Every text has a big idea - the one main idea that God wants to communicate through this text to these people at this time. In other words, the big idea is the message . Try to express your big idea in a single, simple sentence. Aim for less than 10 words if you can. Complex theme sentences tend to create complex sermons.
Every text has a story .
If we can identify the humanity inherent in the text we have a stronger chance of communicating powerfully with our listeners. The most effective way of addressing the classic homiletic problem of text and today is to develop the human elements of the passage. These were tough times to be a Christian. Christians were falling out of step with Roman society. It would only get worse under Nero.