Christ. By saving us from His judgment, we will have fresh motivation to obey Him and to proclaim his word in every situation. Proclaim his word in every situation came from where again? That's the proposition echoing here. Now, we won't do that all the time, but this person wanted to have kind of a telling statement that he wanted to end with. Right. So he kind of used that telling statement to actually be the last words of the sermon itself. Not saying you would do that every time, but it is interesting to see the goals that are being reached for remind of what the sermon was about and drawed into an exhortation that is said with some poignancy at the end.

[00:03:30] And that's what we're trying to do with conclusions. Now, you've seen one. Let's talk about what they are and we'll begin to see these components in more detail as we talk about the goal of this lesson. Lecture ten is to understand the characteristics, construction principles, first harmonic conclusions. And the reason is this is the high point of the sermon, right? This is what we've been driving at. This is the final exhortation to say All that I've been saying is to have you hear this response that God is calling for you to achieve or to follow because of what we talked about in this text. If you think about some guiding principles for conclusions, why they are so important, just three basic ideas Guiding principles. First, the last laugh Longest The last laugh longest. What you say last, particularly in an oral medium, last longest in people's minds, memories and impressions. So it's so important because we know that is what people are going to hear echoing as they leave. As a result, we also recognized the last punches Hardest second, The last punches hardest. What is said last? Swimming, it said, well, is what actually carries the greatest impression of the overall sermon. Now, why is that intimidating to us? Because, you know, all Saturday I've been working on the sermon and, you know, about 1:00 in the morning, I was getting to the conclusion, So when I'm most tired, I'm trying to say the thing that actually will have the greatest import. So it just helps us to say, Now what are my priorities here? And typically, those who teach preaching encourage people to say, if this is the most important, if it carries the biggest punch, it needs to be produced with some care.

[00:05:27] And therefore, the last guideline is the last comes first, the last comes first. Now, what I mean by that is you read in your readings, you recognize this is an old debate among homosexuals. It is. When do you prepare the conclusion relative to the rest of the sermon? Now, if you're presenting the sermon, you know the conclusion comes last. But when you're preparing the sermon, there are some dangers in preparing the conclusion. Last one I've already mentioned to you. You're just tired. You're now very tired and you're trying to do the most important telling aspect of the message. What's another problem with maintaining the writing of the waiting for the writing of the conclusion until after you've written everything else? Any other thoughts on what might be a problem with the conclusion at that point? You might suggest something new. In fact, if you didn't know what your destination was, how did you even choose the words and the terms and the exegesis to spotlight as you were working through the sermon? It's like driving a car without having a destination if you don't know where you're going. Then how did you even decide what route to pick, what words to choose, what exegesis to concentrate on? All right. That's one danger. Now, what's the other danger? What's the danger? I'm writing your conclusion before you've done all the other preparation of the sermon. Now there's a reverse danger. What's the danger of saying this is what I'm going to talk about before you've written everything else? You might create you might impose something on the text that's not there. You might create a sermon that is moving towards something that before you really thought through it. And, you know, even as you're writing, the Holy Spirit works in your heart, in mind to direct you as you're going so that you may be.

[00:07:27] Death, as it were, to what the spirit and the word are saying to you, because you're going to your destination. So how do we put these two things together? How do we say if there's dangers on both sides, how do we put this together? I would say it this way You create the target, but you hold it loosely. You create the target, but you hold it loosely. It is very important to have a fairly clear idea of your destination before you write the rest of the sermon. If you don't know where you're going, it could all be all kinds of weird choices, at least generally knowing where you're going, all kinds of weird choices. How am I going to state these main points? Having to say to some points, what applications if I don't know what my destination is? But I think you want to be willing to change your destination if the spirit and the word are directing you elsewhere. So to have a fairly clear idea of where you're going is important. We'll talk a little bit later about what I call the left field rule. How do you know when you're out in left field, when you're doing a sermon, when you get toward the end and you want to say, Hmm, I wonder how I should apply this? You just told yourself you already missed the bus. What were you doing all that exposition about if you didn't know what the application was? If you don't know what the conclusion is, where you're going, what was all that other stuff about? Even so, having a general idea, being loosely holding on it, but a fairly general idea. This is where I'm going because I study the passage enough gets me down the road to the conclusion.

