"How to Prepare a Sermon"

Preach the Word Podcast

Episode 46

"How to Prepare for a Sermon"

"The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not 'what a lovely sermon,' but, ' I WILL DO SOMETHING" - Francis De Sales

I. Pray before preparation

• Is there anything in your life that shouldn’t be there? “search me O God…”

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. – Psalms 139:23,24

• What text do you need to preach from?
• What’s the theme?
• Spend time in prayer and really seek God’s Will for your message.

II. Prepare a sermon using the LIPS acronym

1. LEARN: Learn the text and context (read and re-read)

*Tools needed: Bible, Strongs Concordance or equivalent, Journal or pad/computer to take down basic notes

Remember this is you are learning the text:

• Dispensation (who is God talking to, period, etc.)
• Interpretation (the exact meaning of the text)

Capture what you are learning in your journal/notepad

• Who:
• What:
• Where:
• When:
• Why:
• How:
• How much:

Learn the themes of the passage

Tools needed: Bible, Concordance, your Journal you have been using for notes, (this is a time of prayer and reflection and seeing which direction you are headed with the text.)

Essentially you are taking what you have learned from the text and seeing what the theme is going to be for your sermon.

Learn from others.

Tools needed: books, magazines, phone, computer, etc.

• Listen to other sermons/podcast/interviews on text; read commentaries, articles, reach out to Brothers/Sisters in the faith for their own commentary, etc.
• (be sure to do this after you have spent solitude with God praying over and reading the text directly from the Word and concordance.)

2. INSCRIBE (pen to paper)

• Inscribe a detailed summary (pen to paper) of what was learned and what you want to tell the audience. These are not rough draft notes from reading as before.
• Essentially, you are writing down what you want to tell them, what you’re going to tell them, and what you told them. It is as if you are giving your audience the sermon in essay form.

3. Plan (outline the sermon) Begin the final draft of the sermon by taking the inscription and putting it in outline form.

The introduction is what you want to tell them, the discussion is what you are telling them, and the conclusion is a recap of what you told them.

1. The goal is that this is continuous. As if one big run-on sentence. The goal is to not take a break, but simply let the entire thing flow
2. Use alliteration to help audience remember points (optional)

4. Stay (dwell on the sermon)- Meditate on the sermon; Live the sermon (practice what God is telling you to preach. Remember, the Holy Spirit has preached this sermon to you before you will ever preach it to anyone else. This is your sermon to receive, live, and then proclaim. What an honor!)

III. Practice the sermon

Here are some tips:

• Record yourself preaching to get rid of any bad habits when you are speaking( “we see here…”; “um”; “uhh when you uhh look uhh here uhh” )
• Practice over and over so you are not depending too much on your notes. What happens if you leave your notes at home? You going to still give the Word?
• Give the Word to your family and close friends. There is nothing like practicing a good sermon your wife in the car on the way somewhere.

IV. Pray again

• Sermon preparation is stressful, and the enemy is also at work. You can never pray too much for a sermon. You never know who is going to hear it and what they stand in need of. The enemy is also very crafty, a lot can happen from the time you finish sermon preparation and when you actually preach it. (Frustration, fear, shame, over-confidence, the list goes on and on!)
• Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit while preaching, pray for the audience, and pray for a right heart and humble spirit. Pray without ceasing!

V. Preach (let it fly!)

• Try not to go into “preaching mode” meaning you flip a switch and turn into a robot. (Refrain from cliches, crowd-pleasing, and humble bragging.)
• The main thing here is that you have gotten this message directly from God, you are in fellowship with God, you have been living this and meditating on it, and now you have the wonderful opportunity to give it to others.

Question: How much time should I spend a week in preparation for a sermon?

Answer: 168 hours.

Think about it.. in Psalm 1, the Blessed man (Happy man) meditates on the Word “day and night”. In the Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul told the Church to “pray without ceasing” which essentially means to have our minds on God and be in constant communication with Him. Now, you may not be spending day and night meditating over the text God has given you to preach, nor may you be spending your days in the attitude of prayer over your sermon, but it all goes together. Let the Holy Spirit lead and direct your thoughts and actions. I would recommend a solid 3 to 4 hours on the LIPS method to construct the specific sermon. But you will be amazed how much of what goes on every day in a life with God that is apart of the sermon He is giving you.

A special thank you to my Pastor, Mike Barnette, for the song “All Things New.” Please support his podcasts by clicking and sharing the links below.

The C.O.D.E. of Man Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Oglxqy35Wg4m4YMfU8Q28?si=074063174e334747

The Way of Holiness Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/show/08UgdbUrBDZoWWnfiCYxbO?si=oG-EaQzfQMC5GN-N7NaxvA

Daybreak Devotions Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2Z25hqT5DNOZcwBLBXc67I?si=1f1c8f24a3e24618