Ten things preachers can do |
Get the text - write it out. If possible consult the Greek/Hebrew text. |
Listen to the text - don't conclude at this point what the text means. You haven't heard it yet. If you listen to the text for long enough it will determine your outline. |
Consult the commentaries. They are the great lost treasures of the Church. |
Avoid letting illustrations get in the way - you are not trying to find a sermon for your joke. Rather you are trying to find a joke for your sermon - which presupposes you have a sermon to think of. |
Pray for an angle on the text. This is a combination of text and context. Preaching is not Bible study but more akin to prophecy. |
Pray also for the 'guts' of the message, for the 'burden of the song'. Once you have that you have a sermon. Without that you have an exposition. So you need to get pregnant. |
Start by writing it out. Sometimes writing can unleash the creativity. If you write too many notes it can be counterproductive. |
Don't do it too early in the week. Let it brew. Preaching is brooding. You may not want to leave it as late as Saturday might, but equally there is no particular virtue in finishing it by Wednesday morning. |
Preach it out beforehand so that you can get free of your notes on the day. Also by preaching it out often new thoughts can come to you. |
During the worship go dead! i.e. don't fuss over the sermon. Trust that, once in the pulpit, God will raise it from the dead. |