[00:08:57] When we do application, I'll say it this way application should come at the end of sermon research. You don't want to be doing application before you've researched the material. So application comes at the end of sermon research, but it comes at the beginning of sermon writing. So I got to know how I'm putting this thing together. Conclusions All the more important. I should have researched what this passage is about before I'm coming up with conclusions, but I should have a clear idea of the destination as I'm doing all the preparation for the presentation of that material. So you read and I know there's a balance there. Do you remember some of the authors who say, Prepare the conclusion first? Brought us father expository preaching. He says, Prepare the conclusion first. He's very much aware of You're so tired that you may not do it well, Rayburn says. Prepare it first hand. Robinson, in his book on biblical preaching, says Prepare it first. It's interesting. Start is the one who kind of breaks the pattern and you'll read that word next semester. And John, stop is the one who says, don't prepare it till you've done everything else. And what have I said? Somewhere in between. Okay. To be aware of the dangers of both sides, that's known as the mealy mouthed approach. I think what you'll find is it's what you begin to do. It's what you'll do. If you don't have an idea of where you're going. You just feel a swim as you're preparing all the material. On the other hand, if you say, No matter what I found out, I can't change my conclusion. Then you'll feel handcuffed to actually say what the Spirit has been saying to you. What are the components of conclusions? If they're meeting these goals, what are their components? Gee, Campbell Morgan said it this way, and it's the summary first, and we'll go into details.

[00:10:45] J. Campbell Morgan said Every conclusion must conclude. Include and preclude. It must conclude it must end. It must stop the sermon from going on. So it must conclude. It must include. That is, it must include what has previously been said, that summary. Right. It's reminding people of what has been said and it must preclude that is it must preclude the possibilities. The listener will escape the message it's giving, not just a reminder, it's giving the implications what we will ultimately call the exhortation. Now that you know, what is God calling you to do or believe, how should you respond? The technical ways of saying these things are first recapitulation. Concise summary. The first thing that can come the first component technically is recapitulation. There should be some sort of concise summary, not extended explanations, but Hammerstone statements which quickly reiterate the central concepts of the message in order to make the final appeal for action. It's the fast marshaling of the sermons forces. Using. It's important underline here key terms using the key terms of the sermon. Where do they come from? Again, the key terms of the sermon. Here, the key terms of the magnet clauses of the main points there, the key terms of the magnet clauses of the main points. What are two ways of presenting them in summary? We've already said you can group. What's another way that you can do it in the telling of a story? Thread you can group or thread group is putting together in a summary statement. Threading is telling a story and having those key terms reappear in the telling the story to bring the mind and the ear back to an awareness of what things have been about. Let me just read to you from Debbie Sangster, who was a really a wonderful pastor in England a century ago.

[00:12:48] How he did it one time, let me tell you what his sermon was about and then listen to his conclusion. See how he threads so Well, here was his sermon was about this. He was emphasizing the believer has been purchased by Christ Blood. Therefore, he no longer belongs to the world. He belongs to God. To hear it purchased by Christ blood. So he no longer belongs to the world. He belongs to God. Sangster said this some time ago a poor drunkard committed his life to Christ in this church. 20 years before that, he'd actually been a pastor in a church nearby. But when he assumed a pastorate in this town, he took the drink and he ended up in the gutter. When he gave his life to Christ. He had a hope, though, when he truly believed he was purchased by Christ blood, he believed that his thirst might be quenched by some stroke of omnipotence, that God would just take the thirst away. But that did not happen. That began the day that he was purchased by Christ. A long guerrilla warfare in his soul between the deadly craving. And the keeping Power of Christ as his new friend. I suggested that on any day that he found his fight especially hard, that he would drop by the church and we would pray together. He dropped in often. His drawn face often told its own story. And we would go to the chapel and we would pray. One day, as I was praying with him, he broke down completely. The contrast between his earlier life of holy service and the revolting bestiality to which his drunkenness had brought him was too much for him that day. He sobbed like a child and said. I know.

