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The Certificate track answers the multiple choice. The Associate adds the fill-in-the-blank questions; M.Div. and Th.M. add those and the short-answer questions. 90% of each part is required to pass.
Day 1 — The Aim: Christ at the Center
If Unit 4 preached the God who is, Unit 6 preaches the God who came. This is the unit nearest the heart of all preaching, for Paul resolved to know nothing among the Corinthians but Christ crucified. The aim is not to survey a famous life but to set the living Christ before the hearer so that he beholds, believes, and follows. A sermon on Christ that leaves the hearer admiring a great teacher has failed; it must present a Savior and Lord.
Day 2 — The Doctrinal Backbone (lean; full version in Systematic Theology Unit 3)
His Person. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the eternal Son who became flesh (the incarnation). His sinless life. He kept the law we could not keep. His cross. He died as our substitute, bearing the penalty of sin. His resurrection. He rose bodily on the third day, conquering death. His ascension and reign. He ascended and now reigns as Lord. His return. He will come again. Keep this compressed; point students to ST Unit 3 for the full treatment, and note that several of these movements (the cross, the resurrection, the return) each deserve their own sermon.
Day 3 — The Homiletical Move
Subject: the work of Christ. Interrogative: “What has Christ done for us?” Keyword: movements (the great saving acts). The keyword yields four points, each on its own text — and notice the deliberate movement through time, from heaven to earth and back to heaven:
| Point (keyword: movements) | Anchor text |
|---|---|
| 1. He came down — the Incarnation | John 1:14; Philippians 2:6–7 |
| 2. He died for us — the Cross | Isaiah 53:5–6; 1 Peter 2:24 |
| 3. He rose again — the Resurrection | 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 |
| 4. He is coming back — the Return | 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 |
Four movements, four texts, one subject. The preacher arranged the saving acts in order (topical, deductive), yet each rests on its own passage — and the arc itself, from manger to cross to empty tomb to coming King, preaches.
Before developing one movement as a sermon, let each be understood for what it is. These are not four separate stories but one saving work in four acts.
1. He came down — the Incarnation (John 1:14; Philippians 2:6–7). The eternal Son did not begin at Bethlehem; He was always God. Yet “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and He who was in the form of God “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant.” This is the great descent: God did not send a message or an angel, but came Himself — fully God and fully man in one Person. And that two-fold nature runs through all His days. As a man He walked on the dust of the earth, but as God He walked out on the Sea of Galilee. As a man He grew tired, but as God He said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary.” As a man He thirsted on the cross, but as God He is the living water. As a man He hungered, but as God He is the bread of life. As a man He died on the cross, but as God He came forth three days later with power in His hand. The same God/man pattern marks how God still works His Word: the Bible was divinely inspired yet written by men, and preaching itself is a divine and human event — God’s own truth carried through a man’s voice.
2. He died for us — the Cross (Isaiah 53:5–6; 1 Peter 2:24). The descent had a destination. He came down in order to go up — up onto a cross. He did not die as a martyr dies, for a cause; He did not die as a hero dies, for his friends; He died as a substitute dies, for His enemies. The punishment was ours, but the wounds were His. We develop this movement in full below, for it is the center toward which the other three lean.
3. He rose again — the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). The cross without the empty tomb would be the saddest story ever told; with it, it is the best news ever heard. “He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” As a man His heart stopped and they laid Him in another man’s grave, but as God He could not be held by death. The resurrection is the Father’s public verdict that the price was accepted in full — a receipt stamped paid and nailed to the door of an empty tomb. A dead Savior can forgive no one; but because He lives, the one who trusts Him will live also.
4. He is coming back — the Return (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). The same Jesus who went up will come down. He came the first time in weakness, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and the world had no room for Him; He will come the second time in power, “with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God,” and the world will have no escape from Him. The work begun at the manger, finished at the cross, sealed at the tomb, will be consummated when He returns for His own. This is why the four movements end facing forward: the Christian stands between an empty tomb behind him and an open sky before him — a finished work to rest in, and a sure hope to wait for.
Day 4 — Developing a Point (E-A-I) and Illustration
Point 2 (He died for us, Isaiah 53:5–6) developed in full:
Day 5 — Craft Notes and Summary
A Worked Example from Dr. Cook's Pulpit: "Christ Across Canada"
Unit 6 preached the central doctrine in the four-movement parallel. Here is the same Christ preached in a different shape — a journey, holding His names together across a whole land. It shows students that doctrinal preaching is not only the tight parallel: the unity can be carried by a single travelling thread, so long as every division still stands on its own text. Read it first as a hearer; then watch the skeleton beneath it.
