How Do You Prepare Sermons?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The overflow: a consistent life of prayer, reading, and meditation

• The question posed (in the host's frame): as the general superintendent, I don't think anybody would be surprised to learn that you have a very busy schedule. And you also receive a lot of invitations, to preach and teach, at conferences, seminars, local churches. In the middle of all that — with all your responsibilities, as the general superintendent, with all the travel that you do — how do you find time, to study? The answer: well, let me back up, and answer more generally, and then more specifically. Because I want it to be of maximum value, to everyone else. But before I became general superintendent, of course, I was a full-time pastor, for 18 years — as well as serving in other leadership capacities. And so I had the opportunity, or the need, to literally preach and teach, thousands of times. And prepare thousands of lessons, or messages. So: sometimes your schedule forces you, to focus just on one message. But more generally, what I try to do is, of course: have a consistent prayer, and Bible reading, and Bible meditation, life. So I try to read the Bible through, every year. Often I will choose a different translation, to help me look at it afresh. But for many years — perhaps all my ministry, and even before — I've tried to read the Bible through, every year. So I read it, not strictly to prepare for a message. But I just read it, to study, to hear God's word. And then I also read books, about the Bible. Books that help me understand the Bible. Books of theological input, apostolic and even non-apostolic, that would help me understand the teachings of scripture, more clearly. And so, with all that reading — and then, along that, is prayer and meditation: sometimes I read for large volumes; sometimes just maybe a few verses, slowly. Over the years, I've also developed a practice, of memorizing a number of passages. So: whenever I read and study, the goal is not just to prepare one message. But to hear from God. To get thoughts. So frequently, I will get a thought, in reading the Bible. Or it may be reading another book. And it may not even be the main thought of the author. But he says something, in a certain way, that just sparks something. And then, even reading secularly — I read biography, or history, or current events, or psychology, or magazines such as Reader's Digest — but there might be an anecdote, or story, or an illustration, that reminds me of a biblical principle, or a biblical truth. So lots of times, I would just jot that down.

Capturing it — the note, the list of fifty, and the subject files

• His capture system (developed across the host's follow-up questions, which stand in the host's own turns): yes — there are two ways. So if I have a physical Bible, I would always keep a notebook. I mean a note paper — at least one piece — where I could immediately jot something down. Because I found: if you wait till the end of your prayer, or the end of your study, you may have forgotten that point. So immediately, I would jot a note. And I would jot the scripture. And if it looks like a message, I will try to think of at least a title, that will remind me of the thought. It might not be the ultimate title. But I'll jot it down. If I'm reading a digital Bible, then I will try to keep notes. I have a note, on my iPad, for example: you can have a program, where you keep notes electronically. So I will do that. Or computer — keep notes on the computer. And nowadays, I usually try to transfer all these little thoughts, to a computer. And I have a list — like, right now, I probably have a list of 50 sermons, that I've never preached. And some I may never preach. But I have a title. I have a scripture. And may have a few extra thoughts, jotted down. I just keep that in a word processing program — I actually keep that in Excel, just a database. So that way: let's say I have an upcoming event — well, I can go over those 50 topics, and think about them, pray about them, see if anything I put down just strikes me, or jumps out at me, that could be a message. So that's what I would do. When I was pastoring, particularly — you're preaching the same congregation, you have to have a new message — so I would collect all these ideas. And then, the week that I'm scheduled to preach, I start reviewing these ideas, to see if any one is impressed to me. And once I feel like this is what God wants — and of course, sometimes you'll speak outside of what I've jotted down — but frequently, what I've read over the last few weeks, or months, or what I've jotted down: I will sense, now is the time, for that particular thought. Well, then I would flesh it out — by studying the scripture, studying other resources, developing notes. Develop the main idea. Developing supporting ideas — whether it be other passages of scripture, stories of scripture, personal testimonies, anecdotes. And flesh it out. Make a real sermon. So it's not a full message, until I do that. Which is usually going to be that last week, or last few days. For the secular anecdotes: sometimes I would try to think of the idea, and categorize it under that idea. Other times, I would just put it in a physical file. Or scan it, as a digital file, and put a label on it, so that I would know the subject. So later, when I'm thinking about preaching on a subject, hopefully I can either remember the article — or at least go to the subject index, and search, and say: I want an anecdote, about obedience. And if I have two or three files, or articles, then I can pull one out, and see if it fits. No specific program, generally: I would type it in word (as named), or scan it, and it would be as a PDF, or as a word file. But I would be organizing them. And of course, I would have physical files. But today, since I'm traveling everywhere, it's more convenient to have everything digitally, on my iPad, than to have a group of physical files, with me. I still have those files, in my office. But I use the digital version. So that's the general plan. And the idea is: you want to preach from the overflow. That is: you're not desperately thinking, of trying to find one thought. But you have many thoughts. And you're not desperately trying to pray enough prayers, to hear from God. But you're praying. And even if that week you did not pray an extraordinary amount of time — or some emergency came up, and you didn't really have as much prayer time as you would like, or normally — but yet, you're preaching from the overflow. It's from the built-up prayer, and study, and meditation, and ideas. That's ideal, that you would do that.

