My Homiletic Swimming Pool, Timothy Tow - Online Christian Library

Chapter V
Writing Out the Sermon
To learn how to compose a sermon, the best way is to write it out
fully, for it is said, writing makes an exact man (Bacon). Let me
illustrate by one I preached at the Chinese Service of Life Church on
the eve of her celebrating the 33rd Anniversary, October 11, 1998.
As my sermon had to do with the passage of time, in that 33 years
would soon be flying over our congregation of 200, I chose my text
from Psalm 90:10-12. What title did I give to the sermon?
Speaking to a Chinese congregation, I used a well-known
couplet:
“How many have lived to seventy years,
And how many a full-moon have they seen?”
To re-state it, “Man’s life is a short duration, Man’s life is seldom
pleasant”, i.e., it is full of troubles.
Sermon
Introduction
Next Lord’s Day our church will celebrate her 33rd Anniversary.
How quickly time flies! To our short life-span is soon added another
year. How old are you?
Transition
As we enter another year we cannot help but recall the Chinese
proverb, “How many have lived to seventy years?” .
Writing Out the Sermon
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