Subject: Christ across Canada
Text: Luke 19:39–40
Proposition: If men keep silent, the very land cries out the name of Christ.
Interrogative: Where? — Where across the land do we hear the stones cry out?
Keyword: reminders (each region holds up a reminder of Christ — a name or claim of His)
Transitional sentence: "Let us journey across Canada, from East to West, and let the land itself declare His name."
Divisions — seven, each on its own text:
I. The Maritimes — He makes us fishers of men — Matthew 4:19
II. The Trans-Canada Highway — He is the Way — John 14:6
III. Quebec — a peculiar people in Him — 1 Peter 2:9
IV. Ontario / Niagara — He is the Living Water — John 4:10
V. The Plains — He is the Bread of Life — John 6:35
VI. The Rockies — He is the Rock of Ages — 1 Corinthians 10:4
VII. British Columbia — He is the Vine — John 15:5
The sermon as preached:
As Jesus was coming into Jerusalem for the last time, He came as the Messiah, riding upon a colt. The people began to adore Him; they spread palm leaves before Him and shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord." The Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." They were shocked that He would allow such worship, for only God could be worshiped this way, and they were convinced in their own minds that Jesus was not God.
And so Jesus said to them, "I tell you, if they keep quiet the stones will cry out." If men do not acknowledge Him as Lord, nature itself will rise up and declare His name. In the movie "Joe Versus the Volcano" there was at least one redeeming scene. Joe was floating on the sea, and he woke to a huge moon behind him. It was a moving moment as he looked at the moon and began to weep, "Oh God, I didn't know that You were so big."
We seem to live in a society that has forgotten how big God is. Fewer and fewer people seem to be following after Christ. Reginald Bibby, the sociologist, says that the number and percentage of evangelicals has been steadily declining; today only about seven percent of the population belong to an evangelical group. In the cul-de-sac where we live there are families that claim to be atheists, and across the street are those who follow the New Age movement. It all seems cause for despair.
And yet, as we look across this great country, nature itself seems to call out His name even louder. Everywhere we look there are reminders of our Lord. Let us begin our journey across Canada in the East — for the sun rises in the East, and what better place to look for the Son of God.
I. The Maritimes — He makes us fishers of men.
We begin in the maritime provinces — Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick — where seafood is in abundance, lobster and fish. We as Christians recall that Jesus called His disciples, many of whom earned their living by fishing, to be fishers of men. In Matthew 4:19 He said, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." He took ordinary fishermen and made them disciples and fishers of men. Perhaps remembering this, the early Christians used the fish as the symbol of their faith. The Greek word for fish, ICHTHUS, forms an acronym for "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior." Every fish we see can remind us that Jesus is God's Son and the Savior of the world; and like the disciples, we too are called to be fishers of men.
A missionary physician in one of China's hospitals cured a man of cataracts. A few weeks later forty-eight blind men came to the doctor, all holding a rope guided by the man who had been cured. He had led the way 250 miles to bring others to the doctor who had cured his blindness.
II. The Trans-Canada Highway — He is the Way.
As soon as we start across Canada we meet the Trans-Canada Highway. It connects one end of this vast country to the other; to travel by land from one side to the other, it is the single road that will take you there. We remember that Jesus claimed to be the one and only way to God. In John 14:6 He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." It is an exclusive claim. He is the one and only way from men to God:
— Not through baptism. In some churches infants are baptized as soon as they are born, and that may be the sum of their whole religious experience. But baptism is not the way to salvation.
— Not through a church. I value my church membership and am glad to be part of a spiritual family. But we are not saved by church membership.
— Not through a good life. We are called to good works, but good works never save us. If we could be good enough, Jesus would never have had to die on a cross.
— Not through religion.
When Josh McDowell was in university, he was miserable. He tried religion. He tried prestige, and ran for class president. He tried parties. Nothing satisfied. He noticed some people on campus who were different — they had a happiness he did not have. One day, sitting around a table with them, the conversation turned to God. Bothered, he leaned back and said to a young woman, "Tell me, what changed your lives? Why are your lives so different from the other students, the leaders, the professors?" She looked him straight in the eye and said two words he never thought he would hear on a university campus: "Jesus Christ." He said, "Oh, for God's sake, don't give me that garbage. I'm fed up with religion, fed up with the church, fed up with the Bible." She shot back, "Mister, I didn't say religion. I said Jesus Christ." We are not saved through religion; we are saved through a Person.
