As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
In this article, I’ll include excerpts from a recent sermon and share some thoughts about sermon preparation and delivery. Every pastor prepares sermons differently. My goal here is a combination of mechanics and approach―how to best capture and communicate what God is doing with what He’s saying, and to deliver shorter, more effective sermons.
All the examples which follow are from a sermon on Acts 8:2-25, titled “Peter and the Magician.”
“…ministers can err in one of two directions….such specificity that we run the risk of undermining the confidence God’s people should have in the English translations of Scripture. Or…we can gloss over important textual variants and confuse believers as to what to do with them.” - C.Leaders
“Social media is a wonderful thing – IF you have the knowledge and skills to control it. Say what you like, but most people don’t have those skills and we’re seeing the deterioration happening in our culture every day.” - Cooke
“On each corner of the paper, I write the following headings. Top Left Corner: Big Picture, Big Action, Big Inspiration, Top Right Corner: Verse Groupings, Bottom Right Corner: Illustrations, Bottom Left Corner: Applications. I start with the top right corner.” - Jess Rainer
“Here’s what I’m surprised (and convicted that I’m surprised) to see: the simple message of the gospel and the Word of God preached still change people’s lives to God’s glory and the advancement of his kingdom.” - Tim McKnight
“As I’ve walked through the meaning of repentance in my own spiritual walk, the Puritans have been helpful in clarifying the meaning of the word repentance. In particular, Thomas Watson’s work entitled The Doctrine of Repentance” - Tim McKnight
“The average of 13.8 hours each week on sermon preparation is only less than the 23.3 hours pastors say they spend with their family on any given week.” - Lifeway
Acts 1:12-26 is a challenge for a preacher. It seems like a transition piece―filler. We wouldn’t want to call it that, but we might think it. What is the passage about? What should pastors do with it?
“… among churches that posted their sermons, homilies or worship services online between Aug. 31 and Nov. 8, 2020, two-thirds posted at least one message from the pulpit mentioning the election. But these rates varied considerably among the four major Christian groups” - Pew
“So, why should we avoid merely borrowing a ready-made sermon even with attribution? First, sermon preparation allows the preacher to personalize the text. As I work through the passage and discover its flow, it become personal to me.” - J. Straub
Discussion