How do you prepare and deliver a good sermon?
Preaching God’s Word to God’s people is a serious task—one that requires preparation and
prayer. But knowing how to write a sermon takes practice. We’d be hard-pressed to say all there
is to say about effective preaching, but the practices and tips below will help you begin to find
the sermon preparation rhythm that works best for you. Keep reading to learn all about how to
write a sermon—or skip to the topics that interest you most. Then take a look at resources to help
in your sermon preparation:
1. Choose your sermon topic
Before we dive into how to write a sermon, let’s consider the two main types of sermons: topical
and expositional.
Topical sermons&explore a biblical word or concept, like missions, giving, or prayer. Learn how
to build your topical sermon from start to finish in Logos.
Expositional sermons&walk through biblical passages in detail, often verse by verse. They are
usually part of a series on a portion of Scripture preached sequentially, such as a book or a
literary unit like the Sermon on the Mount.&
2. Prepare your heart to preach
The most important part of sermon preparation doesn’t happen behind a desk or a computer. It
happens on your knees. Prayer is the true power behind the pulpit.
3. Examine the topic for yourself
Before you can preach a passage or a topic, you need to know it for yourself. This takes
concerted time in the text. An effective, simple method for study is the inductive method:
Observe&(What does the text say? Here you’re noticing details, like that a verse contains
three commands or that a word is repeated multiple times in a paragraph.)
Interpret&(What does it mean? Here you’re piecing together what you’ve observed to
determine what the author meant to communicate.)
Apply&(How does it apply to me and my hearers? Here you’re considering what we
should do, think, and/or believe based on the author’s message.)
All of this should lead you to one central idea. For example, you should be able to summarize
your passage in a sentence (like “Jesus warns us that money is a terrible master”). If the passage
still seems disconnected, you have more work to do. When you’ve worked through complexity to
arrive at simplicity, you’ve achieved understanding.
A note on context: Make sure you consider the passage or topic’s immediate context (the
surrounding verses and the book it’s in) as well as its context in all of Scripture. Never interpret a
verse without looking at everything that surrounds it. Taking time in this process gets the sermon
deeply into your head, and prayer gets it into your heart.
4. Review original languages
Exploring words used in the original languages helps you understand a passage even more
clearly. Even if you don’t know the difference between a jot and a tittle, you can find tools to
help you explore each word’s original meaning better.
5. Read commentaries
Commentaries are useful to help you understand how other respected preachers have understood
your chosen topic. While other books can cover specific topics more in-depth, commentaries
focus on biblical passages. They’re one of the most helpful tools in a pastor’s toolkit. There are
three main kinds of commentaries: pastoral, devotional, and critical. Keep reading to learn more
about each commentary type.
6. Build your outline
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to put pen to paper. You should have a good idea of
the main point you’ll make, and you can start thinking about the sermon title. This phase is
where your sermon begins to take shape—and it’s where you can start thinking about helpful
quotes and illustrations.
7. Write with your audience in mind
Many preachers (and writers say the same thing) recommend thinking of a specific person—or a
handful of people—in the congregation who will hear a sermon, then writing the sermon with
them in mind. That’s one great way to love the people with whom you’re sharing God’s Word.
Another way to care for God’s people as a preacher is to use relevant illustrations and quotes to
help listeners grasp the text’s meaning. Just make sure the majority of your church will
understand your illustrations and quotes. For example, a mostly female audience may not follow
your meaning if you’re using an analogy from a war movie.
9. Share your sermon
Once the prep is done and the sermon is preached, it’s time to share your sermon online. Posting
your sermon on your church’s podcast and website isn’t just to give you a storehouse of sermons
to come back to. They’re also valuable for prospective church visitors and devoted members who
missed part of your sermon series.
Faithlife Proclaim
Faithlife Proclaim is church presentation software that builds on the work you do in Logos by
helping you quickly create compelling sermon slides. Plus, Proclaim records and posts your
sermon online automatically.
How to begin a speech, report, lesson, testimony, or sermon.
How to Measure Time.
The uninitiated speaker who has been handed the pulpit and told to take 5 to 10 minutes is lost.
He/she has no concept of time. None. They will think they have taken 2 minutes when they
actually took 15.
I still remember with some pain a lay speaker who was representing a ministry of considerable
importance in our state, and who was assigned 10 minutes for a report to one of our
convocations. He walked to the pulpit, told his audience of several hundred that he had been
given that amount of time, and made some general remarks which were intended--I would
assume--to connect him with the hearers and to relax him. The problem is those remarks took&all
of his time.&Every minute of the ten.
To make matters worse, when he finally launched into his report, he took 10 minutes for the
introductory portion. When he had gone 20 minutes, he paused to take a breath and said to us,
"In the few minutes I have remaining, I'd like to...."This happens more often than you might
think. Simply stated, a beginning speaker has a hundred things on his mind, a dozen conflicting
emotions coursing through his being, and they all block out any awareness of how long he has
stood there.
3. How to pick and choose a few Scriptures.
The novice stands in front of us and makes a point that is biblical and sound. Then, to back it up,
he proceeds to read to us&every&scripture he can find on the subject. And with some subjects,
that's a truckload! We would like the lay speaker/preacher to know: it's okay to leave out some of
what the Bible has to say on your subject. If you expect people to appreciate the ones you quote
and to remember them, one or two on each point will be sufficient.
