How to Write Sermons with Polish

Any pastor can write a sermon. A rambling, vague, and nondescript message can be slapped together pretty quickly. A sermon that has a crisp clarity with poignant pointedness is much more difficult to accomplish. There are, however, steps a preacher can take beyond sermon outlines and sermon illustrations, to press a sermon into the realm of the clear. There are further steps a preacher can take to take a clear sermon, and polish off the fuzzy edges, so that it nearly sings.

Instructions

1. Put the most effort into your preaching sentence.

   A preaching sentence is your one sentence summary of the sermon's content (focus) and aim (function). The trick to getting a preaching sentence to resonate with clarity and punch lies in two words: immediacy, inevitability. The preaching sentence should have an immediate affect on the hearer with immediate ability to grasp at least the surface meaning. The preaching sentence should also have a level of inevitability. If the sentence is both insightful and well crafted then reflecting on it will inevitably lead to life change.

2. Use your most effective means of processing.

   Most people process information and thoughts best in one of a few ways. Some process best by talking and listening. These verbal thinkers need auditory space in which to weave their ideas. These preachers need to get in a solitary room and think through the sermon out loud. Others process best by writing. These visual thinkers need to see it on the page to grasp it. Other visual thinkers work best with images. Kinetic processing happens when a person needs tangible objects that can be manipulated to think best. If this is you, start writing ideas on note cards or post it notes and move them around. Press your preaching sentence through your best means of processing.

3. Use your most effective means of processing.

   Most people process information and thoughts best in one of a few ways. Some process best by talking and listening. These verbal thinkers need auditory space in which to weave their ideas. These preachers need to get in a solitary room and think through the sermon out loud. Others process best by writing. These visual thinkers need to see it on the page to grasp it. Other visual thinkers work best with images. Kinetic processing happens when a person needs tangible objects that can be manipulated to think best. If this is you, start writing ideas on note cards or post it notes and move them around.

4. Prepare the listener for the preaching sentence.

   Once you have a clear and polished preaching sentence, ask what preparation is necessary for the listener to be ready to receive the preaching sentence. Often the clue can be found in what internal preparations were necessary for the preacher to be able to grasp the sentence. This might be a difficult question that needs asked, scriptural exposition, theological exploration, or the careful crafting of a story. Ask what best prepares the ground of the listener's self for the reception of the preaching sentence.

5. Cycle that preparation through step 2, and then through your reverse way of thinking.

   If you are a verbal thinker, force yourself to write some things down. If you are a visual thinker, force yourself to sound things out to see how they sound. Or use objects of some sort to adjust and modify your thinking. If you are a kinesthetic thinker, try carefully crafting a few sentences or running through your thoughts out loud as you move things around. This cross grain thinking helps polish and refine your flow of thought.

6. Ponder how to unpack the implications of the preaching sentence.

   Once the preaching sentence has finally been introduced, whether as a refrain repeated throughout or at the middle or end of the sermon, the implications need to be drawn out. How can you help the listener fully grapple with the question of 'so what?' This might happen through brief snippets of real life examples, a more drawn out but carefully crafted parable, or a possible list of ways to live this through. It may rather be a careful reframing of an entire way of thinking, feeling, and being in the world. How can you unpack the implications of the preaching sentence?

7. Run the results of step 5 through steps 2 and 4.

   Begin with your go-to processing strategy: verbal, visual, kinesthetic. Then move to a cross grain strategy to refine your thoughts. Once you have done this, carefully form the first and last sentences so that the sermon is coherent, begins in a gripping way, and ends with momentum into life in light of the gospel.

   * See tips below for more on polishing your sermon.

Tips & Warnings

• Never let someone hear you preach a sermon the first time. Always practice performing the sermon in private as a matter of habit and craft.

• Ask a few people to try and guess what your preaching sentence is each week. See how clearly your main thing is presented as the main thing.

• Cut out wordy rambling sentences. Make every work count in every section of the sermon.

• This process can be used with inductive or deductive, narrative or spiraling forms of sermons.

• See related articles on this page for more help and information on preaching.