For all of you preachers out there, I would love to hear what your routine is before preaching on Sunday morning. I don’t have a particular routine for preparing the actual sermon. My routine comes after I have my sermon prepared. First, at some point in the week I go up to the balcony (where our powerpoint computer is), get my slides on the computer, and preach the whole sermon. I go through the whole thing, along with the powerpoint presentation. Because we have many people in our building coming and going throughout the week, and because we have an elementary school that meets in our building I constantly have to keep an eye out for anyone that may wander into our auditorium. It would be highly embarassing to have someone walk in on me while I’m waiving hands around preaching my sermon all by myself. Then, on Sunday morning I go to the building early and lock myself in my office. During this time I preach the sermon again, making extra notes and changes to my transcript.
I don’t have to do these things, but I feel so much more comfortable when I’ve done them. I once heard of a preacher who had a certain closet in the church building that he would lock himself in at some point in the week, and he would go through his sermon. He never told any of the other staff which closet he used. It has been said that Billy Graham would go outdoors and preach to the trees as he prepared for Sunday. What kind of things do you do?
On a side note – the walls in my office have never come foward for repentance or baptism. What does that say about my sermons?
Hey Gilbert, wow you really prepare! I’ll answer your question, but have to say that I do not consider myself an above average preacher. I think I have a lot to learn in this area. But that’s OK.
I have never been able to rehearse the sermon. I don’t know why – but I just can’t do it. It causes me to be stiff and distracted when I’m actually preaching. A couple of things I try to do after I have the basics of my sermon down: 1.) Spend time personalizing. I try to work hard on asking tough questions about how I am living out or responding to the truths that I’m going to share. This exercise helps me to connect well with my audience. 2.) Obviously, pray. 3.) Watch and Listen. If I will pay attention, God will almost always provide insights through people and events in my life. It’s amazing how He does that week after week.
My sermon rarely comes together fully until about 8 a.m. on Sunday morning. But even then, it most often continues to change through the worship service and the actual preaching.
I hope to hear one of your sermons someday!
Teams are everything for me.
I have a worship planning team that meets every Sunday afternoon at 4:45 for one hour and discusses:
1. How the morning went: Did we sense the Lord’s presence, Did the message connect, Music, Lights, graphics, garden of prayer, response time, communion, music, videos, stage/props, greeters, flow stuff…
2. I cast the vision for the next week’s message (usually give the titles for the series in advance and communicate throughout the week about ideas for future messages)and brainstorm the focus point with the team and they throw out ideas regarding titles, stories, illustrations, focus points, how it relates to their lives, videos, songs, and key phrases that connect with them
3. Mondays: Text Studay Day (sometimes at the office sometimes at a member’s lake house) and research key graphics, videos, illustrations, music, from discussion Sunday… put together a basic slide format for media shout
4. I don’t usually touch the message again until Thursday. On Thursday I try to have the message and presentation stuff about 70% done
5. Sunday morning at 5:00 & pray/listen to specific connect points about the spirit’s intent for the day – with in mind all of the different backgrounds of people who will be there that day -Bring it all together in regards to the slide presentation and key points.
6. Insert the presentation into Media Shout by 7:30 for the 8:00 service.
7. Go through the first round at 8:00
8. Make necessary changes to media Shout between 9:00 & 9:15 for the 9:15 service.
9. Preach it again
10. Make necessary changes to media shout between 10:30 & 10:45
11. Preach it again.
Typically don’t have to adjust much between the 2nd and 3rd services. And when I walk on stage – i’m only about 80% prepared – I always leave room for things that I know will come to me while I’m talking and I never rehearse the message or write the sermon out. i can’t do that very well.
Meet again at 4:45 and run the route again.
Thanks Dusty. I find that when I don’t rehearse it that I am stiff and distracted, because I am too busy trying to remember what I want to say (and I often end up looking at my notes too much). When I have the basics of my transcript fairly well “rehearsed” then I feel more freedom (and confidence) to be myself and change things on whim if I feel the Spirit moving me somewhere else.
I don’t know if that makes sense anywhere other than in my head, haha!
Thanks Jeff. Sounds like you have a whole lot more going on than I do here. I would love to have a worship team that helps to create the worship and the sermon, but that is not the DNA of this church. Maybe one day we will get to that point. You’ve been in Kentucky. You know how things work around here.
I did the same thing in Kentucky with 3 ladies and one youth oriented guy – in that regard – it’s just about connecting with like minded people and listening to what they have to say that could help your presentation and ministry out. None of these guys here are on staff – they’re friends.
Gilbert – you’re gifted relationally and people want/like to work with you. You’ll be surprised how people would grow and enjoy being a part of your prep work. They sometimes know what connects better than we do.
Rick Warren says, “You can learn from anyone, you just have to know what kind of questions to ask.”
God bless
That’s a great routine.
I start with the text on Monday. I read and re-read it, pray, scribble notes, ask people what they think.
On Tuesday I repeat this but try to get a basic outline of what the text is saying to me. When it’s a narrative sermon the outline is tough, so I story-line it, kind of like I would if I were preparing to film a movie. Scene 1, and so on…
Wednesday is the day I really begin to focus in more prayer over the message. I ask God to make it clear to me, to help me apply to my life what he is saying. This goes on throughout the day. I often go home on Wednesday afternoons and sit.
Thursday is writing day. I read the text again and again, sometimes writing it out in my own hand. Sometimes I type the sermon first, sometimes I put it down the old fashioned way, on a legal pad first. I have no idea why. My goal is to be 75% finished with the writing of the sermon by the time I go home Thursday.