4. How to tell a story without a thousand irrelevant details.
A good story will have some details, but will not be overstuffed with them. If the speaker takes
all day to get to the point, his hearers will have forgotten his point, will be tired of listening, will
be ready to move along, and will be more than a little impatient with him. Anyone who has heard
me preach knows I love a good story. Love to hear it, love to tell it. So, when the speaker
launches into an illustration, he has me on his side. I want him to do well. However....
Recently, in a meeting I was attending, a beginning preacher--not a kid, but a mature man in his
first pastorate--told story after story in his sermon. In so doing, he committed two errors, the kind
usually attributable to young preachers. --First, too many stories can make the sermon as
ineffective as none. Try to avoid skyscraper sermons. You know, one story on top of another.
--Second, his last story took fifteen minutes to tell. He and his wife took a long trip with friends
and visited two churches in two cities. The contrast between the two churches was the point of
his message. As an audience member, I liked the points he was making and found them well-
stated. He was not boring at all, and I stayed with him all the way. However, he turned the
sermon into a travelogue, and it eventually lost all semblance to a gospel message and became
simply a tale of two churches. The remedy is twofold: practice telling the story to your wife and
listen to it played back on a recording. Your wife will tell you to cut out much of the clutter, and
your own mind will do so when listening to the playback.
5. When a story is appropriate or wrong; when it is needed or not.
Not all points in a sermon need to be illustrated with a story. Not all stories are appropriate for
that message, that point, or that church. Veteran preachers sometimes err here. I still grimace at
the memory of one man of God who told his large convention audience a tale about his daughter,
about what a dumb blonde she was, and then at the conclusion, finished by telling us it was just a
joke and didn't happen at all.
What in the world, I wondered, did he mean by doing such a foolish thing? Had he taken leave of
his senses? What damage did he inflict on his daughter? And was he aware that no one heard a
thing he said for the next five minutes for thinking about that truly bizarre joke? The shorthand
remedy for this is: Ask your wife. The Lord gives us spouses who see things differently from us
for good reason. Ask her and respect her answer. If you disagree with what she says, take it to
heart, then take it to the Lord and ask Him.
6. When to carry notes with you into the pulpit.
Recently, I sat in an audience where a representative of the children's ministry in that state
Baptist convention was delivering a report to the congregation. According to his own testimony,
he had worked for that agency for years and was now retired. He told a couple of stories and
made a pretty fair plea for support. But....
What I could not understand was the cards he carried into the pulpit with him. He glanced at
them from time to time, and shuffled them as he got further into the message. The man was
speaking about something he had given his life to. So, why in sam hill did he need notes? It's as
though you asked me to get up and tell about my grandchildren, and I had to rely on cue cards.
Bizarre.
7. When to shut up.
Plainly put, the uninitiated layperson who stands to speak usually has no idea how to end his
message effectively. I suspect it's because he has had too many dull preachers as his role model,
men who said "Finally, brethren" a dozen times before they closed it down. I'm in the audience, I
hear the layman (or beginning preacher) speaking, and I think, "Right there! That was a great
line. End it there, and you will have us walking out of here in your corner."
But he doesn't. He almost always drones on and on. In most cases, he just fizzles out, sometimes
apologizing for his ineffectiveness or lack of preparation. This speaker needed a friend, someone
who would listen to him and offer sound feedback.
8. That the off-the-cuff and ad-lib remarks need forethought, too.
Someone once said of Winston Churchill--for my money, the greatest public speaker in modern
history--that he spent half his life planning his ad-libs. For preachers and lay speakers, those
impromptu remarks usually come when we walk to the pulpit, look at our audience, and begin to
speak. We have our message, it's well-planned, and we're ready for it. However, we feel we need
to make a few casual remarks about "How good it is to be here in Greenwood" or "Wasn't that a
wonderful song? Thank you so much, Sister Cherry!"
Pray about them in advance. I do. If there is a special significance to this day, this occasion, or
this place, I'll prayerfully figure out what I want to say about it in advance. Recently, while
supplying the pulpit for a pastor friend, I began: "In the 16 years Pastor Jim has led this church,
he has had me for three revivals. That means you have heard everything I have to say...three
times!" They laughed, and I launched into the introduction of this sermon, as to why it was
something very special.
Frank Pollard, celebrated pastor and personal friend of years past, sometimes began his message
by acknowledging the introduction: "The Lord needs to forgive my brother for that wonderful
introduction--and forgive me for enjoying it so much!" His words brought laughter and
connected him with his audience, and he was off, into his message.
9. That your personal appearance matters.
Give some thought to your appearance. The primary rule--at least for me--is: "Have nothing in
your dress or appearance that will detract from your message."
For ladies, that means to dress conservatively (watch those earrings!) and tastefully. We have all
seen young women presenting a solo in church when their dress was cut too low at the top or too
high at the bottom. Too tight, too loud, too busy, too gaudy, are also no-nos. Men will want to
dress in a way so as to reflect well on their assignment. Whether he wears a suit or a dress shirt
and tie may depend on the culture within that church. It's better to err on the side of over-
dressing than be guilty of looking slovenly while on the King's business. Guys, get a haircut,
shave, and look your best. Recently, I was in conversation with a mature pastor who has taken to
leaving off the necktie. "I don't want to create a barrier between me and my congregation," he
said, "or the casual visitor."
Conclusion
In the end, learning how to write a sermon well will carry you throughout the years you will
preach. Ultimately, you’ll want to find a system that works best for you, your family, and your
church.