The traveling preacher — district messages, and the six-month conference process

• Now, today, I'm traveling every week. I'm preaching a different place. And many times, I'm preaching for district conferences, or camps. So there are key messages, that I feel God has given me, for a district. Well — I may preach, if I feel like, specifically for that district: that's one thing. But many times, I feel like it's given to the church. So I may preach the same thing, in different districts. And I may have a number of messages. And so I discern: what is God wanting to do, in this particular setting? So I'm drawing something, that I preached before, in another district. But I feel it's pertinent, for this district. Of course, when I do that, often I'm using the same title, and the same verse, and the same key points. But many times, the testimonies, the anecdotes, the key points, will change. And it will be — or I'll feel led: if I have three main points, I might feel led to emphasize one point, this time, versus another point, another time. Or I may feel led to add a point. So it may be a substantially different message. But it's still starting, from the same core. But if I feel like God has given me a message, for the church as a whole, then I feel it's not only acceptable, but important, to preach it, in several different places. And for local churches, somewhat the same thing. Of course, I preached — I don't know — over a thousand messages, when I was a pastor, at the local church. So there are going to be lots of messages, that are more pastoral. And when I go to a local church, I'm trying to do a couple things: I'm trying to cast a larger vision. But I'm also trying to minister, to the people there. So often, I will use a core, of a message, that I preached in our local church, some time ago. And that I may preach repeatedly, in different churches. But of course, it will be significantly changed — by adding the vision of the upci (as named), adding the testimonies, current — relating to current events. But at least I'm starting with a basic message, that I've developed, for a congregation. Now, when I'm working toward a general conference, or ministerial conference, sessions — because of the times, it's going to cover many districts — then I usually try to start several months in advance: praying, discerning what is God speaking to the church, this year? In my role as general superintendent — in some way, even though I may not be as good of a preacher, or no better preacher, than many, many others — but yet I have a unique role, and a unique voice ('a neat unique voice', as heard). And I'm speaking to the church, trying to give direction, and vision, in a way that others don't have that same responsibility. Although God can use them, in that way. I feel like it's part of my responsibility. So I'm praying more specifically. And usually, I will get an idea, months ahead. But we'll keep working on it, thinking about it, praying about it, refining it, getting scripture. And it may morph, in very different ways. But usually, the last month, I try to focus it, and flesh it out, and give deep detail, and make sure it's still pertinent, and relevant. And so those major messages usually are a process, of perhaps six months, of praying, meditating, studying, thinking, trying to put different pieces together. And then I focus, in the last couple weeks, of really honing it, to that particular place and time. So there's not just one method. But I think the main thing is, to try to develop a consistent relation with God: hearing from God, praying, studying the word of God. Not just studying, and reading, narrowly, to get one particular idea, for one message. But being absorbed in the word. And reading other materials, that will relate to the word, that help you think afresh, think creatively, think outside the box, think outside what you've already done, or what you've heard. So that God can speak to you, personally. Yes, time is a challenge. So I always look at several messages ahead, and try to be in prayer and thought, about what messages God would want to use, at a particular time. So it's just kind of a work in progress, as we go, month by month, and week by week.

Resources he commends to young ministers

• For the young minister (the host's final question — what he recommended, when training young ministers in his church): well, actually, there are newer books now, that didn't exist when I was training. But the training I gave is actually in a book, called spiritual leadership in the 21st century (as named). And I actually have a chapter, on preparing for preaching, and teaching, the word of God. So a lot of practical recommendations would be in that chapter, in that book. But we've got some great new resources, at pentecostalpublishing.com. we preach (as named), by Jerry Jones — our former general secretary. And he is now a professor, at 'Ocean College' (as heard — the school is named in the delivery note on this record). Another one — I think it's called life preaching (as named) — it's by Jonathan McClintock, who's also a professor, at 'urchin college' (as heard), and the campus pastor there. There are other resources, but those two come to mind — by Jerry Jones, and Jonathan McClintock. So those are apostolic, united pentecostal (as spoken), practical tools, for learning to preach, and learning to study — so that God would help you, with specific messages. And I do believe, obviously, the message has to come from God. But yet we can develop certain disciplines, and certain patterns, where we can be more effective, in structuring a message, that is suitable for the occasion.