As I'm training guys in my church to preach, I quickly wrote out a very brief outline of how I prepare a sermon. It's incomplete and will seem vague to some of you. There are many things I don't mention, like finding/using illustrations, choosing commentaries, prayer, practicing the sermon and revising it, etc. But this was written for those I'm discipling who I'm interacting with a few times a week, so I can fill in the blanks verbally when they are missing. Nonetheless, I still thought it might be good for discussion here and to get feedback.
FYI and for context. I generally preach through Bible books (not topically). I treat different genres of Scripture very differently, and this outline is meant to be more general, not genre specific. I currently do all my sermon prep in a Moleskine. I write out any sermon study notes within, then organize the sermon in it, and take it into the "pulpit" with me.
How to Study the Bible for a Sermon
- Choose the text.
- Read and reread the text in its context (including the whole book of the Bible, if possible). Start with just reading and as you continue in the rereads, make notes where important words and ideas are found. Write down any wordy you need to study. Write down any other passages you might need to reference (read all cross-references listed in your Bible).
- Write (or type) the “flow” of the passage (write out the passage word for word according to its logic and structure). Use the natural idea breaks and transitions to form the “flow” of the passage.
- From the textual “flow” from #3, write out a brief hermeneutical outline that you get from the passage. This should be rigid and cold, merely describing the main thoughts of the passage as they are derived. There will probably be 3-5 ideas here directly from the passage that will describe the argument or direction of the narrative.
- From the hermeneutical outline from #4, write out a corresponding homiletical outline that will be used as a backbone to your sermon. This can and often does change as the passage is studied further, but it’s good to get it now. The points can be, but sometimes are not, broken up the same as the hermeneutical outline.
- Write out one sentence that describes the main idea of the passage in terms of what you believe the sermon should say and what you believe the result should be in the lives of people. The sermon should really only make one point. (example: The Lord’s Prayer has been given by Jesus to show us a solid backbone for faithful intercession.)
- Now take a few good commentaries and read through their ideas. How do they compare with your outlines and thoughts? How do they disagree with you? Should you change how you view the passage, the general argument, the main point? Do they give any thoughts about application in the lives of the Church? Is there something you need to study a little more? Also, pull from other books, theologies and reference materials that are pertainent to the topic/passage/point. Use the indexes in the books to find their thoughts on the passage.
- Read and study other passages that will inform your study of the passage or be helpful in explaining your passage. Look at commentaries on the other passages as needed. Don’t be afraid to throw out passages that just don’t fit your passage or purpose.
- Tweak your above outlines (#4 & #5) and main idea sentence so that you have a finalized sermon outline in which you are confident.
- Start writing the sermon body starting with the first point of your sermon outline through the final point. Focus on the flow of thought from the point, to the explanation of the point from the passage, to illustrating the point, to building a transitional sentence to the next point.
- Once the sermon body is complete, write the conclusion, making sure that the main point of the sermon is clear.
- Finally, write the introduction. The introduction should make the church ask questions in their heads that the sermon will then answer. You can use questions, a story, a reflection on the world or culture or your life, or any number of things to draw in the listeners.
Good stuff Steve. How exciting to be training men to preach God's word in the context of the local church!
Of course, it would be easier to just purchase a sermon online. :)
Posted by: Joe Thorn | 09/21/2007 at 01:32 PM
Hey Steve,
I really like your outline. Its actually quite helpful (as I'm taking a 5 minute break from writing a sermon for class) and think it offers a great structure for thinking through the important stuff to come out in any sermon.
Thanks for the usually great posts.
Posted by: Chris Gensheer | 09/21/2007 at 01:49 PM
Thanks for this Steve.
You are reminding me of a podcast with Andy Stanley where at North Point they decided to just watch him prepare for his sermon and occasionally ask him what he was doing - to overcome the challenge in thinking that he couldn't break down everything he did into steps that could be passed along to someone else.
Posted by: Nick | 09/21/2007 at 02:56 PM
Nick, do you have a link to that podcast?
Posted by: Bill Streger | 09/21/2007 at 03:08 PM
Great stuff. I really enjoy learning from other preachers how they go about preparing and preaching a sermon. Could you scan one of you recent sermons with all the notes from your Moleskine and post it? I'd love to see how it works.
Posted by: Noah | 09/21/2007 at 03:35 PM
cool approach...quick observation/question: does the personality of the individual stay intact or is there some transfer during the process? in other words, i've seen guys be one out of the pulpit and then they're "trained" and end up sounding/looking, etc. like the one who taught them (ie-some calvary chapel pastors). i don't deny that a student is like his teacher after he is trained but wonder sometimes if the whole idea of "teaching men to preach" needs some revamping in its approach. do people have to use outlines, commentaries and then cite them, etc.? just trying to think out loud here. i've been through the process of training others but quickly realized that by my putting in them a working "formula" that works well for me doesn't necessarily jive with who they are. i'm rambling now. =)
Posted by: Terry | 09/21/2007 at 03:44 PM
If you use this outline, Steve, I'm curious how long you take in sermon prep in a week.
