Topical teaching is an endless well of possibility; a clearly defined thesis is crucial. In teaching from a text, the passage you are assigned keeps you focused and gives you a general outline. By contrast, in topical teaching, you have to decide on the main point and the outline yourself. You should be able to state the thesis of your talk in a phrase.You should sound like you, only maybe a little more excited. A friend should be able to walk in the room and know it’s you.

Just pick one facet to focus on. Shine the light on one side of this topic that you find beautiful and impactful. Focus less on being exhaustive and more on being like a laser beam.

It can be extremely helpful to choose a grounding Biblical text to teach your topic. For example, if your topic was Humility, you could choose to examine the life of Joseph in Exodus. Or your topic could be repentance and you examine Psalm 51. These will offer great support in offering you a thesis, structure and organization. It’s important to note however, that the main point of the text must be the main point of your topic. Without that, you will likely do what’s called “proof texting” which is generating an idea and trying to use the Bible to prop it up. We don’t want to do that. The text must clearly reflect the theme of your topic, without that, it will fall apart.

If you aren’t going to choose a grounding text, that’s fine but try to avoid Bible drills in using too many verses and cross references to teach your topic. People will not remember it. Pick less verses with high impact. Again, make sure you have a thesis for your message!

In every moment of teaching, it is you doing the teaching. As you consider this topic, it’s appropriate to think through your unique experience as it relates to the topic. Ask yourself, what has God uniquely done in my own heart and life in this area? What particular experiences, victories, or insight do I have to offer as I consider this topic? What do I feel particularly burdened for or passionate about as it relates to this topic? All these questions can help you consider a particular angle to take with the topic. Again, the more narrow your focus, the more effective your message will be.