"Don't finish a great message in mid-air"

Peter Mead offers some helpful advice on concretizing a sermon:

Many great sermons turn out to be good sermons. Sermons looking set to be good often end up average. How is it that the last few minutes of a sermon can change it from powerful to pleasant? One key element is the final descent of the preacher down the ladder of abstraction.

The text must be understood in its original setting for the detail to make sense. Then the process of theological abstraction moves the preacher toward relevance for the contemporary listeners. But this is not enough. It is easy to stop at this stage of the process, and a natural place to let off the preparation pressure (after all, surely listeners can take the abstract and apply it specifically in their own situation?) Actually no, listeners do not generally apply abstracts to their own lives. Don’t stop with “trust God!” or “love God more!” or “love one another!” or “be faithful in your relationships!” These are all abstracts.

Good point.