Preparing Sermons is Messy: My Process (Kind Of)

I've asked other people how they prepare their messages, and they can almost never give a good answer. I've read famous pastors attempting to write about how they prepare messages, and they can barely articulate it.

Now that I've been preaching/teaching weekly for 3 years, I can say it's true.

• Rarely do any two messages come together in the exact same process
• No matter how much I prepare and work in advance, I'm always making last minute changes
• I don't think I could walk you through the process I go through

...but I'll kind of try.

When I preach in big church, I'm typically assigned a passage or theme. For the ones where I'm assigned a theme, it's such a crazy and complex process, I don't think I could even remember how I do it. This is somewhat what I do when I preach in big church:

1) Read the passage in several translations & see what jumps out

2) Create a mechanical layout of the text in word

3) Handwrite ideas, connections, and observations on the mechanical layout

4) Put together a very rough outline

5) Around this time, I try to discover a major theme in the text which resonates with me (assuming it will then resonate with others) - that theme becomes the basis for what I select to emphasize & the flow of the sermon

6) At this point, I start to read all the commentaries and resource books I have available to me on the passage

7) Throughout this entire process, I have a file open which is creatively titled "Ideas," in which I write down all the ideas I have. These really are random files. I'll start writing wording down. I'll put full blog posts I've read. I'll list off sermons I've heard that touch on the passage or theme. I'll paste quotes from commentaries. I'll copy and past information from past sermons I've taught. Anything that might go in the sermon, or help me to come up with how to communicate goes in the file. These files are often 10 pages long or more.

8) Around this time, I'll search to see if any of the pastors I frequently listen to have taught on the passage. I'll see how they handled the passage, and how they communicated it clearly and creatively.

9) Finally, I start taking all of the pieces and forming my preaching document. My files are far more than an outline, but not really a word for word manuscript. The document is designed to be highly readable for me while I'm preaching. I use every trick I have to make everything stick out (size, boldness, indention, alignment, color, bullet points). I'm not very good at reading. So I have to use every trick I have to help me see where I'm at. This process also helps me to visualize my points and discover what is most important. This is important since I try to memorize my sermons. A 45 minute sermon is usually 8 to 10 pages in this format.

10) Once I've done all of this, I start going back through the document to find (1) unclear points, (2) overly dry sections, (3) rabbit trails, (4) extra information, (5) missing information, and (6) awkward flow. Then, I start moving things around, cutting, and adding stuff. This is the part where I can tweak for a LONG time.

11) The morning of the sermon, I do a full run through of the sermon to myself, taking notes on where things are unclear, slow, or awkward.

12) I make final tweaks

13) By this time, I'll have it pretty close to memorized. I put post-it notes in my Bible with the points I think I'll forget. This process normally takes me up until when the service starts.

Throughout the process, I think of the people who will be in the room who I know will need this message. I pray that God would open them up to His Word. Sometimes, I'll even go in the worship space and pray over the chairs; for the people who will sit in them.