[00:14:57] I'm in the gutter. I know it. But I don't belong there, do I? Tell me. Tell me. I do not belong there. I put my arm around him. I felt a great elation, even in the embarrassment of his tears, he had lost his way. But Christ had not lost him. No, I said quite positively, Christ purchased you by his blood and you do not belong to this world. You belong to him. This is the same hope that God offers you, each of you here, and that you must claim you don't belong to the world. You belong to God. Believe it. Live it. Here are the key terms. It's really beautifully done. And at the same time, there is a charge to our hearts. You must believe this. You must claim this. That's what a conclusion is doing. It's marshaling the forces of the sermon by saying, here are the thoughts we have discussed. Here's what the scripture has said today. Believe it. Act upon it. Exhortation is the next key component of conclusion sometimes, as is simply called, final application exhortation or final application. We do not summarize simply to summarize, but to marshal the forces for the appeal that we will make either to belief or action. We're saying what concrete, what concrete personal actions are you calling for from the here? What do you want me to do now? That to do may be behavioral or it may be what? Attitudinal. It's not always behavior. Maybe something to believe as well. It typically includes some direction. Show me precisely what you expect of me now at the end of the sermon. Show me precisely what you expect of me, and we're going to spell it out. Now, briefly, is this just one or two sentences? Usually? Is this final exhortation? It's not long.

[00:17:14] Here's an example. A mere summary of a message would be to say something like this. Today we have seen that God is sovereign and he is holy and he is loving. Now, that's just a summary. And you hear those terms. He's sovereign, he's holy and he's loving. And when does that become exhortation? When you would say something like this. Because God is sovereign and holy and loving. We can trust him. Even in times of our greatest difficulty, he will never lose control. And he will never stop caring. And he will never lose. Hold on you. Fear not. Whatever you face. Four. You have a God who is sovereign and holy and loving. Now. It was just the change to the fear. Not right. There's an imperative here. Here's just an imperative of attitude. But I said, What do you to do with this information? You're to apply it in some way to your lives in that final exhortation. Item C of conclusions. There is elevation. Elevation, there is some sense of climax. His thought and emotion are arriving at their greatest height. If you're not moved in the conclusion, it's unlikely that anybody else will be. I hope you've heard, even in the tonality that I've been expressing, there's a sense of urgency in the conclusion it's not flat. Now, it doesn't mean that it's always said with great bombast. Nor is it always said with very low tones. You're saying. What, according your personality and the content of the message would mean the most to you. And you're saying it as though it does. That makes sense. Manner and content now is to be conforming manner and content coming together. Say what you're saying as though it has the meaning to you that you are trying to communicate two ways.

[00:19:24] We typically do this so under elevation. One is. A human interest account that is poignant. A human interest account that is poignant. Just be very straight with you. Those of you who are training to preach sermons in this culture, you recognize again, for men in this culture, it is somewhat difficult to express emotion. And so to say in your conclusion you were trying to be somewhat emotive, here is where pathos is coming to help drive, as it were, the ethos and the logos, what this means now. But that's hard for us. And so to identify those human interest accounts that have their own pathos, that can poignantly drive home to the will and to the heart as well as to the mind. What we have said logically in the message is typically very important in a sermon and the conclusion. Now, if you don't do a human interest account, there really is only one other basic type of conclusion. We went through about seven types of introductions brilliantly about two types of conclusion. One of the human interest account, the other is what's called grand style. Grand style. Grand style is not depending on the story to carry the emotive pathos. It's depending on your manner to do it. So it is heightened the words and heightened manner. That is saying this is very important. Listen to me. You must walk away with this truth. You're not telling a story, but the words that you choose and the way that you express them are expressing the urgency of the moment. So that is called grand style. And having those two in mind will typically help you through. Now, I will tell you, if you're not used to a lot of public presentation, grand style may feel awkward to you.

