Planting Partners

My worship leader is getting ready to preach his first sermon, so I put together a few of my thoughts to guide him. I thought it would be cool if a few others would chime in with their thoughts and advice for a rookie preacher.

The following is only based on my experience and is not meant to be definitive or conclusive. They are general guidelines that I attempt to follow, but they are neither rules nor a formula. A major component of successful preaching is figuring what works for you and your particular personality and preaching style. And remember: what works one week, may not the next. So always be flexible.

1. Pray
   • Each week before I open any book (including the Bible) or write anything down, I try to spend several hours in prayer seeking God’s leading for His message.
2. Choose a Scripture
   • Usually the main text for my message comes from my prayer time. Unless I’m doing a topical series (which is actually pretty often), I try to avoid pre-determining my topic and then trying to find a Scripture to support it. This can be dangerous! It is also the reason why prayer should precede anything and everything.
3. Immerse yourself in that Scripture
   • After I’ve chosen my main text, I read over it again and again, jotting down some thoughts. I use a Bible with cross-references and I read all those as well. This usually helps gives me a better understanding of the big picture.
4. Determine the “BIG Idea”
   • For a lot of preachers, the “big idea” is the central meaning or theme of the text, but I am usually not as concerned about the meaning of the text as I am in it’s meaning for us – right here, right now. For me, the big idea is the answer to the question: What do I want people to know? And then a second related question: What do I want people to do? The answer to these two questions should guide you the rest of the way.
5. Free write
   • I used to never write a manuscript because I didn’t want my sermon to be “canned” or for me to be “locked in.” But in my preaching classes I realized that I’m a good writer and it made sense that if I wrote something good, then I might also preach something good. I also have discovered that I’m a “stream-of-consciousness” sort of writer and preacher – conversational narrative – and writing it out helps to flush out my thoughts. I never do an outline or anything beforehand. I may have a few notes that I’ve taken from the text, but otherwise I just free write. My big idea helps keep me on track.
6. Use commentaries and other resources sparingly
   • I rarely use commentaries or other resources, but if I do I’ve found The International Bible Encyclopedia (4 vols) and IVP’s Dictionary series (Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, etc.) to be the most helpful. But in most cases, I’ve found that using commentaries takes me more off track then it helps put me on it. The other reason is that commentaries get so bogged down in minute detail that is seldom helpful to the average person on Sunday. If you’re a verse-by-verse preacher then those sort of resources are probably helpful, but I’m more of a “big picture” preacher and I am pretty confident in my own interpretive abilities. (Scary!)
7. Filter out what not to say
   • The front-end of the preaching preparation is figuring out what to say. Now that you’ve done all your research and writing, you need to filter out what not to say. If it doesn’t answer your big idea questions, then get rid of it. It may be interesting, but that doesn’t mean it’s helpful.
8. Use pre-fab illustrations only if you’re stuck
   • The key to successful preaching is being able to connect with the audience and there is no better way of doing that then to tell personal stories. There are a lot of good heart-warming illustrations out there that may be a million times better than anything you could come up with, but none of them will validate your sermon to your audience as much as a story that’s happened to you. Of course, it’s a challenge to come up with something personal each and every week, so you will have to use other illustrations from time to time, but use them only if you’re stuck.
9. Use technology only if it enhances
   • Technology can be an evil temptress, seducing us with her worldly wiles. There’s a lot of cool stuff out there and I know a lot of pastor’s that use video clips every week. But my philosophy has been to only use it if it really enhances the message – if it shows something better than I could ever say it myself.
10. Practice
    • I know some preachers who go over their message a dozen times and then preach it three more times on Sunday. Personally, I think I’d puke if I did that. I struggle to go over it just four times (which is my usual practice allotment – 2x on Sat. night & 2x Sun. morning). Of course, the better you know your sermon, the better your delivery will be. When you’re just starting out, it’s probably good to shoot for around 8-10 practices. As you gain experience, you’ll figure out what you can and can’t get away with.
11. Make notes
    • After I’ve gone over my sermon a couple times, I make my preaching notes. I rarely preach from the manuscript unless I didn’t get a chance to practice. My notes consist mainly of “talking points.” If I know my sermon well, then just a couple words is enough to jog my memory. If there is anything that I want to make sure I don’t screw up, I write that word-for-word in bold.
12. Preach with confidence and boldness
    • If you’ve prepared well, then preach well. Preach the message with the confidence that this is the message that God gave you for these particular people in this place on this day. It may not be the most-scholarly sermon, or the funniest sermon, or the most-profound sermon, but it is God’s message for today. Preach it with boldness!