51 Questions to Ask in Observations

51 Questions to Ask in Observations

From On Preaching with H.B. Charles Jr. by H.B. Charles, Jr.

May 26, 2026 · 25 min

About this episode

H.B. Charles Jr. discusses fifty-one questions to consider during the observations phase of sermon preparation.

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, H.B. discusses fifty-one questions you should ask in the observations phase of your sermon preparation. The questions are as follow: 1. Who wrote this passage? 2. Who is the intended audience? 3. What is the book about? 4. What style of writing is this text? 5. What is the immediate context of this passage? 6. How does this text fit into the Bible’s storyline? 7. Are there any words in the text I don’t understand? 8. What is the historical background of the text? 9. What happens in this text? 10. Should I diagram this passage? 11. What is the author saying and doing? 12. What are the key terms in the text? 13. Who are the key people in the text? 14. What are the key places in the text? 15. What is (are) the main verb(s)? 16. What are the time references in this text? 17. Are there idioms or figures of speech? 18. Are there cultural assumptions in the text? 19. Is there a cause and effect in the text? 20. What is the structure of the text? 21. What are the logical connections of the text? 22. What is the order or progression of the text? 23. What…

People in this episode

Host: H.B. Charles Jr.

Topics covered

  • sermon preparation
  • observations phase
  • preaching techniques
  • bible study
  • questions for analysis

Keywords

  • sermon preparation
  • observations
  • preaching
  • bible
  • questions

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