[00:21:16] But telling a story about people who are very important to you will not be awkward at all. You'll feel the power of that. And it won't be strange to you. So most of you probably will choose to do human interest accounts when you start out. But grand style becomes an option. That's very important as well. And typically, even when we're telling a poignant story, if it's touched us, there will be elements of it that are also told with a certain amount of pathos as well. The last part of what's involved in conclusion is termination. Termination. That is, they have a purposed, pointed, definite end. What do you want people to walk away with? That's what you want to end with. Should have a fair amount of purpose to it. The marks of effective conclusions when we pull these things together first. Uniqueness. How many conclusions are there in a sermon? A good sermon. One. Did you ever go to a sermon? You thought he was done and then suddenly we're off again? You know, it's it's the back porch on the back porch, you know, introduction. You know, it can be a porch on a porch. Sometimes conclusions can have a back porch on a back porch. Well, the best the best conclusions arrive in emotion and termination at the same time. So they're unique. There's only one conclusion. Obviously, conclusions have climax. They have climax with the talk, the emotive intensity of a message. Remember, this is the highest emotive intensity of the message. See, they have resolution. They have resolution. We began the introduction saying, What is the burden of the message? Right? That's that. FCF What's the burden of the message that appears in the introduction? The conclusion is telling people what we identified is the burden we have dealt with.

[00:23:08] The Word of God has dealt with the burden that we identified. So we are bringing resolution by showing how the burden is being dealt with, that a market effect of inclusions is finality. Finality that is, they arrive on time and do not wander off. Again. Sangster is so good here. He says it this way. Having come to the end. Stop. Do not cruise about looking for a place to land like some weary swimmer coming into the beach and splashing about until he can find a way out. Come right in land at once. Finish what you've said and end at the same time. Now then, this good pastoral qualification. If the last phrase can have some quality of crisp, memorable ness, all the better. But do not delay even looking for it. Yeah, great. If you can in. But. But it's better to end than to wander about. Kind of looking for a better way to end. So it's just an idea of finality will help all of these things that of course, telling us that conclusions need careful preparation. Right. They're the most telling thing. They have these basic components. But very soon you will find that people will not remember that we cannot fail to do it for reasons we'll see shortly. They will not remember much of the meat of the message. They will remember telling conclusions. They really will. And it will become very powerful. So these have to be prepared with a great deal of care. Some cautions for conclusions. As you hear now, their components, you'll already recognize some of these. One caution for conclusions is consistent emotionalism. Once you begin to recognize as the place for pathos, it can be a place for manipulation. You know that. They know that.

[00:25:12] Everyone knows that. Are you still being authentic? I had. The sadness in some measure of being in a pulpit where there had been a man, a pastor, who prior to me, who had been in that church for 50 years now, that was great. The difficulty was over the last 15 years of his life. He cried in every sermon. Now. I was there some 15 or 20 years after and the people still laughed about it. Every sermon was that kind of weeping pastor, and it was, in their minds, manipulative. Now what makes it authentic? What's in your heart? It was said of Moody. He was one of the few people who can legitimately talk about hell. Because he truly wished that people would go there. Something was authentic in the way that he preached, that people knew that he really cared. And when he did not weep every time, but when he did weep, it was genuine. Somehow we once again, from manner and content to come together. Sometimes that means we will, in the conclusion, speak with great almost anger. This must change. Other times we will speak with great tenderness. This must change. And we will be deeply, deeply hurt. Manner and content coming together. But somehow that manner has to be reflective of what we're saying. So consistent emotionalism is a problem. Absent emotions are also a problem, right? Absent emotions are also a problem. Second, major caution Do not trail off. Do not trail off. Once you begin even doing these devotions, you'll find that you know your heart thumps and your breath goes. You perspire and all those things that are just part of being in front of people. But when you're doing it for 30 minutes or 35 or 40, some of you in your churches, I recognize that what will happen, You will.

