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Sermon
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<p>A sermon is a religious discourse or <a href="/facts/Oration/MQejeEC0">oration</a> by a <a href="/facts/Preacher/XbQGd1Ap">preacher</a>, usually a member of <a href="/facts/Clergy/IzdAVmsT">clergy</a>. Sermons address a <a href="/facts/Scriptural/H2HjQEYv">scriptural</a>, <a href="/facts/Theological/N71Fyw2M">theological</a>, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. Elements of the sermon often include <a href="/facts/Expository_preaching/8mX4zH5d">exposition</a>, <a href="/facts/Exhortation/zTXB4tsG">exhortation</a>, and practical application. The act of delivering a sermon is called preaching. In <a href="/facts/Secular/uCj9a25U">secular</a> usage, the word <i>sermon</i> may refer, often disparagingly, to a lecture on <a href="/facts/Moral/duslC1ta">morals</a>. </p><p>In <a href="/facts/Christianity/nKyJHlqq">Christian</a> practice, a sermon is usually preached to a <a href="/facts/Church_(congregation)/w6oI768t">congregation</a> in a place of worship, either from an elevated architectural feature, known as a <a href="/facts/Pulpit/0lAyVbtm">pulpit</a> or an <a href="/facts/Ambon_(liturgy)/0sWcfEkD">ambo</a>, or from behind a <a href="/facts/Lectern/RwoDMK9X">lectern</a>. The word <i>sermon</i> comes from a <a href="/facts/Middle_English/dj1wHvwd">Middle English</a> word which was derived from <a href="/facts/Old_French/QcRpPdAc">Old French</a>, which in turn originates from the Latin word <i>sermō</i> meaning 'discourse.' A <i><a href="/facts/Sermonette/6SJtMHAD">sermonette</a></i> is a short sermon (usually associated with television broadcasting, as stations would present a sermonette before <a href="/facts/Sign-off_(broadcast)/s5S9DpWv">signing off</a> for the night). The <a href="/facts/Christian_Bible/SqkRTKCh">Christian Bible</a> contains many speeches without interlocution, which some take to be sermons: Jesus' <a href="/facts/Sermon_on_the_Mount/es0fPwI6">Sermon on the Mount</a> in Matthew 5–7 (though the gospel writers do not specifically call it a sermon; the popular descriptor for Jesus' speech there came much later); and <a href="/facts/Saint_Peter/50X8naSm">Peter</a> after <a href="/facts/Pentecost/FdXYJFU2">Pentecost</a> in Acts 2:14–40 (though this speech was delivered to non-Christians and as such is not quite parallel to the popular definition of a sermon). </p><p>In <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islam</a>, sermons are known as <i><a href="/facts/Khutbah/VKAFjrQD">khutbah</a></i>. </p>