5 Preaching Preparation Tips

…You’ve Probably Never Heard!

by Gamal T. Alexander

Have you ever felt like you've heard of every play in the preaching playbook?  After two decades of spreading the gospel, I thought I had exhausted every sermon preparation strategy there was.  Just when I thought I had heard it all and knew it all, along came five new insights into sermon preparation that managed to knock me off my feet. I got so excited about the novelty and the effectiveness of what I learned that I had to pass them on to you!  

Here are five unique sermon preparation tips that will shake up your routine like never before. 

Tip number 1: Write early, write often. Write everything. 

Writing a sermon manuscript isn't just a mundane chore that a preacher can feel free to skp if he or she has been blessed with the gift of gab.  On the contrary, writing is an inescapable, invaluable part of the preparation process that serves to bring your ideas to life.  Writing helps the preacher sculpt the message so that it becomes as clear to the speaker and connects with those who are listening.   Whether brainstorming, mind mapping, note taking, outlining your sermon or writing out the manuscript, the effective preacher considers the pen to be their ally.  If your goal is effective speaking, there is nothing more useful than the power of the written word.  

Writing clarifies thought. 

The idea you’ve been impressed to share may be clear to you, but that may not be the case with everyone else.  However, brainstorming the idea, outlining the sermon, and writing the manuscript can aid in articulating the preacher’s ideas in a logical sequence.  Simply put, writing and editing help your sermon make sense!  

Writing helps with motivation. 

Not feeling up to preparing a sermon?  The discipline of writing is guaranteed to help get you started.  The preacher who has developed the habit of putting pen to paper all week long is certain to come to the moment of delivery enthusiastic, fully prepared, and equipped with a message for God’s people.  

Writing helps with reproduction. 

Writing the sermon can help with retention, as the preacher can review and familiarize himself or herself with the sermon.  Not only can writing help with retention, but writing can also help with repackaging.  That series you’ve been preaching all month long can easily become a presentation, an article, or even a book!  Writing can help a preacher expand the reach of his or her ministry far beyond the walls of the local church.  

Effective preachers use writing to their advantage throughout the sermon preparation process.  They brainstorm, they mindmap, they outline, they write a full manuscript and often produce an outline from that manuscript. They also preach sermons people want to hear.  

Tip #2: Creativity needs community.  Find a friend.  

Here’s a tip that I initially cast aside, only to benefit from using it later on.  Iron sharpens iron, and if you are planning on sharpening your preaching, then you will need to find some iron to sharpen your preaching against. 

I’ve found that successful preachers often find a minimum of two people to share their ideas with, which helps them to produce more well-rounded sermons.  

Most of the preachers we admire have teams who help them research and sometimes even write the sermon from week to week.  You may not have those resources at your disposal, but why not enlist the help of a trusted friend or two to produce the best sermon possible?  

Tip #3: Less is more. Minimize to yield the most. 

Keep in mind that a sermon does not have to be eternal to be impactful.  If people can trust you with their time and attention, they will more than likely be willing to listen to you again and again.  Preparing and preaching shorter sermons will require more work than preparing and preaching long ones.  Mark Twin is quoted as saying, “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”  Many preachers can identify.  It takes work to rid the sermon of everything that doesn’t belong, but the work is certainly worth it.  Condense rambling paragraphs into powerful sentences.  Remove tangents that do not drive home your main point.  Spend time crafting a single sentence that expresses the theme of your sermon.  The work you put in to transform that rambling discourse into a short, powerful sermon will pay dividends.  Your congregation will be grateful.  

Tip #4: The more you have to talk, the more you have to read.

With dozens of streaming services and thousands of hours of video available, reading has almost become a lost art!  Yet the benefits of reading cannot be ignored.  Reading helps to expand vocabulary, enhances critical thinking, builds knowledge, and improves storytelling ability.  Reading aloud can even serve as practice for effective speaking!  The effective preacher is the preacher who makes the time to read.  

Tip #5: Planning, practice, and prayer all go together.  

You’re probably saying to yourself, “Now wait a minute!  I thought you said these were sermon prep tips we’ve never heard before?  Every preaching teacher I’ve ever had has told me that I needed to pray!”  That’s fair, but read our fifth and final tip once again.  Planning, practice, and prayer ALL GO TOGETHER!  The effective preacher cannot afford to separate the three. They are ALL important.  They all work together to ensure that the gospel is communicated with precision and clarity.  Planning gives the preacher a head start which ensures enough time for deep thought, writing, and editing.  Practice develops skill in delivery and helps the preacher familiarize his or herself with the message, setting them free from the bondage of being tied to a manuscript. Prayer is where the power comes from. It ensures that the words spoken from the sacred desk are bathed in the power of the Holy Spirit.  All three of these join forces to ensure that the sermon is a success.  

It was Gardner C. Taylor who said, “Effective preaching is like a well-crafted symphony, weaving together truth, passion, and relevance to resonate deeply with the human spirit.” May the symphony of your sermon bless the hearts and minds of those who hear.  

Preach the Word!

Gamal Alexander serves as Pastor of the Rockville Church in Rockville, Maryland.