[00:27:31] It is an exercise. It is tiring. Typically, when I preach, by the time I'm just because my body works, my back is soaked with sweat. Almost always it is an extra. You're taking a lot of breath to project adequately. You're gesturing. You're kind of thinking hard and you're working hard and your body is also into what you're saying. So when that begins to happen, there is the tendency at the end simply to be tired. And to begin to say all poignant things this way, I really mean it. And everything gets whispered and put up high and the message just has the sense of winding down. But you're saying the most important things. So there should be almost an electricity in the conclusions. Again, I'm not talking about bombast and volume every time, sometimes appropriate, but there should be a sense of this is the most important thing and that you are doing that so that you're not trailing off. See, just a hint for those of you trained in other public speaking modes. Ordinarily there is no final thank you. We do not say and therefore God says this gossip must stop and it must in this church. Thank you very much. No, we don't say thank you. We do it public address, but we do not say thank you at the end of sermons. Okay. Amens. Now, depends a little bit on the generation and even the church you're in. For a young man in churches today to say. And this is what you must do. Amen. Almost sounds as though you're congratulating yourself. You know, a little pat on the back there. My own. Amen for me. Now, there are churches I recognize in which the amen means something like this is what God has said.

[00:29:18] And I'm saying with great confidence, too, because I have spoken with the authority of the Word of God. But I even if you were doing that, I don't know that I would do it every time. So I'd be cautious about the amen. That seems to be self Benedictine. Okay. As opposed to I really had to say this this day. They let the conclusion conclude. Let the conclusion conclude. Sometimes there's a thought. Well, you know, I don't really have to come up with a good conclusion because we're going to sing that great song afterwards. Or I'll just think of something to say in the final prayer. Do you ever hear the final prayer? And you know, what the preacher was really doing was saying the third main point that he forgot in the sermon. Now, if you've got to do it, you got to do it. But it is not the way to plan. Okay. So we sometimes will know that there are things we want to drive home with a concluding prayer or the song, but it's usually not a good idea to plan for those to carry the sermon. All right, so we let the conclusion conclude. E what I'll ask you to do this semester and next we will avoid rhetorical questions as concluding sentences. We will avoid rhetorical questions as concluding sentences. Please do not make your conclusion the last sentence in particular a question. And so what we do see is that the disciples followed Jesus, and what does God call you to do? Well, I don't know what you know. Often rhetorical questions come because one could not think of what you wanted people to do. So we ask questions instead. Now, technically, there are things that are called merit questions, which actually are a question that are directive.

[00:31:02] But let's not do it yet. Okay? For this semester. Next, let's just not end with questions. We know they can be important, but we're not going to go there yet. Half use poems and quotations with great caution. We really are not the generation that appreciate so much. Three points in a poem. You know, that's that's really past generations is not that you would never do it, but I'm cautioning you it people will almost grimace these days for sermons to in that way, if you do end with somebody else's quotation or poem, please use it only if they say exactly what you mean, not almost what you mean if they say exactly what you mean. Recognize that the change of voice and meter and language, if you're using an ancient poem or a quotation, actually throw people off. You know, we're not a very patient generation for language we don't understand. So right here at the conclusion where you're trying to drive things home, you begin to use archaic language the very time you want to say the most important things, people are just turning you off. Prepare the audience for what you're intending to do with the quote. We've said that before. If you're going to use a quick quotation, please tell them what to listen to. Try not to break eye contact. Just think of that. I've got to the point in this message. I'm saying this is the most important thing. I want you to hear me. And then I start to read to people, break eye contact and look down. It's probably not what you want to do. The main question you have to think about is, do you really want to give the last word of this sermon to someone else who hasn't lived among these people? They don't know this person.

