Pastors, preachers, evangelists and students of preaching often ask the question, “How do I prepare for a sermon?”
In some ways it’s very simple. And in others, very complex.
It’s like the three blind men who describe what an elephant looks like:
The first blind man feels the elephant’s trunk and says, “An elephant is like a giant snake.”
A second blind man feels the ears and states, “An elephant has mighty wings!”
The last blind man wraps his arms around the animal’s leg. “An elephant is like a mighty oak tree!”
Well, they were all right and all wrong at the same time.
To understand how to prepare for a sermon you need to understand both the details and the big picture those details create.
We can’t look at all the details today that go into sermon preparation. But we can look at a very important one.
If we are going to preach a sermon, we need to have something worthwhile to say.
This brings us to the perennial question:
When I prepare for a sermon, do I start with a scripture passage or do I start with a congregational need?
Some argue, “You have to start with a passage of the Bible. Study that passage first. Then in your sermon you cover whatever needs that passage addresses.”
Others reply, “No. Jesus always started with human needs first. Once he addressed their needs he was then able to move to Scriptural truth!”
Bottom Line: Your sermon better include both. If you lack either one, your sermon will flop.
If your sermon lacks serious study of a scriptural passage, you offer your listeners nothing eternal, nothing of lasting significance. Instead of offering them scriptural texts, you offer them proof-texts.
And you will try to hide the lack of scriptural insight in your sermon by trying to tell lots of stories, jokes or manufacturing emotion.
On the other hand, your sermon could have great scriptural insight and content.
But if you don’t show your people how this scriptural truth addresses a question they have or remedies a need they struggle with you reinforce the idea in your listeners’ minds that scripture is good for Sunday mornings but completely irrelevant Monday through Saturday.
Pastors face two temptations when they prepare for a sermon.
The first temptation is to be lazy in studying the scripture.
The second is to be lazy in showing the relevance of the scripture.
Great sermons, I mean great sermons, put the needs of your listeners on a collision course with the truths of Scripture.
When that happens, you have church.
That’s how you prepare for a sermon.
Your Sermon Coach,
Randall Garing
P.S. For more in depth sermon secrets Click Here!