Friday I look at the sermon, but only spend any time on it if I did not get to a comfortable spot on Thursday.
Saturday I think about the sermon all day. I usually don’t look at it again until late in the evening. This is when I finish the PowerPoint slides, that (I forgot to mention) I began on Thursday.
Sometimes I have peace about the message on Saturday, sometimes I don’t. I usually get up very early on Sunday. I walk around our cul-de-sac, have some coffee, read the sports page, and then finally turn to the sermon again.
By this time I feel like the sermon is a dear friend, almost like a living person. Sitting at our breakfast table I imagine Jesus is sitting across from me. This process takes some time and can’t be trivialized. It involves prayer and a spiritual imagination. I ask Him if he likes the sermon and ask Him for help. He often smiles, and sometimes reminds me of a story or joke. I enjoy this part of my preparation as much as anything I do during the week.
After my talk with Jesus I shower, dress, go to my office and will actually practice preaching the sermon for the first time. I meet and pray with my staff at 8:15, teach our Welcome Class at 9:00 and walk into the Worship Center to deliver the sermon at 10:15.
Sometime during the afternoon I’ll think about the text for next Sunday’s message, getting ready for Monday…
I grab as much study time as I can on Tues and Wed. On Thurs I mindmap the sermon. I like to have a rough draft done before I go home that night. On Friday morning I take a 2nd pass at it and clean it up a bit. Late Saturday afternoon I look at it one more time and then print it out. I’ll then take it with me on a run through our neighborhood and I’ll memorize the flow and structure of what I want to say. Later that night I’ll sit in a hot bath and work it out one more time. The last thing I do before bed is put the ppt. together. On Sunday morning I get up and preach it. We only have one service, but I’d really like to have two if for no other reason I’d like to have a shot at reworking what didn’t work the first time.
Admittedly, mine may be way out there, but it’s what actually goes on and what works for me. I used to be thrilled when I finally thought of next Sunday’s sermon and sick as soon as it was over. What’s left to study….to say? Now things are much different.
I study during the week to learn. If I haven’t learned something about God and His Kingdom during the week, I have nothing to say. I study to learn for me. As I go through that process I listen for Him to speak through society: i.e., a song on the radio, a comment by a waitress, a conversation with a friend over coffee. God will, somewhere along the week and every week, speak to me about what He needs to be addressed the next week.
Then I go to a computer file called LIBRARY where I have logged topics/scriptures referenced in the maybe 150 books on my shelves. I have hundreds of entries and if I need to recall what I studied about “fathers” I can go to the LIBRARY and it will tell me the six books and page numbers to recall what I’ve read earlier…often years earlier.
I study that material and wait for Him to speak about what He’s thinking. Often what I preach does not come from flesh and blood…it comes from ideas He gives me. Ideas….that’s as close as I can come to explaining His speaking to me. Too, I’ll go ahead and say, He always gives me the trump point on Sunday morning when I’m shaving or showering. We always meet in the bathroom.
I don’t rehearse the sermons because mine are never done until I’m done delivering them as He may change a point along the way. I meet with a few men at 7:30 every Sunday morning for pray for an hour over the morning ahead. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I THINK I DO ALL WEEK.
I fully trust Him to stand with me and say things with the level of Life He intends. It’s a scary, sickening privilege to get to preach. I have a love/dread of the role. I’m enamoured with the thrill of it and sick with the thought of missing my audience….every time I preach. The pressure still makes me cry about it every week.
Now, I’ve let you in on something here. Don’t tell anybody.
Hey Jeff, that sounds like a good idea. I may try that. I’m not the pulpit minister – I’m the lowly Involvement Minister – so I only get to preach once a month, but I may try that on my next scheduled day to preach.
Thanks for the comments Danny. I enjoy listening to your sermons online. I also go old fashioned and write it out on a legal pad before putting it on the computer.
I would like to sit at the breakfast table with Jesus. I’m sure he has some funny jokes! Thanks.
Thanks Wade. I don’t know if I would publicly profess the hot bath thing, hahaha. Just kidding.
Yeh, the reason I rehearse my sermon twice is to memorize the flow and structure. I don’t do it to memorize the exact wording of my transcript. I just want to remember the flow.
Terry,
I believe that I will always remember your statement – “We always meet in the bathroom.” That is great!
I really like the idea of listening for God to speak through society. Thanks.
Gilbert, Ran across your blog surfing around. Loved your blog on sermon preparation. Jeff’s preparation is amazing. Makes the way I prepare for my sermon (during the Sunday morning announcements) look to simple. Just kidding. I prepare much like you guys. If find it easier preparing weeks or months ahead than not knowing week to week what I’m going to be preaching about.
God bless,
Trey
I get up at 4:30am on Sunday, shower, dress, drive through Jack-in-the-Box, read through the sermon, correct any obvious changeables…and then go over it once in the auditorium before anyone is here. Then, I correct anything I noticed, put the Powerpoint together, and get ready spiritually through prayer, and listening to Christian music.
Oh yeah… i forgot the before Sunday stuff. Monday is all meetings, except I get the big idea very clear and pass it on to the worship minister so he can begin putting worship together. I generally don’t start until Wednesday on prep. Monday and Tuesday are meeting, etc. And, I don’t have much to say yet. Wednesday, I begin with about 3 hours, Thursday (pretty much all day), and half day Friday. If it’s not done, I keep going Saturday. I like later in the week because the ideas and illustrations are flowing by then… and, I don’t have piles of admin on my desk.
Tim,
I was impressed. Just getting it done on a Sunday morning only. Wow. Then you went and put up a second post that told the truth. 🙂 ha