[00:32:40] Do you really want to give the last word to someone else? Now, it's very controversial. Maybe you do, but most of the time I would caution you against simply borrowing from another time, unless, again, that person says it's so much better and it really will make a stronger impact than you yourself. Concluding Gee is very important. Do not introduce new exposition in the conclusion. It's very easy to say. Now, of course, we know this is true because this is a present tense verb. The conclusion is the wrong time to be starting with new definitions, new exegesis, new reference to another biblical text. It's the wrong time to be doing it. It's not wrong to do, but not in the conclusion the conclusion should be concluding, not starting something new. Finally, a void. Finally. That was in your readings. But let's tease a little bit so we're clear about it. If you say in conclusion, what does every third person in the church automatically do? They look at their watch. You just you just created what a Hamlet official would call linear consciousness. Okay. You put time in front of them when you said finally in conclusion. Now, I will grant you, if they have given up all hope that this sermon is ever going to end. That saying finally and you'll see people's heads will come up. Oh, there's hope. You know you will. You got to you got to. Right. It can be a technique, but you should be aware that if you don't got to, you may be creating dynamics you do not intend remember from. It was in your readings, but I just love the quotation from all your weight when he said it this way. Finally, brethren can be said by an apostle and he can keep going for two more chapters.

[00:34:37] But you shouldn't. A troubled English pastor once asked a farm laborer why he came to church only when the assistant preached. Well, sir, said the farmer. Young, Mr. Smith says lastly, and he does conclude, you say lastly. And you last. Well, in conclusion, should be concluding. Hence very effective conclusions. How do we do this? Well, hence for effective conclusions. First use a human interest account. If you can use a human interest account if you can. He will tie up the sermon in not only terms of emotion and poignancy, but people will strongly identify with these human interest accounts. So just a very, very strong way of having people identify as well as hear the importance of what you're saying to say quickly again, what's the other form of conclusion, if not human interest accounts? What's the other one called Grand Style? Okay, but if you can, human interest accounts typically are strongest. Just a hint here. Put illustrations of the me. Put illustrations of the last main point. High in that point. So it's not competing with the conclusion, but the illustration of the last main point high in that point. Now, you can just if you can see it visually, I'll move this so you can see if you can see this chart here. If this middle piece here is the illustration. What happens if that illustration is just there? You know, you've got a short application here. What happens if that illustration is very close to the conclusion and the conclusion is a human interest account? What happens? You steal impact, right? You create you create what's called anticlimax. You're actually taking away from the climax by having this story too close to that story. Remember we said these pieces can flip and move about.

[00:36:43] The third main point is usually a point where it's helpful to move the illustration as high as possible. So if you got to some points, maybe you put the illustration after the first sub point. So that you're creating separation from the illustration of the conclusion. Now, again, these are just hints. These aren't rules. They're just thoughts to consider as you're thinking, Do I want to create anticlimax? Do I really want that human interest to count on the conclusion that the real power of its own and not have it too close to other stories? We've already talked about recognize the power of ending with a telling phrase. Telling phrases are important to end with. If you can, telling phrases are important to end with. If you can say again, I'm not saying you would always do this. Anybody know how the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus ends? One of the last words in the Sermon on the Mount. You'll know immediately when you hear. Fell with a great crash. Whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And the rains came and the streams rose and the wind beat against that house. But the house on the rock stood firm. Whoever hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And the rains came and the streams rose and the winds blew and weighed against that house. And that house fell down with a great crash. Period. End of the Sermon on the Mount. And then somebody says, well, these are not new ideas, right? These are just the way people think and take in information in all mediums.

[00:38:50] And so we see what that means, even for Christ time. We've only talked about the importance of ending where you began. It's something we would use, would not use every time. But a wrap around conclusion is often powerful that we end where we began. We finish the telling of the story. It's called a wrap around. So we end. Where we began can be a helpful hint. Finally, a last thought for conclusions is to try to end with a positive. It's to try to end with a positive. After all, it is the Gospel. It is the good news. Why did Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount with the Great Crash? Because it is the last rendering of the law. And he assured people, you cannot live up to this. Now, what's he going to be about? The answer to the great crash. Now his ministry unfolds, but we know that ministry. So if we end our sermon saying. And if you do not do what I say, you are all going to be in trouble and this church is going to ruin. Let's pray. It is the good news. And I think to take the impact of the gospel and make that what is your hope and encouragement to people is the greater strength of the sermon. Okay. Sam Aaron. Yeah. Try to pass. Right. Did you hear Aaron's question? If what if the text doesn't mention Christ or his redemptive work? How can we end with the gospel, with the positive? You know, we're going to spend a whole semester talking about that. But the key right now is to say context is part of text. Context is part of the text. So identifying how this text functions in this redemptive context, what I say about the Sermon on the Mount, it's the last rendering of the law.

