Dr. Lawrence B. Powers
I’m asked from time to time “how do you write a sermon every week?” The answer is a bit complicated. No sermon is ever what was originally planned and no route toward planning is direct. That said, I do have a process of preparation which you’ll find below!
Note: Additional worship planning is done with the other staff and leadership throughout every week in relation to order of worship, music, etc. This is just about the sermon itself! Also, this is MY sermon preparation process–– every preacher is different in how they prepare and put things together!
The Starting Point: Planning in Advance
This is the starting point of mapping out what a year of sermons might look like. It is not a set-in-stone kind of map, but a journey of listening to where the Spirit’s voice is intertwined in the Scriptures, research, and life of the congregation.
Note: Theologian Karl Barth once said “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” Sometimes things happen in the world and the Spirit leads me to change what I’ve planned. Sometimes this is a deviation from the Lectionary, sometimes a sermon change–– even after I’ve written it! Prayerfully listening to the guidance of the Spirit is important in sermon planning week-to-week!
Digesting the Passage
The Whiteboard
One of my favorite tools in sermon preparation is the whiteboard in the Conference Room off of my office. Every passage that I preach on is first mapped out on the board. I add where my scripture readings have taken me, then adding supplemental thoughts, quotes, possible illustrations, musings, etc. After this, I tie things together much like you might map out a vision plan or project–– making connections and more as I read and study.
Supplemental Readings
Adding Application Points and Putting It Down
Printing the White Board
From White Board to Keyboard
On either Wednesday or Thursday morning I leave the office and go to a local coffee shop to pull everything together and write the sermon. I start by mapping out an outline of the sermon using my whiteboard printout, other notes, and thoughts.
After crafting the outline, I use the Sermonary app to begin crafting my sermon. I do not preach from a manuscript (every word is written out in advance to be read), so Sermonary allows me to write my sermon in blocks that I then use to keep on track on Sunday mornings when I preach.
Powering the Powerpoint
Practice Makes…
I am under no impression that it makes perfect in the case of my sermons, but I always run through the sermon as I will preach it on Sunday. Using my iPad with Sermonary, I move through the sermon just like I will on Sunday to test the flow and check to make sure that the timing is right.
For those wondering, Sermonary has a countdown clock that stays at the top of my notes in its Podium Mode feature so I know how much time I have left. Additionally, I write the word ‘(SLIDE)’ in big red letters so that the tech team knows when to advance the slides!
Let It Be
No pastor can truly sit a sermon aside, but I do my best to leave it on Thursday afternoon when I walk out of the office. My day offs are Friday and Saturday and I like to keep those days as work-free as I can (Friday as a personal day to catch up on things and Saturday is when my family is home and I spent time with them).
If something comes to mind for the sermon, I pull out my phone and go to the Sermonary website to add it (all changes are saved in the drive on all devices), but I do not do much more than that on the weekend.
Final Check and Preaching the Sermon
On Sunday mornings I spend a few minutes in prayer over the sermon, the coming worship services, and read through the sermon one more time to see if there is anything else I’d like to add.
Following this, I print the sermon for the tech team and head to Sunday School or to do some other worship preparation needs.
The next part is the part you actually see and hear–– preaching the sermon! All of the preparation, writing, prayer, and study comes down to the 20 (or so) minutes that I stand in the pulpit. (Though, by the time it is preaching, the sermon is actually been in the prep and bake stage for MUCH longer than 20 minutes!)