In our last post in this series, we examined the third step of creative digital sermon preparation using Logos Bible Study (partner link to Logos). In that step, we discussed asking interpretive questions and then focused on word studies in Logos. Now, let’s turn to answering these interpretive questions using the Logos Bible Study Platform. Consider this part two of the third step.
You’ll use several approaches to answer your questions, which are recorded in Logos notes. You can go directly to books in your library, but Logos offers faster and more streamlined approaches. Open your passage chosen in step one. You will likely see a note icon next to the verse. If you use my strategy, you’ll see a little yellow square. Click it to open your note.
Read over your passage and then your notes to review and begin thinking again about the passage’s meaning. Now, look for questions recorded in the notes. Those questions could focus on…
- Word meaning
- Cultural backgrounds
- Geography
- History
- Theological ideas
- Application of concepts
The kinds of questions you ask will vary widely.
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Using the Factbook to Answer Interpretive Questions
Logos loves the Factbook and they’ve chocked it full of valuable reference tools. Start by selecting your passage and then choose to open the Factbook on that verse or passage. You’ll see a new window with the text of the verse in your top Bible.
- All: This includes all the entries in a default Factbook.
- Biblical: Limits your results to Biblical reference tools like People, Places, and Things tool, Biblical Events, Reported Speech, and Journals.
- Library: Finds tools in your library related to the passage like commentaries, journals, sermons, and Factbook Tags (to open other Factbooks with information about subjects in your passage).
- Theological: Commentaries and Journals.
How do you use this in the Asking Interpretive Questions step of Digital Sermon Preparation using the Logos Bible Study Platform?
Look at the Note you attached to your passage and find questions you recorded in the first half of this step. Look at the following sections, avoiding the Commentaries, Journals, and Sermons sections until the end. You want to come to your conclusions based on your research instead of lazily using the work of other scholars, preachers, or teachers, letting them distort your findings.
- People, Places, and Things: Reference books related to those three items, like Zechariah, the prophet, who speaks in Zechariah 4:6.
- Biblical Events: Shows the events that might show up in the passage.
- Reported Speech: Information about the person speaking or the people the speaker addresses.
- Media: Images that Logos tagged with the passage or ideas in the passage.
Record your findings in your Note.
Running a Guide on Your Passage
Some Logos Bible Study Platform users prefer the Guides, which predate the Factbook. We already looked at the Exegetical Guide in our previous post about the first half of this post. Now we will consider one of the Guides, which you can find from the Guides/Workflows menu on the toolbar or from the right click menu when you select a passage.
The Guides that help us most in Inductive Bible Study include…
- Passage Guide: Quickly finds books in your library that include essential content on the current passage.
- Sermon Starter Guide: Works like the Passage Guide, but focuses on Sermon Prep content.
- Bible Word Study Guide: A Better tool for working on your passage.
I seldom use the other guides, except the Exegetical Guide, while studying a passage. You can use the Theology Guide, Topic Guide, or Counseling Guide like the Bible Word Study Guide.
Using Workflows in Sermon Preparation
Workflows give users a series of steps for sermon prep. We won’t go into detail here because we’re not ready to go that far. However, please read below to understand them better. They can help you both ask and answer interpretive questions in the Logos Bible Study platform.
The Workflows are in the Guides/Workflows menu on the Logos Bible Study toolbar. The menu shows sections for…
- Started Workflows: Easily reopen Workflows you’ve worked on before.
- Workflows: All the predefined Workflows that come with Logos.
- Custom Workflows: Workflows you either created or downloaded from Logos.
A Workflow works like a sermon prep template. For example, the Expository Sermon Preparation Workflow has three sections. Type your passage into the Bible reference box at the top left. Then hit Enter. You’ll see the Bible study steps included in this Workflow. It offers sections for…
- Prepare Yourself and Plan Ahead: includes prayer, reading repeatedly, and more.
- Study Your Passage: Steps for studying the passage show up here.
- Explore the Cultural and Historical Content: Steps for studying what it says.
- Identify Cross References
- Consult Commentaries
- Outline Your Passage
- Evaluate the Results of Your Study
- Write and Develop Your Sermon
- Prepare to Preach
Logos gives you other preaching Workflows, depending on your subscription level or the packages you bought. Each section links to other tools in your library and lets you enter information like a note. Notice below there’s a box to enter observations so you can begin your sermon outline with this workflow.
You’ll find a lot of other Guides in the Guides/Workflows menu. You will also see three Workflows items. One includes Workflows you’ve already started. The Customer Workflows have the empty Workflows and the Workflows you created.
To create a new Workflow, open the Guides/Workflows menu, click the New button, and choose Make a new Workflow. Logos’s support page will show you how to edit customer Workflows.
What’s Next
At this point, if you still have questions you can’t find answers to, consider the possibility that there’s no answer. I often ask questions of a passage that we can only honestly answer with, “I don’t know.” I trust that God didn’t want me to know the answer. We might not have the right resources to answer these questions. Make sure you own a decent theological library in Logos before giving up. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” You won’t likely even include the question in your sermon unless it’s a big issue.