Lesson 7 | Second Level Connections
Finishing Your Arc
Much of the heavy lifting for learning to connect the main points has already been done in lesson 6. Our objective now is to tie together the whole process and put it into practice. The following video aims to do just that.
Connecting the Main Points
Writing a Main Point Summary
Once we have related all the pieces of an arc by considering how their main points connect to one another, we arrive at the main point of the passage as a whole. This is of great importance, and justifies a thoughtful composition of a main point summary. A main point summary is in essence a succinct answer to the question, “What is this passage about?” And our hope is to answer that question in a way that would please the author.
The first key to writing a main point summary is to ensure you are capturing the main point! As we have already noted earlier in the course, this is not necessarily your favorite point of the passage and sometimes it is not the most important point of the passage. By “main point” we are talking about the primary impulse for why the verses at hand were written. For example, Jesus says, “just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” The most important point here is that Jesus has loved us. However, the main point is the call for us to love one another, since that is the impulse for why Jesus said these things.
After you have identified that central impulse, consider what the most important 1 or 2 supporting relationships are and see if you can add in a few words to capture the ways they are supporting the big idea. But as you do so, be sure to keep it succinct! Verbose commentaries and homiletical meditations have a great value; but so does a main point summary. Thus, let us distinguish between these different kinds of disciplines. When we are doing a main point summary, let's keep it a summary!