8 Hours or Less
By Ryan Huguley
- Without a deadline, there’s no delivery.
- Preparing a sermon will involve some pain, but it can be easier by planning it out.
- We’re not just trying to be faster making sermons but faithful making them.
- Faithful sermons are not just a commentary, inspirational talk, or a self help section.
- The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change the people of God. – Confusing preaching is due to laziness. Work at making it clear.
- Just because something makes sense to you doesn’t mean it will make sense to others.
- Involve others in your sermon prep. Whether you take someone out for coffee, or just casually ask about a subject idea, getting feedback could help your sermon preparation.
- You can get the text right and still get the sermon wrong. Of course you are to be faithful to the text, but you should be faithful to your listener as well. A good introduction will cut through distractions until your listener why he should pay attention. Grab their attention!
- Many of us want a word from God but not willing to spend time with God.
- You could say the right things from the wrong part. You can say hard things if you love people, but you should check your heart.
- Make sure your intro matches the tone of the text. Let your tone be set by the text.
- An introduction does not have to be long, but does have to grab the attention of your listeners.
- When you start your sermon, you should know your destination. You could start off well and still crash the plane. Know how to conclude your sermon.
- Close with clarity. Clarity is king in communication. This means you must not only be true to the text, you must be clear about it.
- Do not wing your conclusion. Figure out ahead of time how you are going to conclude. Are you going to use a story, summarize or review the points, ask a question, or challenge? Whatever it is, write it down so you are prepared.
- Endings matter. No one enjoys reading a book or watching a movie that has a poor ending, and no one enjoys listening to a sermon that has a poor ending. Preach timely, and then conclude.
- Make sure you are explaining Scripture more than you are giving your opinion.
- Do not just explain the text, you also have to creatively illustrate it for the listener.
- Be careful about using pop culture as an illustration. It might hinder more than help. You have to determine whether it’s worth the risk – it may help one person but might offend another when it comes to pop culture.
- If we are going to help people be doers of the word, we have to help them understand what to do.
- In your sermon, unpack the what, why, and how.
- You’re not finished preparing your sermon until after you’ve preached.
- Use notes. You do not have to write down everything you were going to say, but you should have a map of where you are going so you do not get sidetracked.
- Using a manuscript will help you stay on topic, help you transition from point to point, and help you keep the time.
- There’s nothing more powerful than petitioning God for help. Prayer will make your preaching more effective.
- Prayer goes with preaching preparation like peanut butter does with jelly.
- Emergencies happen, but not as much as we think. The biggest problem in sermon preparation is the lack of discipline to prepare.
- One pastor said that a good sermon might be long, but a long sermon is rarely good.