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Inductive methods are at the base of many preaching methods today. While induction is a good and helpful structural construct, we should not totally do away with the deductive methods that have stood the test of time.
In an inductive sermon the introduction doesn’t explicitly state the major point or the conclusion of the sermon. Sometimes deductive sermons are described as “telling people what you will say, saying it, and then telling people what you said.” Such an approach gives away too much and could make it difficult to retain the interest of the congregation. In inductive sermons you do not tell people what you will do, but you begin with ideas, issues, or situations that need to be interpreted by the gospel.
Slowly the preacher weaves in resources to help the congregation understand the text. The resources are from the Bible, Christian history, theology, or other areas.
Another way of looking at it is that the inductive sermon creates tension and then ultimately resolves that tension by the Gospel. These sermons can be very effective when the people might be against the message if it were presented in a more deductive fashion.
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