[00:40:56] Now I can see it in its context. If I put it in its context, I can see how it functions redemptive. So that is not exegesis, that is identifying where it fits redemptive. Now, we're not going to answer all this today. Right. It's the last half of the book that we're not even going to read this semester. So we've got lots to go. But the fact that you're feeling the weight of that is really, really good. Because Jesus said, apart from me, you can do what? Nothing. So if all our message has been is moral imperatives, we got a problem. We have to put the text in its context. And that will always be a redemptive context. Let me just make sure this gets in front of you for today. Some conclusion on conclusions. Here's what we're going to look for as you turn in your assignments a week from today and come prepared to deliver them again. Right. Here's what we'll look for. Concise, summary. Concise summary. It may be threaded or grouped. Okay. Maybe threaded or grouped. Abstract could be and or could be both. Okay. But we'll look for some form of concise summary in which the key terms of the magnet clauses of the main points are appearing in the conclusion. Okay, we'll look for that. Key terms of the magnet clauses of the main points. We'll look for some form of climax. Is there a sense of emotional intensity? Three, We'll look for final exhortation. Final exhortation. Are you telling me now what to do or believe or hope in? Is there an exhortation that is that is part of the conclusion? Typically, the last two two sentences are right in there. So typically where that final exhortation comes and in four, is there a definite end? There does seem to have some sort of professional design to it.

[00:42:45] And it definitely in and we were ready for that end, didn't surprise us, nor did it seem to wander off for the written assignment. You see, it says written a some number five, it says for class after next. Now, again, just because of where the preaching lectures fall this semester, we really mean our next class meeting, right? So not next Wednesday. That will be the preaching lectures day. But Friday, a week from today, you're going to prepare an outline. With some points followed by a conclusion. Now, this particular time I'm asking you to do a human interest account only. All right. So you do know it'll be a human interest account. Conclusion. Look for the passage for which you were previously assigned to do the outline introduction. So just keep building, right? So now you're going to do a conclusion for the mature that you've done before. Come to the class after. Come to the next class for this class. Prepare to present your conclusion. The written conclusion should be a half to a two thirds page single spaced. Can look at the example in your notebooks if you want to say kind of how long is this thing? So a two thirds page or so, half to two thirds page, single spaced, and should last no longer than two and a half minutes and delivery. That's actually a pretty long one. Two and a half minutes is pretty long, so it shouldn't go longer than that. Now, please note the last bullet, underline the key terms of the magnet clauses of the main points that are used in your conclusion. So what I should be able to do as I am going through these papers is I should say you've underlined from the magnet clauses on the sheet that you're turning in or have main points and some points you should have underlined the magnet clauses of the main points, not some points underline the terms of the magnet clauses of the main points.

[00:44:35] And then I should be able to look in your conclusion and see you've underlined them there too. It's your hands and mine that you've brought those key terms down. All right. So that's do a week from today and you should come prepared to present them. Here's what will happen. Will again ask people to come up front and present them. And I will ask, what's your passage? Tell us what your main points are. And then present your conclusion. So we'll all have our ears tuned for what the conclusion says. Now, if you do wrap arounds, which you're not wrong to do, you may have to tell us. In my introduction, I said some of these things. You may have to get a little bit of the story in front of us. If you're doing a wrap around conclusion, but if you're not doing a wrap around, just go right into what that conclusion is after you've told us the main points.