There are a number of ways to preach the book of Job. Here are at least four.
1. You can preach VERSE BY VERSE through the entire book that will be very taxing for you and your people. Steven Mathewson says several times that the dialogue section of Job is exhausting (Mathewson, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Poetry (p. 139). (Function). Kindle Edition). I preached through the entire book of Job once and my congregation was very patient and even appreciated sermons on a book they had never heard preached beyond chapters 1 and 2.
2. You can preach the book in THREE SERMONS answering the first point of the question: “Why do suffering believers continue to serve the Lord?”
First Sermon: Suffering believers do not serve God for material and physical possessions (1-2)
Second sermon: Suffering believers do not serve God for the praise of man (3-37)
Third sermon: Suffering believers do serve God for His Pleasure (38-42). My posts under the title: Sample Sermons: The Problem of Evil and Suffering, Part One and Two are basically three sermons answering the question: “Why do suffering believers continue to serve the Lord.
3. You can preach like Steven Mathewson a FIVE SERMON SERIES (Steven Mathewson, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Poetry (p.p 153-165). (Function). Kindle Edition.
My first sermon title for Job 1–2 is “God on Trial.”
My second sermon title is “Coping with Undeserved Suffering.” Job 3-28
Select particular statements from each speaker to provide a window into their message.
A. Cycle 1: Admit you’re wrong and deal with your sin (chaps. 4–14).
Job in 6:15 describes his friends as “worthless physicians”
B. Cycle 2: Consider the fate of the wicked, for you are one of them (chaps. 15–21).
Job describes his friends as “miserable comforters” in 16:2–3
C. Cycle 3: God is rebuking you for your great wickedness (chaps. 22–27).
Eliphaz attacks Job: “Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?” in 22:5
Here is four and half minute video on how to preach Job in five sermons: Tips on Preaching and Teaching Job (click to open).
4. You can preach the entire book on ONE SERMON. Mathewson states: “It is possible to preach the book of Job in a single sermon” (Ibid., 158)
I. Job in the hands of Satan (Job 1-2)
II. Job in the hands of his Christian friends (Job 3-37)
III. Job in the hands of God (Job 38-42)
Surveying a entire book is beneficial. If Jesus surveyed the Old Testament on the road to Emmaus in a couple of hours and saw the need of it (Lk 24:13), we can survey the book of Job in one sermon. There are many options in preaching the book Job: Verse by verse through the entire book, three sermons on the major sections, five sermons on major sections, and one survey sermon that gives the big picture of why suffering believers continue to serve the Lord and grow in the process.