III. Quebec — a peculiar people in Him.
After the Atlantic provinces is Quebec, a land of a different people — a French background, a different language and culture. Canada has long been proud of being a mosaic rather than a melting pot. 1 Peter 2:9 says that as Christians we are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." The word peculiar means different. Just as the people of Quebec are different, we as Christians are to be a distinct people. We do not act like everyone else; we do not think like everyone else; we do not talk like everyone else. We are forever transformed by our contact with the living Lord. We live in this world and are part of it, yet in one sense we do not really belong. We are a peculiar people.
IV. Ontario / Niagara — He is the Living Water.
The next province is Ontario, where our nation's capital is located and many decisions for good or ill are made. I flew to Toronto a few years ago and made sure to drive and see Niagara Falls. On the border between Canada and the United States is the greatest and most beautiful waterfall in North America; millions of gallons pour over the edge every minute. You recall that Jesus offered the Samaritan woman living water. In John 4:10 He said, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water." Everything was wrong about this woman: she was the wrong race, a Samaritan, a half-Jew rejected by the Jews; she was, in that society, of the wrong standing, for women were considered inferior; and she was of the wrong character, a great sinner who had had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband. And yet Jesus offered her living water — Himself, and eternal life. Whoever drinks ordinary water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the living water will never thirst again. Jesus is fully and permanently satisfying.
V. The Plains — He is the Bread of Life.
The next sight is the plains — miles and miles of plains. Across the prairie provinces the most obvious sight is the golden waves of wheat; the rich flat land produces an abundance of grain, and grain makes bread. Jesus made the remarkable claim that He is the Bread of Life. In John 6:35 He said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." Bread sustains physical life — throughout history it has been called the staff of life. For Jesus to say He is the bread of life means He sustains spiritual life. As I look across Canada I see many who are hungering spiritually, who do not know why there is such emptiness inside. The bread they seek is found in Jesus Christ. Ordinary bread leaves us hungry again, but Jesus said that all who eat this spiritual bread will never die.
VI. The Rockies — He is the Rock of Ages.
Rising out of the western edge of the plains are the Rocky Mountains — gigantic, majestic rocks glistening with snow on their peaks. Geologists pore over them to determine their age; some say they were pushed up from the depths of the earth millions of years ago. As believers we may not have absolute knowledge about the age of the rocks, but we may be sure of the Rock of Ages. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:4, "they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." Like the mountains, He is not moved, and He gives stability to our lives.
A sailor in a shipwreck was thrown upon a rock, where he clung in great danger until the tide went down. Later a friend asked him, "Jim, didn't you shake with fear hanging on that rock?" "Yes," he replied, "but the rock didn't." Christ is the Rock of Ages — the Rock of our salvation, the Rock of our hope.
VII. British Columbia — He is the Vine.
After crossing the western mountains, the climate grows milder. British Columbia is known as a fruit-growing region — cherries and apples in abundance, and one of the interesting sights is the vineyards. Jesus performed His first miracle by turning water into fine wine, and He used wine to represent His shed blood at the Lord's Supper. Jesus also said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). As Christians we are tied to Him and draw our strength from Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing; joined to Him we bear much fruit and cannot fail.
We have examined Canada from one end to the other — from the Alpha to the Omega. The risen Christ says in Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." Because many today will not acknowledge Him, nature itself declares His name; He has not left us without reminders that He is alive and present.
A medical missionary was leaving by ship for a foreign field. The famous Andrew Bonar of Scotland came to the pier to bid his friend farewell, only to find the doctor was accompanied by his sister. Turning to her, he said, "My dear, I don't believe I've had the privilege of meeting you. I'm glad you are going as your brother's assistant, and I'd like to remember you in my prayers. What is your first name?" "Christine," she replied. "I like that," said the aged servant of the Lord, "for you have Christ in your name. I trust you also have Him in your heart." The woman looked away and was silent. Before she could answer, the last call to board was given. Convicted by Bonar's words, she began to think about her relationship to the Lord. Though she went to church regularly, she suddenly realized she had never truly become a new creature. That night she knelt and asked the Savior to pardon her sins and make her His child.
A Second Worked Example from Dr. Cook's Pulpit: The Responses to Christ's Birth
Here is a second example under the same doctrine — this one a three-point parallel built straight from the narrative. The text is one verse, Luke 2:7, with the shepherds and the wise men drawn from Luke 2 and Matthew 2; the keyword gathers the whole sermon into one idea.
Subject: the responses to the birth of Christ
Text: Luke 2:7 (with Luke 2:8–20; Matthew 2:1–12)
Proposition: The birth of Christ calls every heart to answer Him.
Interrogative: How? — How did people respond to His birth?
Keyword: responses
Transitional sentence: "Let us look at three responses to the birth of Christ."