Thanks,
Brian
Posted by: BrianW | 09/21/2007 at 05:04 PM
Noah, I dunno man. That sounds kinda risky to me. Let me think about it, but I'm thinking not at this point. It's really nothing to look at. It's a page or two of me writing out the passage and trying to get it in some outline form, then some pages of random notes from random places (commentaries, audio sermons, my own thoughts, etc), then my sermon. And it's pretty much unreadable because it's in my handwriting. :)
Terry, if I would have trained a dozen guys on this I would know how to answer. This is new for us in our little, slowly growing church. I think pretty much all preachers start out sounding like someone and then gain their own voice as they go. At least that's my hope. And you will notice in my post that little of it is personality-based.
Brian, I really haven't tried to track down the hours of specific sermon work time. I will say that I work on Friday/Saturday almost exclusively. I will read the passage and look at other texts and stuff ahead of time. I will often be writing down thoughts for a sermon weeks ahead and throwing them in a file. But all day Friday (with the night off to be with my honey) and then most of the day Saturday is sermon work.
Hope that helps.
Posted by: Steve McCoy | 09/21/2007 at 08:17 PM
Bill,
Practically Speaking - Replace Yourself, about 25 minutes in.
It's part of the Practically Speaking podcast at PracticallySpeaking.org.
Posted by: Nick | 09/21/2007 at 10:28 PM
Nice post Steve.
I was doing things in a fairly similar way until
(1) As a "tentmaking" pastor it was essentially killing me - can't possibly spend 2 days on the sermon when already working 5 in a paying job!
(2) I heard some Acts29 guy put it out there that Driscoll preaches without notes because he's not a coward...
So I started preaching without notes. I'm finding a few challenges in it, but overall it's been an amazing experience. One day I'll feel confident enough to blog something on it - at the moment I don't encourage my buddies to try it, but I still tell them they're cowards :)
Posted by: Mick Porter | 09/22/2007 at 02:14 AM
Steve,
I attended Sovereign Grace's leadership conference this past April and had the chance to listen to Mike Bullmore (a former preaching prof at TEDS) give a lecture on sermon preparation.
It was very helpful to me, and his approach seems to follow yours closely. Anyway, now that SGM is offering their audio for free, I thought this might be a good resource for you and your guys.
Link the the talk here.
In Christ, Dluxe
Posted by: Dluxe | 09/22/2007 at 09:17 AM
Mick, I used to preach with a full manuscript. Hated it, but it made my early preaching safer for me and the church. Then I got to the point where I was preaching with either no notes or a post-it note or two at the most. Now I'm using a pretty full outline in my Moleskine.
Thanks for the links everyone. Love getting resources like these.
Posted by: Steve McCoy | 09/22/2007 at 12:41 PM
Steve,
This post is thought-provoking. Thanks. What size Moleskine do you use for your preaching notes? Approx. how many pages does your outline fill?
DS
Posted by: David Sunday | 09/22/2007 at 02:20 PM
David, I use the 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 size. I've used both ruled and plain and like both.
My outline will be between 2-5 pages. A few weeks back I had seven very full pages of sermon prep notes and about 4 pages of sermon outline. I write my sermon prep notes in ink and my sermon in pencil for adjusting. There's usually plenty of open space around my outlines in case I need to tweak something later. Occasionally I'll need to do a major restructure of a piece of the sermon after the notes are done and I'll just write the new/fixed part on a post-it and lay it over the x-ed out part. You can also post-it to add something in and then remove it to return to the moleskine notes.
Posted by: Steve McCoy | 09/22/2007 at 03:01 PM
This is a great methodology! I like it. Blessings, my friend!
Posted by: Hershael W York | 09/22/2007 at 08:14 PM
The question is - how do you read your own handwriting? I've tried doing handwritten notes, but don't trust myself to be able to read my own writing in the pulpit. :)
Posted by: Bill Streger | 09/23/2007 at 08:31 PM
Based on my appreciation for Tim Keller's ability to communicate to believers and unbelievers at the same time, I started doing this:
At an appropriate point in sermon prep, when I have a good feel for the main idea of the passage/sermon, I will jot down ideas concerning how those outside the church think about this same (broad) topic. Also how the typical listener (i.e. a business person who attends the church, or a mom, etc.) struggles with this issue, and whether they would think what I'm urging makes sense in their world - this helps me avoid platitudes, etc.
Thinking through this has helped me considerably, and hopefully helped my hearers. I realize this is secondary to simply understanding God's word, but I do find it helps to communicate God's word more clearly and hopefully more faithfully.
- Ken
Posted by: Ken | 09/26/2007 at 07:10 AM
Bill, I love that idea. I usually try to think of things from the audience's point of view, but I like how specific you get. Thanks to you I'm putting together a demographic outline of at least 5 types of people there on a Sunday so I can evaluate the main point and subsequent material as they would see it.
Posted by: Kyle | 10/26/2007 at 11:08 AM
Obviously I was reading the names wrong, thanks Ken (nothing against Bill).
Posted by: Kyle | 10/26/2007 at 11:11 AM