What’s the point?

by Rik Danielsen

The pastor laid his open Bible on the pulpit and looked at his congregation. He reached up and gave the microphone a slight adjustment as he cleared his throat. Then he said, “In response to last week’s twenty-seven point sermon, today’s message… will be… well, pointless.”

We would hope there isn’t a pastor in the world who would tell his congregation that his sermon was pointless, but the tragedy is that too many Bible teachers and preachers never really identify the real point of the passage they will be teaching. It is easy to get caught up talking about some interesting detail in the text that seems quite sensational to us, but may, in fact, miss the point altogether. For example, the size of Goliath’s sword is interesting and probably deserves some mention, but if the whole study focuses on that, we will have missed the point of the story altogether.

So, what is the point, and how do we find it? Some passages are just as plain as they can be. Suppose you are doing a verse-by-verse study through the book of 1 Corinthians and you are up to chapters 12 and following. Chapters 12 and 14 are obviously about spiritual gifts and their proper use in the church. One could spend several studies on these passages, but don’t forget that chapter 13 is right in the middle of those chapters. What is 1 Corinthians 13 about? Most people who have studied the Bible for very long know it is the “love” chapter, but here’s an important question: why did Paul insert this chapter on Christ-like love in the middle of his teaching on spiritual gifts and their use in the church? What’s the point of that? How do those chapters relate to one another? The man or woman who is teaching these studies needs to come to understand Paul’s point for each of those passages.

We hear a great deal about expository preaching these days. At its simplest, it centers on explaining and applying the words of scripture. To do that, the prospective Bible teacher/preacher must study the text and discern the main point the Holy Spirit-inspired writer is making. This is an important task and requires study and determination to understand why the text was written and what it meant to the first-century audience and now to our audience.

Suppose your small group is studying the book of Ephesians, and you have come to chapter 6 and Paul’s teaching on the whole armor of God. The first part of that text addresses the fact that God’s people are engaged in a spiritual battle (verses 10-12). That’s the point of those verses, and your small group needs to understand what that means. As you prepare to teach these verses, ask yourself: What kind of battle are we engaged in? Who is the real enemy, and how does the enemy attack us? Then you come to verses 13-20, which teach us about the various pieces of armor God has given us. It’s not difficult to imagine a lesson dedicated to each piece of armor and its purpose. However, we must remind ourselves that the point of each piece of armor is its spiritual nature.

Let’s take the shield of faith:

(Ephesians 6:16, ESV) In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

What is the main focus of this passage? It is faith. The central tenet of the Christian life is faith in the Lord Jesus. One might get caught up in talking about the Roman shield and how big it was and how much it weighed. Or one could emphasize the flaming darts of Satan, but in reality, the main point of this verse is how faith helps us in our spiritual battle. The teacher/preacher could seek to answer some important questions about the shield of faith: What is biblical faith? How does faith protect us from the darts of the devil? How can we strengthen our faith? This would be true to Paul’s intent and practical teaching for the members of our small group or congregation.

I like to joke with my friends who are vegetarians and quote Romans 14:2:

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. (ESV)

The truth is, I know that’s taken out of context and has nothing to do with being a vegetarian. If one studies the passage, one will see that it concerns eating meat offered to idols.

We need to know what the point is, and when we teach on this, we need to let our people know it. Don’t major in minors. Find the main point and make that the subject of your teaching.

© 2026 Rik Danielsen