Divisions — three, each on its own text:
I. The Innkeeper — no room for Him — Luke 2:7
II. The Shepherds — worshipping Him — Luke 2:15–16
III. The Wise Men — seeking Him — Matthew 2:1–2
The sermon as preached:
I. The Innkeeper — no room for Him.
In Luke we find a nameless man who turned Joseph and Mary away — the innkeeper. Because the town was full, he had no room for the expectant mother and the Christ child to be born. I suspect this is not how he would wish to be remembered. He may have been a decent man, a good husband and father; if he had only known that this woman carried the Son of God, he might have given up his own bed that night. But as it was, he missed a wonderful opportunity — there was no room.
It is easy to criticize the innkeeper for having no room for Jesus, but I have done the same thing. There have been times when I had no room for Jesus. When I was in university, I sometimes went to church, but I did not make God a priority. Maybe some of you are like me. Here at Christmastime, some of you may need to make room for Jesus in your hearts.
II. The Shepherds — worshipping Him.
Luke 2:8 says, "there were shepherds in the fields, watching over their sheep by night." This is striking, because shepherds were despised by the religious people of Jesus' day; they could not keep all the laws of ceremonial cleanness, and so others looked down on them. Yet the greatest news ever delivered was not given to the pious Levites, nor the scholarly leaders, nor the Roman governor, nor King Herod — it came to poor shepherds on a hillside. That is often the way God works. We cannot boast of who we are; God alone is to be glorified. We are all like the outcast shepherds.
Suddenly the angel of the Lord came and preached the good news, and the Bible says they were terrified — they knew they stood in the presence of God and felt their own sinfulness. The angel said, "Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Now the shepherds had to decide. It was not enough to hear about the birth of Jesus; the Bible says they made haste to go to Him. They left their sheep behind and went to worship Him.
III. The Wise Men — seeking Him.
When Jesus was born, wise men came from the East to seek Him. There are many legends about them, but the Bible does not say there were three — there may have been three hundred. It does not call them kings; it calls them wise men. It does not give their names, nor say they rode camels. But we know they were wise:
— They were wise enough to look up. They looked up and saw the star, which they followed to Jesus. We too need to take time to look up. We have problems and sins all around us, and we need to look upward.
— They were wise enough to respond in faith. Some must have thought them out of their minds. "Where are you going?" they would have asked. "We are not really sure," the wise men had to answer. "We do not know who this new King is or where we will find Him; we have no idea how long the journey will take or what it will cost." Like Abraham, they set out not knowing where they were going. And wise men of every generation have done the same under God's prompting.
William Carey, an English shoemaker, read our Lord's great commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel, and he felt the weight of taking the gospel to every creature. Other Baptist leaders of his day argued that God could save the heathen without his help. In the face of opposition and ridicule, he went to the far-off land of India and labored seven years before he saw one soul come to Christ. He worked relentlessly, translated the Bible into several languages, and became known as the father of modern missions.
The wise men brought gifts to Jesus. Christmas is a time of giving — God began it all when He gave His only Son. The wise men brought gold, a gift fitting for a king; incense, a gift for a priest; and myrrh, a gift for one who was to die.
The painter Holman Hunt has a famous picture of Jesus as a boy at the door of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth. The setting sun shines in at the door, and the lad has come to stretch His arms, cramped over the carpenter's bench. He stands in the doorway with arms outstretched, and behind Him, on the wall, falls the shadow of a cross. In the background stands Mary, and as she sees that shadow there is the fear of the coming tragedy in her eyes. Jesus came into the world to live for men, and in the end to die for men. He came to give men His life and His death.
Do not stop at the manger or the teaching. A Christmas-only or teacher-only Christ is half a Savior; preach through to the cross and the empty tomb. Preach the work, not just the facts. The resurrection is not only something that happened; it is something that saves — always press from event to benefit. Let the four movements arc to response. The return is the natural peak: because He is coming, the hearer must be ready. So Unit 6 takes the central doctrine and runs the method: a lean backbone, a subject and keyword, four movements each on a text, one developed by E-A-I, arcing toward faith in the crucified and risen Lord. Unit 7 turns to the Holy Spirit.
Unit 6 Final Exam
Certificate track: the 20 multiple-choice questions. Associate: multiple choice and the 10 fill-in-the-blank questions. M.Div. and Th.M.: multiple choice, fill-ins and the 10 short-answer questions. 90% of each part is required to pass. If you do not pass, the exam waits a short time before you can try again.
M.Div. and Th.M.: all five assigned readings are part of the course. Their separate exam is required after activation; see its page for the current rule. Honors remains optional and does not replace the exam.
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