Preparing Your First Sermon
By Rev. David M. Ford
Presented By
Saint Luke Evangelical School of Biblical Studies
This short course of instruction should provide
you with everything you need to know to help prepare you
for this first exciting sermon. Follow these guidelines,
and you should be able to present your message clearly,
retain your train of thought throughout the presentation,
and give a meaningful conclusion at the end of your
sermon.
What's
initial preparation? By initial preparation I mean choosing
the topic you're going to speak on, doing your initial
research, and making your first notes.
You should
choose for the topic for your first sermon a particular
passage of the bible that you're already very familiar
with. Perhaps you have a favorite bible story, psalm, or
passage. Perhaps you've already discussed a particular
issue on several occasions, or taught it in Sunday School,
or simply studied it a great deal already. This should be
the topic of your first sermon. Go back and read this
passage again, using a good reference bible or concordance
or commentary for additional references. Jot down a few
notes about other related passages and verses, and study
those as well. Write down the point you wish to make with
your sermon and the conclusion you're planning to draw at
the end of your sermon. After you've done all this, read
the original passage one more time and review all of your
notes and conclusion.
Now, put all that on the shelf
and walk away. You have planted the seed of your sermon in
your mind - now it's time to give the wonderful creative
instrument God gave you, your mind, time to nurture that
seed and bring it into fruition. As you go about your
various duties over the next couple of days, your sermon
will start to form itself in your mind. You'll see things
in life that you can use to illustrate the verses you'll be
teaching on. You'll remember other things from your past
that will be useful. You'll start forming a beginning, a
middle, and an end to your sermon - while you're working,
driving your car, walking down the street, and saying your
daily prayers. This is why it's so important that you give
yourself a week head start, to allow this natural process
to occur.
Okay, you've been tossing
your sermon around in your head for a couple of days, and
by now you've got a pretty good idea of what you're going
to say. Now it's time to refine your sermon a bit. Go back
to those original notes you made and review them. Re-read
the main passage and related verses. You may decide some of
your original notes aren't what you really need, and
discard them. You may have additional notes, and you should
jot those down. You've probably developed an introduction
to your sermon, and you should jot a few quick notes on
that as well. Okay, now let's get this all
organized. First, get yourself some good index cards.
Not those little tiny ones, get the big ones. You'll use
these for your notes while you're delivering your
sermon. Start with the introduction to your sermon.
In nice big letters, write - Intro: followed by the
basic idea you have for your intro. Under that list the
verses you'll be referring to, and the key points of any
stories you'll be using to illustrate your point. There's
no need to write everything out word by word, just hit on
the key points. From there, go on and do the same with the
rest of your sermon. Your sermon should basically be
divided up into three or four sections, for instance,
Intro, Middle, End, Conclusion or Summation. You should
know what you want to say during each of these areas of
your sermon. Once you've got your index cards all written
out, go back and do a final check over everything, and
finally number each card with a small but clearly legible
number in the upper right or left hand of the card. Now,
put all that back on the shelf and walk away again. You've
just done a lot of work - get some rest, and come back the
next day for the next step.
Now it's
time to
practice actually delivering your sermon. First, just do
this while you're alone. Do one run through it to make sure
you are completely familiar with what you're going to say.
Then do it again, exactly how you plan to deliver it before
the congregation, and this time use a clock or other timer
to time yourself on how long it takes. You may find you've
added too much material, and your sermon is too long. Or,
conversely, you may find your sermon isn't long enough. Now
is the time to make the adjustments necessary to insure
your sermon is the proper length for your speaking
engagement. The next step is to practice your sermon
in front of a mirror, where you can study your own
delivery. Notice how you stand when you're speaking. Notice
any gestures you use as you deliver your message. Make any
adjustments you need to insure you are neither too "wooden"
in your delivery, nor too "busy". Listen to your own voice,
as well. Experiment with varying degrees of volume and
tonality. These are all important elements to keeping your
audience interested and attentive. Let me take a
moment to address the issue of which bible you'll use while
delivering your sermon, since you'll probably be reading at
least a few verses or passages directly from your bible. Be
sure you're completely comfortable with the version you are
using. If you find yourself stumbling over some words
because they have an awkward spelling or difficult
langauge, perhaps you should use one which is more up to
date in things like spelling and language. If you find
you're speeding through the passages, you may be using one
that is written too simply to demand any concentration from
you. You should find the version that is best for you for
use while reading before an audience. It should strike just
the right balance of being easy for you to read, while also
requiring enough concentration to add drama and impact to
your reading. Finally, once you've worked on all
this, it's time to practice delivering your sermon before a
small audience. This is very important. You should choose
for this practice audience your family members and a few
friends. There's an important psychological reason for
this. You'll find that you'll be more nervous and
self-aware before those to whom you are very close, than
you'll be before a much larger group of people to whom
you're not so close. So practice delivering your sermon
before this group of close associates at least once.
They'll probably be more than happy to offer comments and
suggestions afterwards. Some of these you may wish to take
heed to, and some you may wish to ignore. If you think a
criticism is constructive and useful, then use it. If the
criticism is skeptical or mean, ignore it. After all,
you've already put a lot of time and effort into this, your
first sermon, and by now you know what you want to say.
Don't be distracted by doubters at this stage of your
preparation.
The big day has come! You've
worked hard, you've studied, you've practiced, you've
prayed, you're as ready as you're ever going to be, but
you're still nervous. That's okay! It's natural to be
nervous! But remember, this is what you have been called to
do! This is what you have been preparing yourself for from
the moment the Holy Spirit anointed you and called you into
Our Lord's ministry! All that's left is to make sure you're
organized. Have you got your notes? Have you got your
bible? You didn't walk out of the house without your shoes
or anything like that, did you? Okay! Now, before you
actually walk out on that platform to deliver this sermon
on which you've worked so hard, take a few moments for
earnest prayer to Our Lord. Remember, He is what this is
all about, not you. Thank Him for bringing you this far,
and trust in Him for everything. Okay Brother! Okay Sister!
Now get out there and Preach It!
I hope this brief course of
instruction is useful to you as you prepare your first
sermon. Remember, practice makes perfect, and the more
often you deliver sermons, the more comfortable you'll
become with the process. I'd like to add at this point that
each sermon you prepare represents to you a great resource.
You should carefully file and save all of your notes for
each sermon you prepare. There may come a time when you are
called on to deliver a sermon at the very last minute. You
won't have a week to prepare, or a day - you may not even
have an hour! Not to worry. Just reach into that filing
cabinet, grab a sermon on a topic you feel like preaching
on, and you're set! After all, you've already done the
work, prepared the notes, and even delivered it before a
congregation. You'll find that going back to an old sermon
can be like running into an old friend, and won't represent
any cause for worry at all.
God bless you.
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© 1997 - 2022 Rev. David McMichael Ford, Ph.D.
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