Editorial draft for review. “From the guide” sections are Parker's words; “Working it out,” examples and worksheets are editorial.
Guide sections: The Sermon Prep System — Step 6: Application
Read
Read “From the guide” first, out loud if you can. Then read “Working it out.”
From the guide
Step 6: Build real application
Don’t just explain the Bible.
Show people how to live it.
Use this grid:
- Start: one step to begin
- Stop: one thing to remove
- Continue: one habit to build
- Share: one conversation to have
- Seek: one person to involve
Application makes sermons stick.
Working it out
One of each. The grid asks for one concrete thing per line: one step, one thing, one habit, one conversation, one person. “Pray more” is not a step. “Pray for five minutes before you open your phone tomorrow” is.
Two lines involve other people. Share is a conversation to have. Seek is a person to involve: someone to ask for help, invite along or be accountable to. Application is rarely meant to be lived alone.
Meaning first, then response (editorial addition). Say what the text means, then offer applications as ways to respond. Be clear which applications the text requires and which are one wise example. If the passage does not support one of the five lines, leave it out rather than force it.
Worked example (fictional, supported vs unsupported)
Unsupported: “Everyone must join a small group,” added without textual basis. Supported: (sample work on Mark 4:35–41) “Jesus' question in 4:40 confronts his first followers' fear with a call to trust him (what the text means). One way to respond this week is to name one specific fear in prayer each morning, and one person to involve is a friend who will pray with you (sample applications, not commands of the text).” The second shows people how to live it and is honest about what is an example.
Discuss
- What did this passage ask of its first hearers?
- Which line of the grid fits your passage most naturally?
- Is each application one specific thing, or still general?
- Who is the “one person to involve” for you in this passage?
Mentor: share one application from a past sermon that people actually acted on, and why you think it stuck.
Practice
Work through all five lines. Write one specific application for each line the passage supports, and name the verse it grows from. Mark any line the passage does not support “not required here”. For each application, note whether the text commands it or whether it is one possible example of obedience.
Worksheet
Copy onto paper or download below; nothing is saved here.
- What the passage asked of its first hearers
- Start — one step to begin / verse
- Stop — one thing to remove / verse
- Continue — one habit to build / verse
- Share — one conversation to have / verse
- Seek — one person to involve / verse
- Which the text commands, which are possible examples of obedience, and which lines are “not required here”
Review
Artifact: Completed application grid.
Complete when: Each line used is one specific action tied to a verse, and every other line is marked “not required here”.
- Meaning is stated before application.
- Each application is one concrete thing.
- Each cites a verse.
- Share names a conversation; Seek names a person.
- Nothing is forced onto the text.
- Lines the passage does not support are marked “not required here”, not filled.
- Commands of the text are distinguished from examples of obedience.
Mentor feedback
Bring the work you made, not just your answers. Show one place where the passage shaped a decision. Name one strength, choose one useful improvement, and check the revision together.
- Name one real strength in the work.
- Name one priority improvement, based on evidence in the work.
- Revise, then recheck against the review list.